Any happy psych nurses?

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Hi, I just started psych 6months ago and feel very discouraged in this field. I was a Nicu nurse for 2.5 years at a terrible facility, loved what I did, hated the place and admin. by God's grace I believed this psych pos opened up for me and I thought trying something new would diversify my skills. but I didn't realize or was told many things that psych requires, take downs, patients from jail, all the enormous documentation following restraints/seclusions. And I didn't realize how difficult it would be to manage the pts and mental health aides. Well I believe I should be thankful for having this job still bc of the economy and it's with a great hospital. But at night I'm assigned 25 pts and in charge of mental health aides, there's constant staffing problems. I'm just feeling that maybe I should go back to Nicu or try postpartum since there are no Nicu openings right now. But the other part of me wonders if I'm really giving psych a fair chance. Should I wait the full year and then decide? Should I try a different dept in psych? Should I try transfer into Nicu or postpartum if possible? Please nurses, advice would be surely helpful! Thanks all and happy new year!

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Specializes in Psych, Med/Surg, LTC.

I love psych...

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What type of staffing problems? Staff needs to work as a team

and have a knowledge and awareness if safety becomes threatened

on the unit. If your team is divided, patients can see that, feel they

are not safe and start to act out. So your nurse manager needs to make

sure staff is trained and flying as one unit as smooth as the

Navy Blue Angels in formation. If MHAs are not respecting you, that is a major

problem. So identify the issues and speak up to your manager.

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I think six months is adequate time to decide if you should stay in psych.

I think night shift offers fewer of what are considered rewarding parts of the job, such as leading groups, frequent one to one contacts with patients, etc. You would likely not be the lone RN on evenings or days, which would give you peers to consult with about team management issues. So maybe a different shift on the psych unit would give you a different perspective.

Having said that, I think if you re-read what you wrote, with emphasis on what area you can say you "love" vs what area you think you "should" love, you just may have your answer.

Best wishes for whatever you decide. I am a former NICU nurse who has been in psych for the past 8 years and loves it!

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.

Although your unit doesn't sound ideal it also doesn't sound as if psych nursing is for you. Since you loved NICU I'd consider trying to get back in that area at some point. Psych nursing sure isn't as easy as some think, is it? I happen to love it but like many other specialities it just isn't for everyone. Good luck.

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Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).

Hsmommy:

There's a Belief that goes something like this: A situation is a bad one only if you don''t feel like you've handled the situation the best that you could have.

However- working in a stressful situation can always be made better or worse by the involvement of Co-Workers. Co-Workers can make a stressful situation tolerable with the feelings of being Comrade's In Arms or they can increase the stress exponentially.

Personally (and professionally), I heartily enjoy my work as a Psych Nurse. But it's not merely what I do that I like- it's also the Institution and the People. I've left jobs because of my feelings toward the Place and/or the People. As someone was reputed to say, "You've got to kiss a lot of Warhols before you find your Rembrandt."

I'm currently kissing a Rembrandt and thanking my Lucky Stars.

Joseph Campbell also had something to say about finding happiness in one's endeavors. He advised, "Follow your bliss."

Good luck to you in your search, Hsmommy.

Dave

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I'm a happy psych nurse, most of the time.

When I worked on an inpatient psych unit, I was happiest when I had the chance to spend time talking with my patients. I could do without the politics of the unit.

Now I work for an organization that provides services to the mentally ill in the community. Much happier here than on the unit. Mental health is the right place for me. I always say it takes one to know one. I've got my share of issues like anyone else, and I own them. I think it makes me better able to interact with the people we provide services to. I took one of our consumers food shopping the other day. We bought some cammomile tea. This helped her relax a bit when we got back to her apartment, so she could discuss what else was going on with her.

I prefer to be outside the box. My intent is to return to school to become a psych NP so I can have my own practice. I like nursing, but I don't like the mindset of administration who worries more about the bottom line than about people - staff and the people staff takes care of.

Give psych nursing some time. Days would be a better time to see all the interventions that make up psych nursing, to see which of them you're good at.

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.

I love psych. I like that it is specifically my job to spend lots of time interacting with each and every single patient, more than I would in many other nursing fields. In psych, I'm not running in, doing my assessment and then rarely seeing the patient again except to pass meds, assist with ADLs or deal with endless little requests from patients--more accurately, their families--who think I'm a scullery maid. Oh yeah, I forgot about the fun of dealing with families who are constantly second-guessing me, criticizing me, or standing over me like a a hawk watching every single little thing I do to the patient. Anyhow, I don't have to deal with all of that in psych. Yes, there are staffing hassles...but what facility doesn't have them? Same with all the paperwork.

I agree that getting on days or even evenings would give you a lot more exposure to what psych is really like, or you can try out different departments within psych.

That being said, psych is not for everyone--it's not easy and can take a lot out of you mentally and emotionally. If you decide that it's not for you, that's no slur upon you as a nurse: it just means that you're better suited for a different area.

Good luck whatever you decide!

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I am a super happy psych nurse. I start my NP in Mental health program in June. There is no job I would rather have, and I think if you dont love your job you should probably move one.

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I'm a happy psych nurse -- not necessarily happy with every job I've had, but definitely happy with psych nursing. However, it's certainly not for everyone. I've worked with many nurses over the years who decided to "try" psych nursing after many years in another specialty, who either meant well but just couldn't get into the psych "groove" or decided they didn't like it after all.

If you know that you really enjoy another specialty area, like NICU, I would focus on that. There's certainly nothing wrong with not liking psych.

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Specializes in LTC, OB, psych.

I'm a happy psych nurse, blessed to work in a cohesive unit. I really enjoy the 1:1 time with my patients. I also think I'm on a sort of honeymoon with acute care, having arrived recently from the LTC setting. I'd rather have 5 patients than 50 . . . and I appreciate the many other disciplines working with my patients, every day.

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Gotta agree with whats been said already. Nights on a psych unit is not the same as days or eves. Its a lot more paperwork and less staff. And any job--I am finding that the people you work with and the environment (morale) are just as important as the patient population you work with when it comes to job satisfaction. I have left many jobs over the years and 99% of the time its not the population I am caring for but the co-workers/morale that makes me miserable. So just keep that in mind. I would say to try another shift, another psych unit as they all are a bit different as far the environment.

Personally I love psych and have done a lot of different kinds of nursing. I find it very personally satisfying......and find mental illness and abnormal psych fascinating.

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