What are some pros and cons of being a PN?

WillyNilly · Jan 27, 2014

Personal care? Yes, I encourage baths, linens, adls. Incontinence, enemas, etc....like any other floor we do it all.

KennethAlcsRN · Jan 28, 2014

I am a new grad that landed a job in the Psychiatric ER. I was always interested in Psych and found that it was appropriate that I ended up where I am. We are involved in the patient's personal care as much as we would like. Most of the time the pt is able to do most of their ADLs, but in the case that they don't, we are always there to help as well as the NAs.

Here's my list:

Pros: Every shift is ALWAYS interesting. Because of this, I am never bored... yet. I've only been in the game for 3 months, so this can change, but I highly doubt it. Another thing that might just be in the Psych ER is we see different faces almost every shift. This again, keeps things interesting. Pros are you don't do much of the hard work that you used to do in Med Surg, but this can be a Con as well if you are into that.

Cons: You kind of lose many nursing skills that you learned in school, ie IV start, NG tube, Foleys ect. But you still get to draw blood, give IMs, and SubQs. You still see the Med Surg disease processes, but not as much, this can also be a pro, however you see it. Also if you work in Pysch for a long time, your chances of getting a Med Surg or other gig goes down with the length of time you have been in it in my opinion, so if you like it and don't mind staying in it, you are good, but if you are looking to move, better do some part time work in another setting.

fiba · Jan 29, 2014

Psychiatric ER cool!!! thanks

that was an insightful post, I went to an info session for psych nursing, the instructor told

the people that personal care is still required as a psych nurse. I expected it, but did not know to what extent

some of the people around me I noticed felt extremely uncomfortable when mentioned.