Hey everyone, I am applying to NS, but I didn't look at my other options before I dove into this major 100%. The human mind and human behavior interest me way more than any of this pharm, physiology, or bio stuff. I know I want to do something in the "helping field", but I am not particularly excited to begin NS. I have looked at other fields such as social work, management, and counselling... and yes, psych nursing too, my hesitation with that is I will have to make it through NS to get there lol... which I have already mentioned I'm not very excited about since it doesn't seem like anything they study interest me. Since many nurses work side by side with some of these professions (Mgmt, SW, psych nursing, counselors) what can you tell me about what they do? Pros/Cons of the profession? Thank you!
Thank you both for your advice. Cyc0sys Nursing is hard to give up bc it is so diverse. Of course, with social work I will have to "pay my dues" by working with the population that are seen as less desirable, but that's okay. I'm actually interested in doing that... for a little while. And I know new grads don't jump into private practice. Job descriptions in my area typically look for 1yr of experience to get hired on with a agency that doesn't work with "undeserirables". I would never JUST get a BSW. SW is MSW-LCSW or ending up in your 3rd friends position after years of service. How do your friends like their jobs? And where are their jobs located if you don't mind me asking?
Brownbook you didn't really say anything that wasn't money realated. I suppose I should have added I am not money motivated lol. I know what I need to make to have the life I desire in my area, which it is possible with the career choices I am researching. Do you know anything about psych nurse job duties or the setting they usually work in?
Metropolitan areas of Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania are where my friends are located. All like their jobs and have different reasons for being in the profession. The one in private practice has the most free time and autonomy. The Director has an electronic leash and gets phone calls at all times of the day and night (typically crisis related) which he doesn't mind. The non-MSW still pulls call, overtime, and other trench work but is pretty resistant to change for the good or bad.
We don't use social workers in our hospital. We have RN case managers instead. They got rid of the social workers and started using the nurses instead.
I wish all hospitals would embrace that concept. The discharge SW case managers I've dealt in the past were seriously lacking in clinical knowledge, whether it was medications or diagnosis. They'd try to send patients without the appropriate scripts, pasrr screening or otherwise medically inappropriate for the facility. In retrospect, they may have just been playing dumb so they could dump unstable patients on us.
I never thought SW was a good fit for hospital case management on the discharge side.
cyc0sys
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Metropolitan areas of Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania are where my friends are located. All like their jobs and have different reasons for being in the profession. The one in private practice has the most free time and autonomy. The Director has an electronic leash and gets phone calls at all times of the day and night (typically crisis related) which he doesn't mind. The non-MSW still pulls call, overtime, and other trench work but is pretty resistant to change for the good or bad.