Anyone a Psychiatric Nurse or Forensic Nurse?

elkpark · Jul 1, 2016

Welcome to allnurses. Have you looked through the Psychiatric Nursing forum (under the "Specialties" tab at the top of the screen)? Lots of info and opinions there. Best wishes for your journey.

FutureBSNRN · Jul 1, 2016

Thank you! I'll take a look!

Sharprn1 · Jul 6, 2016

I have been a psych nurse for about 7-8 years I think.. I have been an RN about 20 years.. From my first job to where I am now has been a journey and evolution. A lot of people like to write off psych nursing as not a real nurse job.. It's kind of reflected in pay scales. Psych nurses aren't generally paid as much as hospital counterparts and certainly not specialty pay..

I have found my medical background has been helpful. I work with 2 newer nurses who went straight into psych( because new grads can often get hired) and one of them is worried about losing her medical skills. So really I wouldn't recommend it as a first job.

I LOVE what I do. I am currently working in a more clinic vs inpatient setting. We serve the seriously mentally ill. It's rare to see aggression.. When I worked in inpatient, I also loved it, but it was a different setting. It dealing with a unit of patients not just one. And all you need is one person to set off a milieu. But how that goes is really dependent on you and the rest of the staff. I am a huge believer in de escalating and using a take down or isolation or restraints as a last resort. I have worked in places where you take down first and ask questions later..

I really believe psych should be a passion. If it isn't you can still do it and perhaps like it. With these patients you are not dealing with things that have black and white answers. It is draining sometimes

I had 2 different doctors share 2 very valid thoughts.

1. You have to treat a person's "head" make it well before you get the rest of the body to follow along.. It really makes sense when you think about it ( I don't know if I articulated it as well as I could )

2. When I was trying to decide about my current job, it wasn't the highest paying option I had, the Medical Director said people don't work here for the money, they work here for the patients we serve. That got me. The people I work with are some of the most dedicated people I have ever worked with.

Lol, after all this, I hope I answered some questions and shared some insight..

I guess the bottom line is people just really like it or they don't.. Sometimes you just to have to try it on for size.

If you have any questions.. Let me know..

We are in a very interesting place these days with all the interest/concerns about people with mental illness and their access to care.. Interesting things in Washington..

Good luck in your career..

heather713 · Jul 7, 2016

hello! I graduated with my BSN last May and work at an inpatient psych hospital. All the units are locked and we have some very violent and aggressive patients at times. We have no security which is what makes our turnover rate very high. However, I really do like what I do and am looking for a new job at a safer psych facility. We do not screen our patients before they are admitted, and therefore are not really sure what the patient is truly like until they arrive. I think psych is a good place to start if you are not interested in med-surg since it gives you a good foundation of learning how to build patient relationships. If you interview for psych, make sure you ask about emergency policies, staff ratio, turnover rate, etc. good luck :)

FutureBSNRN · Jul 8, 2016

Thank you so much! This was all very insightful!

pradacandy001 · Jul 15, 2016

I browse these forums because I was a CNA and a behavioral health tech, working towards a nurse degree, when I started working for a sheriffs office. I'm now the supervisor of the "security" side of things, and work with the medical staff to care for the inmates and help carry out the doctors orders (Securing an inmate for an injection who's violently refusing to take his medication, for example.)

its going to be the most rewarding and stressful thing you do. I work for the largest country in my state, which completely underfunded the mental health system the last few years, so we become the default mental institution for the country when other mental health services have failed them. We have seriously mentally ill (SMI) inmates come in frequently for minor changes such as trespassing. The Doctors get them as stable as they can, but some are so low-functioning they stay the entire time with you a step down house. We have two acute units, one male, one female, and the rest of our units are step down units based on the acuity of there illness. Some are SMI and are here for for very serious charges for years awaiting competency hearings and trial. You do have occasional malingerers that are working the system for meds and a comfy cell but medical/security work closely together to get these individuals disciplined and out of the unit. Working with the mentally ill that fall through safety nets is both stressful and rewarding, I do enjoy my job, and it's a good choice for those interested in psych nursing.