Do you like child psych nursing?

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I am currently a nursing student in my senior year and am looking to choose a floor for my preceptorship next semester. I originally had no interest in psych, until i visited the inpatient child psych hospital. I was only there for 6 hours, so im not sure what exactly goes on their everday, so am looking for more insight how it is to be a child psych nurse, and what exactly you do. I really enjoyed the environment, and get along with kids so i was thinking it could be right for me, but i am not sure. When i was there the nurses mostly helped with groups, kept the children on track, helped if there was an outburst, and gave meds. Any opinions??? pros and cons to working in child psych?????

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Specializes in Mental Health Nursing.

i love child psych nursing, im hoping to go upgrade more in this field in the next few years, basically i become new to this child psych nursing about a year, i enjoy working in this field as much as working in the in-patient psychiatry wards. there are many things to do, trouble childrens needs attention from family, in my place we work not only with the childrens but the adolescents too :)

we also go to the child school to do school visit or home visit depending the situations.

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Thanks for your response... Im thinking i will love it to. only one way to find out though lol also i think it depends on the facility..

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Is child psych a floor? or a facility?

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Is child psych a floor? or a facility?

Where i did my psych clinical there was a seperate psychiatric hospital for pediatrics.. so facility. Not sure how it is elsewhere.

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Specializes in Psychiatric nursing.

I've never worked child psych before but I have floated to the adolescent psych unit. Absolutely hated it, give me adults any day of the week

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I am currently a nursing student in my senior year and am looking to choose a floor for my preceptorship next semester. I originally had no interest in psych, until i visited the inpatient child psych hospital. I was only there for 6 hours, so im not sure what exactly goes on their everday, so am looking for more insight how it is to be a child psych nurse, and what exactly you do. I really enjoyed the environment, and get along with kids so i was thinking it could be right for me, but i am not sure. When i was there the nurses mostly helped with groups, kept the children on track, helped if there was an outburst, and gave meds. Any opinions??? pros and cons to working in child psych?????

I currently started as a newer grad on a child psyc unit. It is very different than adult. The pros are if a kido swings at you its not as threatening as a full grown male. Alot of times your helping these kids get through difficult times and able to make a greater impact while there still influenced. I find adults are more set in there ways such as the use of negative coping skills. The cons are you often are acting as a parent and need to have the skill set to deal with behaviors and setting limits. I feel like you have more aggressive outbursts but that just based on my clinicals in adult psyc vs my job. I enjoy my job very much. Just be aware that working in child psyc is not like working in peds. These kids come in very ill and often times due to severely aggressive and defiant behavior. The adolescent mostly come inpt due to SI and depression. Your observations on a normal day are correct. Most of my job is manging behaviors and charting. Other aspects include nrsg assessments, teaching and reinforced coping skills, teaching group,and manging the milieu. Hope this helps paint the picture. I wish you well on your journey.

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Specializes in None yet!.

If you had told me on my first day of nursing school that I'd be working child psych I would have given you a not so nice reply. :roflmao: I never really wanted to work with kids and I didn't think psych would be as hands on as I wanted...but I figured I'd give it a shot. Turns out, I love it. I do agree with the above poster, there is a HUGE difference between peds and child psych. I try to remind myself everyday that these kids have a lot of underlying problems that aren't always present in a regular peds patient, can often be manipulative to get things they want or try to force unhealthy relationships/attachments to staff. A lot of the kidss I work with come from really sad backgrounds and are just broken.You can be friendly but it's very important to set strict boundaries with this type of patient. But the job is fun. When the kids find they can trust you (and they will if you are kind and treat them as you would any other child) they will love you to death. I do a lot of paperwork, med passing, helping with crisis situations. We have diabetics, kids who come back from surgery, and other health issues so I still get to use some hands on skills.

Best of luck to you on your journey!

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I find working with kids and adolescents very rewarding. Most of them have never had a positive role model. A lot of the problems are psychosocial and you are not going to be able to fix them. You are just helping them identify positive ways they can deal with it. I do a lot of everything.

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I work on an acute child/adolescent inpatient unit. LOVE it! It's certainly not for everyone, but I find it very rewarding.

Pam

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