what to expect at a psych inpatient setting?

[flwrrn89]

Hello everyone,

I have been a psych RN for the last 3 years working at an Adult day healthcare center. I want to move up in my career and am looking for experience in an inpatient setting. I, however, have basically lost all my hands on skills, like starting IV's. What should I expect to see in a hospital setting on the psych unit? Psych has always been a passion of mine, that is why I went straight into psych out of school. Maybe I should have done med/surg to begin with so I wouldn't have lost my skills, but honestly I have never liked med/surg. Any and all advice will be helpful! Thank you fellow nurses.

[Sour Lemon]

It depends on the type of inpatient unit. The one I work on doesn't accept patients with IVs. We only administer IM and PO medication. We do get an occasional colostomy or Foley catheter, but the patients often care for those themselves.

I've worked in a medical surgical psych unit, too. There, we did it all.

[flwrrn89]

Thanks for your response. Well the jobs I have applied to have been primarily geropsych, behavioral health, or behavioral medicine. I'll just have to wait and see.

[Heylove, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

It depends on the type of inpatient unit. The one I work on doesn't accept patients with IVs. We only administer IM and PO medication. We do get an occasional colostomy or Foley catheter, but the patients often care for those themselves.

I've worked in a medical surgical psych unit, too. There, we did it all.

Wow! That is super-specialized...a medical-surgical psych unit? I've never heard of such a thing. That's great!!!

[Heylove, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

Thanks for your response. Well the jobs I have applied to have been primarily geropsych, behavioral health, or behavioral medicine. I'll just have to wait and see.

In our hospital, adults and adolescent units do not (in general) have IVs. Occasionally the senior/gero patients may have IV fluids, but they must be watched at all times for safety.

My advice for you is brush up on your state's laws regarding involuntary holds if you don't already know. Good luck!

[FolksBtrippin, BSN, RN]

We did not have IVs on any of the psych inpatient units I've worked on. We had lab techs come up and draw our labs. The only technical stuff we did were IM and subQ injections, EKGs, finger sticks for blood glucose.