help - psych tech position for rn

You could say that psych techs are the equivalent of PCAs/CNAs. They do vitals, monitor the milieu, assist patients with ADLs, run groups and interact with patients. In some states, they can give medications (such as in CA). You may or may not be able to work as a psych tech in your state; it depends on your BON. In addition, facilities may not want to hire you as a tech d/t liability issues, same as hospitals may not want to hire RNs as CNAs: you are confined to the tech scope at work but should something happen you're held to the standard of your highest license. Plus facilities don't want to spend time and money hiring RNs as techs/aides when they know that the minute a RN job opens up you are gone. That being said, you never know so if your BON is OK with it, you can always give it a try.

You can't get ANCC psych-mental health certification without 2000 hours of psych experience, so you have at least 1 year's worth of psych experience under your belt (and if you got certified without those 2000 hours, you will have some explaining to do to the ANCC if they ever find out). So experience-wise, you should be a contender for psych RN jobs. See if you can get in somewhere via the PRN door. You could also try agency nursing--some agencies will consider applicants with one year of experience.

I carried an RN,C in Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing for five years. I had the same thought. I don't know how the OP even got to take the exam unless she lied about her prior experience.

If OP worked on a psych-medical unit, then it's possible he/she met criteria. But that's a unit that is specifically designated as being psych AND medical. Taking care of patients with psych issues on a med-surg floor isn't necessarily the same thing...if that's true, then the reverse must be true and I qualify to sit for the med-surg certification.

Actually OP, that's another option for you: a psych-medical unit. Those are patients that are acute psychiatrically as well as medically. They're more psychiatrically acute than you'd find in your average med-surg patient, but they're more medically acute than you'd find in your average psych patient.

Another option since you have a medical background would be geropsych, since that patient population is more medically unstable d/t its age.

Hi Meriwhen

Thanks so much.

I worked for three years in a jail so yeah I have more psych experience than I ever thought I would want. Inpatient hospital seems to not be liking that experience I guess because some of my patients have actually murdered people. I have no idea just thought it might show my interest/dedication to mental health but hmmm :).

Well, how are you portraying it on your resume?

The problem is that many employers aren't going to automatically think "psych" when they see jail/corrections positions because there's many jobs in that arena that are not considered psych at all. So you can't just say, "I have psych experience because I worked in a jail" and expect that to smoothly pave the way by itself.

You need to be specific and indicate exactly what you did in the jail that is pertinent to psych, and highlight that in your resume/cover letters.

Actually, Orca's response was pretty fair in light of the fact that you've never mentioned any prior psych experience in the jail, but instead talked about how to get psych experience that you stated you were lacking.

Certifications are something that are often faked or achieved with less-than-honorable means. Unlike some certifications where experience isn't mandatory (such as CEN), specialty experience is required to hold ANCC certification. So people, especially HR and managers, are wary if they see an applicant claiming a certification yet aren't clearly showing the relevant work experience. And you can't blame them.

And yes it is amazing to me that nurses who run a psych unit would not know that a huge percentage of criminals have mental health issues. Thanks for your response. I am taking the wrong tack here :).

Like I said, not everyone who sees "jail" thinks "psych" so you can't presume that anyone does. Also, we in psych know a lot of criminals have psych issues but that doesn't necessarily mean it's a psych job (and that's not directed at you, it goes back to my earlier point).

In addition, consider that in most cases, your resume first has to get past a HR recruiter, who may be but is more likely NOT familiar with neither corrections nor psych nursing, and she's going to try to make the call as to whether you are qualified to forward the resume on to unit manager...

Have you considered contacting nurse managers directly? I don't recommend storming the Bastille, mostly because trying to walk onto a psych unit with resume in hand will work against you. But perhaps get a hold of a name and e-mail address and talk to someone that way.