Call me Indecisive Career Nurse...

[hrmcquiston]

Hey all!

I am currently a TX LVN(since 2013) and am within 6 months of finishing my associates degree for my RN (at which point I am going right back for my BSN). I have worked in psych nursing (state hospitals) since I started as an aide in 2008. I've always loved it, but am afraid of burning out and not having any alternatives. I had a charge nurse I work with suggest ICU nursing, but not sure it's really my kind of thing. However, in school I tried to keep my eyes out for something I might be interested in besides psych, and that turned out to be ER or hospice.

Right now, trying to decide where I'm going from here. My original plan was to stay in psych and work toward PMHNP, but I've also considered a future as an educator or legal nurse consultant (I once wanted to be a lawyer-maybe I just can't make up my mind! ). I'm wondering if once I finish my RN, I should stay where I'm at and continue to specialize in psych, or should I consider an RN residency in Emergency, or maybe Acute Care (ICU). I think I'm leaning toward the change (I can always return to psych, but it seems harder to go back once you're in psych), but don't want to lose out on any chances I might have if I just stick with what I've done (my supervisor suggested she recently got a job offer because she's always specialized in psych). Any advice?

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

If you want the change and have a chance to get one, go for it! You might find that you're truly interested in ER/hospice or you may find that it's not what you thought and you really do want to stay in psych. Either way, whatever you learn during the change will be valuable to you wherever you practice.

And yes, you can apply to a PMHNP program without being strictly a psych nurse beforehand :) So don't think that dabbling in other specialties will remove a future PMHNP from the table.

Best of luck whatever you decide!

[Gooselady, BSN, RN]

I spent my first two years after graduation in home health, and the next 16 years in psych (inpatient, chemical dependency). Six and a half years ago I had a wild hair and did an RN residency on a medical oncology floor. I ended up staying there for 6 years until my knee blew out . . . but I was surprised and pleased with the change.

You can ALWAYS go back to psych, from anywhere, especially since you've spent years doing it already. But to go from psych to any medical or surgical kind of nursing, the opportunities are limited.

The experience I got doing medical hospital nursing is something I wished I'd done more at the beginning of my career, even if I later moved on to psych. It's a whole different kind of nursing, and it's interesting and challenging in whole new ways. I'd encourage you to take a medical residency. Your psych skills will NEVER go rusty working in medical nursing as the trend is to keep psych pts on the medical floor until they are more medically stable than you are :) I was the informal 'psych nurse' for my floor, not that I asked for it.

Experience in medical nursing will just really round you out. If you hate it, well there's your sign :) There will always be psych jobs, and even if you hated it, the experience is valuable.