New grad psych nurse

[SummerloveRN]

HEY FELLOW RN's! I'm a long time lurker here, but this is my first post. I recently got licensed in April, and after much searching I finally got a job in my local psychiatric hospital. I never saw myself in psych, I completed my preceptorship in CVICU and always saw myself in critical care. After some hunting I couldn't find a job that suited me in that area. I took a shot in the dark and applied for a psych nursing position. I enjoyed this rotation in nursing school and am always open to learning and expanding my nursing knowledge. I had my interview today and they offered me the job on the spot. It felt so right, and I accepted the position. I am thrilled and excited for this new chapter. I feel though, that it may be hard for me to get my head in the right space; not only being a new grad, but entering a specialty that I am not AS familiar with.

I'm open to any tips, tricks, insight, or resources that you may feel will help me succeed in this position! :)

[cleback]

I would read one of the books on inpatient psychotherapy by Irwin Yalom.

They're oldies but goodies. When I was a new grad in psych, after I gained comptence with med management/monitoring, I found I was asking myself "what are we actually doing for these patients?" You will quickly note that meds are only one piece of the recovery from mental illness. The books I mentioned cover the other piece... how to communicate therapeutically with patients with varying levels of illness and what can realistically be accomplished within the short time frame of an inpatient admission.

... in short, what we're not taught in nursing school.

Good luck!

[Cullen1989]

Thanks for the book advice! As a psychiatric nurse myself, I'm struggling with those same feelings of " burn out" , what am I really doing for this patient, I'm not healing a wound? They keep coming back, what is my purpose in being a psychiatric RN.

[Cullen1989]

Psychiatry is tough! I'm rather new, only 3 years in, but I often find myself asking is this really where I want to be? Problems with the same patients coming back, verbal threats, there is a constant need to be watching out for escalating behavior (is the patient becoming agitated, is there behavior not at baseline) but, for the right person psychiatry is very rewarding. Unfortunately, I think it 's my time to move on! Good luck! You'll soon find which nurses are good to lean on, and learn from, stick to them and don't be afraid to ask the psychiatrist questions, read the documentation, learn about your patient and what is being done for them so you can better help them.

[Davey Do]

I'm open to any tips, tricks, insight, or resources that you may feel will help me succeed in this position!

Congratulations and welcome to AN.com as no longer being a lurker, SummerloveRN!

Be sure to check out this forum:

https://allnurses.com/psychiatric-nursing/

Good luck and best wishes to you, SummerloveRN!