Birds of a feather

[AutumnApple]

So, I'm in psych nursing now and rather enjoying my work right now. Very different than anything I've ever done before. But there is one thing on my mind a lot that..........well, read on.

Some of my coworkers are a little frightening.

I've always heard that psych nurses eventually become the patient on their own units. Wow, the time I've spent on this unit has validated that for me. Between one nurse who is admittedly bi-polar and works three jobs to cover the credit card debt she piled up during manic shopping sprees and some other things, there is no denying how applicable that myth is.

I called it a myth on purpose, yes. Maybe I'm just not seeing things clearly or I'm biased due to always having listened to others spread the stereotype around. I don't know what the problem is but I still think it's a myth.

Or maybe calling it a myth is just my wishful thinking. My coworkers make me think it might be. I do plan on being in this specialty until I retire. Am I doomed to become like them?

I can't help but think back to that movie, "The Breakfast Club" where the teens are discussing how we all grow up to become our parents no matter how hard we try not to. I feel like that working on this unit.

So what "myths" about specialties have you validated or discredited?

[pixierose, BSN, RN]

Exactly.

When I worked mental health one of the things that a patient said really tugged at my heart. The person said, " I wanted to get help sooner but there is such a stigma attached to asking for help and coming inpatient for my mental health. " So why are we critical of a co-worker in any setting having a mental health diagnosis? And to top it off, she is dealing with it appropriately from what you have described. Such as aware of her diagnosis, knows she goes on spending sprees and takes responsibility for it such as working more than one job. I don't think there is reason to fear her. And for sure you cannot catch someone else's disorder just by working with them.

I do think we need to be better advocates for those who do have a mental health diagnosis and provide them with better support, dispelling the myths that surround having a mental health diagnosis, normalizing their feelings and educating the public.

Nicely stated.

(Not so) Interestingly enough, many descriptors attached to this thread r/t psych nursing (or related careers such as the social worker sister above) are "frightening," "kooky," and "nutty." You wouldn't see these descriptors attached to the "myth" of an ICU nurse (even though my new coworkers seem to fit it perfectly) or oncology. Just psych.

I think it's overall a reflection of how society views those with mental health issues. Even if some of us mean it endearingly (such as the SW sister), many truly do not. We're an educated bunch. It's heartbreaking.

[AutumnApple]

I'm just confused as to why the nurse who is bi-polar was brought up. People with mental disorders work every job out there, so why is this relevant to your comment about how "psych nurses eventually become their patients"? I don't think she just "turned" bi-polar after working in psych lol

I don't know that she was implying that psych nurses are more prone to mental illness, but maybe wondering if nurses with mental illness are more drawn to psych nursing than nurses who do not have mental illness (and no, I don't agree that everyone has some type of mental illness).

Chicken/egg

I'm more asking than implying about the myth. Like I said, I call it a myth for a reason.

I'm wondering if it's a good idea for someone who has been prone to depression........to work on a psych unit. I do read posts in the psych nursing section on this site, and frequently the nurses are saying that it has a quality of mental stress that is unique. Working on a psych unit unit is referred to as "mentally draining" a lot it seems. I see not attack on mentally ill people or psych nurses here. Other than to address that it might.........push us further into our problems if we aren't careful. Yes, I do believe it's possible there is some validity to saying "Swimming in the mental illness of others makes it harder to deal with our own problems."

And that is why the bipolar nurse came up. Having my own concerns on my mind, I can't help but wonder if working on the psych unit didn't intensify her shopping sprees and such. Would she perhaps have done better with that problem if working in a different setting?

I feel some, driven by defensiveness, are purposefully missing the point here. Seriously, "she didn't suddenly turn bipolar after working psych" is the perfect example. Really!? Is there are new Captain Obvious reward on the site or something? There are more.

I'm going to revert to one of my favorite sayings here. "Never try to reason with someone whose primary purpose is to misinterpret you." I was looking for some input into whether it's wise for someone with a history like my own to be working in psych, or not. I even opened up to giving a little of my background to express that better since the OP came off wrong. Yet still I'm only getting defensive babble for responses. So, I'll look elsewhere for advice is all. We can let the thread run it's course with the usual grandstanding that comes from someone who wants to make a point but hasn't realized..........they've missed the point. Eventually the thread will get buried and we'll all move on. I am anyway.

Thank you to the one or two people who gave intelligent responses.

[pixierose, BSN, RN]

I'm more asking than implying about the myth. Like I said, I call it a myth for a reason.

I'm wondering if it's a good idea for someone who has been prone to depression........to work on a psych unit. I do read posts in the psych nursing section on this site, and frequently the nurses are saying that it has a quality of mental stress that is unique. Working on a psych unit unit is referred to as "mentally draining" a lot it seems. I see not attack on mentally ill people or psych nurses here. Other than to address that it might.........push us further into our problems if we aren't careful. Yes, I do believe it's possible there is some validity to saying "Swimming in the mental illness of others makes it harder to deal with our own problems."

And that is why the bipolar nurse came up. Having my own concerns on my mind, I can't help but wonder if working on the psych unit didn't intensify her shopping sprees and such. Would she perhaps have done better with that problem if working in a different setting?

I feel some, driven by defensiveness, are purposefully missing the point here. Seriously, "she didn't suddenly turn bipolar after working psych" is the perfect example. Really!? Is there are new Captain Obvious reward on the site or something? There are more.

I'm going to revert to one of my favorite sayings here. "Never try to reason with someone whose primary purpose is to misinterpret you." I was looking for some input into whether it's wise for someone with a history like my own to be working in psych, or not. I even opened up to giving a little of my background to express that better since the OP came off wrong. Yet still I'm only getting defensive babble for responses. So, I'll look elsewhere for advice is all. We can let the thread run it's course with the usual grandstanding that comes from someone who wants to make a point but hasn't realized..........they've missed the point. Eventually the thread will get buried and we'll all move on. I am anyway.

Thank you to the one or two people who gave intelligent responses.

Oh jeez.

You didn't post your history, perhaps but a vague reference in your second post. I didn't know you from Eve when you posted. I still don't. No one here is being deliberately obtuse. You asked, people responded.

But to NOW answer a question that is more clear: as someone who has bipolar disorder and has worked a psych floor: no, it didn't send me spiraling as I was well treated. Any nursing job would have sent me spiraling if I wasn't well treated because all nursing jobs are hard work. Nothing particular in psych would have set me off, as I am separate from my patients.

I think everyone who posted provided intelligent responses -- you're welcome.

[brownbook]

I like your posts, and love the Captain Obvious award. I think I like sarcasm too much, probably a psych issue/virus I got from rounding on our locked psych facility when I was night supervisor. 🤣

The psych nurses I knew were great, funny, intelligent, etc. The only time I ever laughed so hard I felt like I was going to fall down was talking to a psych nurse. Laughing with her about her cats, not laughing at her or worse laughing at the patients.

I do understand how exhausting dealing with patients with serious mental health issues can be.

[guest52816]

Well, I don't feel as though my answer was defensive. You may not have liked it, OP, but it wasn't defensive.

I loved working as a psychiatric nurse. So why did I quit? Because I worked for a UHS-owned facility that wasn't safe for patients or staff. The facility treated adolescents like they were being housed at a juvenile detention facility. I couldn't look myself in the mirror knowing I was a cog in their wheel.

The work could be exhausting because I actually do care about people, and have compassion for those who are suicidal because they had grown up in a household where the mother allowed the patient to be sexually abused by relatives.

It was mentally exhausting to work with adolescents who virtually had no chance in this world because their parents, the people charged with keeping them safe in this world, abandoned that role to state because their lives were consumed by drugs.

I am sure there are some great psychiatric facilities. Unfortunately, I didn't work at one of them.

[Crystal-Wings, LVN]

One of my nursing instructors, a psych nurse by experience, displayed clear psychiatric problems if you crossed her path the wrong way. How she survived a career in a well respected university I will never understand. But then, people with personality disorders can be quite adept at showing the right face to the right people at the right time.

I had the same problem with one of the teacher's at the school I went to. She was NUTS! Definitely seemed to be bipolar or something.

I was talking to my case manager casually about this once, and she told me nursing instructor positions seem to attract those kind of people for some reason.

[wondern, ASN]

Wow, someone certainly seems to be quite the expert on NUTS.

I just can't stand that term for people. It's just mean-spirited. Bullies use it.

Also, the instructors I knew mostly seemed as healthy as any student.