Advice for a student nurse that wants to do Psych

[mangopeach]

Hello all,

I would really appreciate any advice you guys can give me. I won't be finished with school until next May but I am already thinking about job searching. I really want to do Psych. I have heard it said that you should do med surg first, because doing psych right out of school may limit your options if you want to change specialties.

For me though, I pretty much know I will not be changing my mind. I am 37 yrs old so its not like I'm young and not sure of the direction I want my career to go. I am very passionate about mental health issues. My mom suffers from a mental illness and has been in and out of hospitals, unfortunately for the last few years she's spent more time in the hospital than out. I know that this is my calling in nursing and I am not going to change my mind to another specialty in the future.

Did anyone start out in psych right out of school? Do you think that "mandatory" year of med surg is still necessary if I know for sure this is what I want to do? Any advice for wannabe psych nurse?

[MrChicagoRN, RN]

Hello all,

Did anyone start out in psych right out of school? Do you think that "mandatory" year of med surg is still necessary if I know for sure this is what I want to do? Any advice for wannabe psych nurse?

I did a year of med-surg first. Medical coverage on behavioral units is often pretty minimal. When I then moved to psych I found my body of knowledge was kind of impressive compared to some of the psych-only RNs.

Mandatory? No. But I think it really helps one to deal with the patients' total needs.

Of course, in a tight job market you might want to apply to both practice settings.

[lsvalliant]

I really wanted to do psych right out of the gate too. I graduated back in 2008 right when the economy took a nose dive. I applied for 3 psych positions and they all fell through. I guess you have to go wherever you can find a job. I never did med/surg, but I went to PACU, mother/baby for a few months to fill in, and now I'm in home health and much happier than in the hospital. If you can get into a hospital doing psych, I guess I would say just go for it. Its harder to get out of a specialty now that the job market is tighter. Everyone wants experience.

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

I went right into psych post-graduation and never regretted it. However, I've been keeping the non-psych skills up through CEs, inservices and other ways because I feel that will help make me more well-rounded as a psych nurse. Also, I work mostly in detox, so I'm with patients that often have a higher medical acuity and that helps me keep up.

Would a year of med-surg first have been helpful? Sure! Was it mandatory? IMO, no, because I was willing to study and keep up on a lot on my own. Plus, not all of the first year of med-surg is learning med-surg. You also learn assessment, prioritization, time management and organization, all of which you can learn during the first year in acute inpatient psych.

IMO, I think you're pigeon-holed in psych only if you let yourself be. If you do decide to switch specialities down the road, you can emphasize your strong psychiatric nursing skills as a selling point, because they will help you deal with patients' psych issues as well as medical issues. Med-surg patients don't leave their psych issues at the door when they check in, and when it comes to dealing with psych issues in their patients, the usual answer from a non-psych nurse is to fill the patient up with Ativan and/or Haldol and leave it at that until the patient is discharged or transferred. As a nurse with strong psych skills, there is potential to do so much more for the patient.

[Bonnie86]

I understand where you're coming from. It was the same with my mother. She was in and out of psych units most of my life. I think people look at my like I'm crazy when I say I'm interested in psych. I'm a new grad and looking for a hospital job because I want the experience, but I know I will end up in psych eventually if not right away.