Help! New Grad in Mental Health

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Hi everyone,

I graduate Aug. 1st and I just got my dream job!! I start in mental health the week following graduation.

Everybody keeps telling me that I need to work in Med-Surg for a year 1st, but I am just not interested in that. I really want to be a psyche nurse. The thought of spending a year in Med-Surg is really upsetting to me.

Am I making an irrepairable mistake??

Am I the only person interested in psych? Is there anyone out there who could just be happy for me? Please let me know, I am getting really frustrated by all the hullaballou.

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Specializes in Geriatrics.

I too was told to start in a hospital on a med surg floor. I was lucky enough to get the job and it was HORRIBLE. THe hospital was bad in itself but i don't think it helped that I really had no interest in it. I only lasted 2 weeks. I am now working in a field that I TRULY love and I LOVE my job. Follow YOUR dreams and not what anyone tells you to do!! Making the decision to quit was the smartest thing I did!!

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You are old enough to know what you want to do and what you don't want to do. Follow your gut, your heart and your intuition.

I hate med surg and started right in Postpartum; I don't buy into the whole idea that you need medsurg.

Psych was my second choice and i am happy for you! :)

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Thank you, sooooo much! It truely helps to know I am not the only person in the world who isn't interested in med-surg. Ya'll have a great day!!

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Definitely follow your dreams! :) Since you definitely know what you want to do..GO FOR IT. I just passed my boards and still looking for a job. Since I don't know what I want to do yet, I'm going to start med/surg (personally I don't mind it). Good luck with your career! :):caduceus:

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

I am a newer nurse with five months of experience at this time. All of my instructors said it was imperative that all new grads obtain at least one year experience doing hospital med-surg. I did not follow their advice because I absolutely hated my med-surg clinical rotations while in school.

I have two jobs. My 'real' job involves working full-time weekend double shifts at a nursing home. I only work at this place on Saturday and Sunday but get paid for a full 40-hour work week, which is not too bad. At my second job, I am a medication nurse at a psychiatric hospital. I love psych nursing since there's never a dull moment. I also love the slower pace of the nursing home environment.

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I've found that those that advocate that (doing med-surg as a pre-req of sorts of other nursing) went through it themselves 20 years ago--or more. I'm finding that a great majority of newer nurses have gone into the speciality they WANT, and have no regrets.

Besides, psych patients also can (and do) require some hefty "medical" nursing!

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
Besides, psych patients also can (and do) require some hefty "medical" nursing!
This is absolutely the truth. Psychiatric patients often are admitted with infections, superficial wrist slashes, hypertension, alcoholic tremors, wounds, aches, nerve pain, physical withdrawal symptoms, facial swelling, hypothyroidism, diabetes, tumors, insomnia, restlessness, constipation, obstipation, nausea, vomiting, and many other medical conditions that require treatment and meticulous nursing care.
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Specializes in Psychiatry.

I say follow your dreams. I work Geri-psych right now and would love to find a psych position in a hospital. Not much available where I live though.

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Thank you every one!! Pinning is Monday and I start my new job the following Monday. I'm sooooo excited! I feel so much better about it all now. Ya'll have really helped.

May ALL your dreams come true & GOD bless!!

LadyStar

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