Advice for soon-to-be graduate???

[Asklepios]

I will be graduating in May '09 and I am highly motivated to go right into the field of psych nursing once I pass NCLEX. I have one year experiance as a med-surg PCA. I am a career changer, so I'm a little older than most of my classmates and I don't feel like I can spare the year or two that most of my instructors and some of my coworkers at the hospital are telling me I should spend as a med-surg nurse to "get my feet wet."

I was wondering if any psych nurses can give me a little adivce on how I can go about seeking a job once I graduate. I will be speaking with the facility where I did psych clinicals (they are part of the same system as the hospital where I work as a PCA), but I don't know what else to do. There is a state run institute about an hour away from me, but they have had lots of bad press the last few years (though they are said to be cleaning up their act quite nicely lately).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, and hopefully other soon-to-be RNs will also read it and be helped by your generosity!:wink2:

[TsavarenaRN]

All I can really say is...dive right in! Nursing school did not prepare me for psych, but it was what I really wanted to do. I was able to be hired right out of school I believe because of the lack of nurses willing to apply for psych positions in my area, but I know of several hospitals that will take new grads right in to psychiatrics.

I'm 8 months in to my new career. I will admit to several days of clocking out feeling discouraged, enraged, or just not giving a crap, I have stuck it out and learned how to handle most situations effectively. I've settled in and finally earned a little respect from and gotten to know most of the people I work with, gotten sorta comfortable with the facilitiy policy and procedure, and given up on the idea of being 'perfect'; which I think fueled a lot of my anxiety about psych nursing. It just took time, experience, and the ability to take a lot of BS(Just like all nurses!). After passing boards you're not going to walk onto a med surg floor and fall right into place, and neither will you on a psych ward. You will have the basic nursing judgement and medical knowledge to keep your patient's safe.

"Don't panic when you feel overwhelmed, keep your patient's safe and alive. Paperwork can always be finished later." says a nurse to me during orientation. I chant this in my head when my patient's have one of their out of control days. And yes, I have been fussed at for not dotting an i or crossing a t on my paperwork due to lack of time, energy, or just forgetfullness, lol. But I've kept them safe, no one has died or suffered from a preventable injury And I feel satisfied that I am helping and having a positive influence on my patient's mental health.

Good luck on boards and in your nursing career :redpinkhe

[Jules A, MSN]

I did it also and have never regretted it. I'm older and fairly sure that this was what I wanted to do and so far so good. I'd cultivate relationships with the people in charge at the facility where you did clinicals especially since you are currently working in that system. Around here psych nurses are in demand so hopefully you won't have a problem getting hired. Good luck and welcome!

[taimse]

I passed my LPN boards last August. I had a job lined up at a chemical dependency treatment facility. I'd done a MH shadow for a clinical and was encouraged to apply for the open LPN position. But, I had a knee injury which had a long recovery period. I didn't feel right taking the position, going through orientation and then not being able to work for 3-4 months post surgery.

I've applied for a part time night position at the local hospital's Psych unit and have an interview tomorrow. Any pointers? Questions to ask them?

[Asklepios]

Thanks for your replies. I noticed the facility where I did my clinicals has a posting for an RN, and it says new grads are welcome to apply. Even though I haven't graduated yet, I am thinking of going there to inquire about the position and maybe introduce myself to a nurse manager or someone like that. If they know they have someone interested who already works in the system, maybe they'll keep me in mind in a couple months when I am looking for a job.

As a nursing assistant, I've done many 1:1 when psych pts wind up on a med-surg floor. This is usually before they get an open bed at the local facility or the state facility in the region. On several occasions, I've had patients start talking to me, and before I know it, 8 hrs has gone by and we've talked nearly the whole shift. Some of the patients have thanked me and said I was a good listener. One patient who had a lot of bad things going on started telling me about his problems at the beginning of the shift. BY the end of it, he told me he felt like our conversation had helped him figure out what he could do to improve things. When the psych case workers came to the room to talk to him, he asked if I could stay with him while they were there (I was going to anyway because I don't let 1:1s out of my sight when I'm with them, but he didn't realize this). It was a really moving experience for me, and made me realize that my personality may be geared for this type of work. I recently spoke with my hospital's mental health clinician, and she was very encouraging about me going straight into psych nursing after graduating. She said she can often tell which nurses would be good at it after spending a little time with them, and she said she thought that about me right away.

I've read some posts elsewhere on this forum about burnout, apathy setting in, safety issues, etc. All of that worries me, but no more so than the concerns about issues med-surg nurses face in their jobs.