Help me get my foot in the door

[Shirlianne Stirewalt, BSN]

Hi I have been a registered nurse for over 20 years. I have worked in various areas of practice but honestly because of finances have just maintained positions where I could be a mom and still maintain employment. My passion has always been psychiatric nursing from day one in nursing school. I am now the proud mother of one high school graduate and one college graduate ... Can you say empty nester!? Ha But, I feel that overwhelming sense of being under qualified and inexperienced. I have worked in the school setting helping children who suffered from severe depression, suicidal ideation ,substance abuse disorders, and counseled those students who were engaging in high risk behaviors but as far as dealing with acute inpatient crisis I have no experience. My role as the school nurse when dealing with children in acute crisis during school hours was to attempt to remove them from the general population to a quiet area, usually my office, calm them and neutralize the behavior, assess medication regime compliance and refer them out. I don't mind putting in hard work and now actually have the time to pull various 12 hour shifts that I didn't before with small children. It's just that most areas want experience especially psych/mental health nursing. I get that !! You do not want someone without proper training to work with clients. But how in the world do I get my foot in the door with my interviewers. I absolutely DO NOT mind starting from ground zero and work my way up. I am going back to work towards my psychiatric nurse practitioner in the Spring of 2020 and any advice or words of wisdom would be so appreciated.

[umbdude, MSN, APRN]

Have you applied to any of those jobs? Just because they say you need experience doesn't mean they won't hire you.

There are psych RN jobs in settings other than hospitals such as crisis stabilization and substance detox. Many of those places will hire anyone with a pulse and it's a good experience because you'll work with complex patients who have severe mental illnesses and/or substance use disorders. Also, consider part-time and per-diem.

As an NP you'll be practicing at a different level. More RN experience isn't going to make a substantial difference. Put all your focus on studying psych at the advanced level and read as much as you can. If you plan on working with children & adolescent after your PMHNP, you'll have an advantage. Not that many people want to work with this population and there's a huge need.