How to become a psychiatric nurse after getting a psychology undergraduate degree

caileighm · Jan 22, 2018

We don't have a program in Ontario specifically for psychiatric nurses. So you'd have to get a nursing degree and then just aim to get a job in psych. If you already have a bachelors degree though you'd be eligible for an accelerated program.

Fiona59 · Jan 22, 2018

Psychiatric RN is a designation and education programme in Western Canada.

Separate degree. I believe Manitoba and west.

meanmaryjean, DNP, RN · Jan 23, 2018

OP; per the AllNurses Terms of Service, if you are not an RN, you.may not have that in your username.

BlondieMSNRN · Jan 28, 2018

Psychiatric RN is a designation and education programme in Western Canada.
Separate degree. I believe Manitoba and west.

Is this true for all of Canada, ie, one has to go through a specific program to go into psych nursing? Seems limiting.

As to the OP, shadowing a psych nurse (when not a nuraing student) sounds hard to do for patient privacy reasons. Regardless, it seems like nursing school is in your future, so I'd start looking at that, as well as investigating other areas of nursing in the event that you suddenly change your mind and realize 2 years from now you suddenly don't like psych nursing.. it would be terrible to be in school and then not have interest in any other areas of nursing.

Fiona59 · Jan 28, 2018

Is this true for all of Canada, ie, one has to go through a specific program to go into psych nursing? Seems limiting.
As to the OP, shadowing a psych nurse (when not a nuraing student) sounds hard to do for patient privacy reasons. Regardless, it seems like nursing school is in your future, so I'd start looking at that, as well as investigating other areas of nursing in the event that you suddenly change your mind and realize 2 years from now you suddenly don't like psych nursing.. it would be terrible to be in school and then not have interest in any other areas of nursing.

Psych nurses are a special breed. I've worked with them in LTC. They receive a basic RN education and have been hired into LTC and medicine units as floor RNs. Their emphasis is on mental health. I remember one who went through a Women's Health orientation because she wanted to work with post partum patients diagnosed with PPD.

Many Psych RNs work in Corrections, addiction practices, and social services settings.

I don't think it's a limiting degree. It takes a special nurse to work in those settings and I'm glad they exist

BlondieMSNRN · Jan 28, 2018

Psych nurses are a special breed. I've worked with them in LTC. They receive a basic RN education and have been hired into LTC and medicine units as floor RNs. Their emphasis is on mental health. I remember one who went through a Women's Health orientation because she wanted to work with post partum patients diagnosed with PPD.
Many Psych RNs work in Corrections, addiction practices, and social services settings.
I don't think it's a limiting degree. It takes a special nurse to work in those settings and I'm glad they exist

I understand what you're saying- I do think they are essential- I certainly do not have the talent to be a psych RN! What I meant as far as limiting is that if the OP chooses to specialize so soon in a program that only grants psych nursing degrees (if I even read that post correctly) while she's not even sure she wants to be an RN, then she may, indeed, be more limited than if she went to a traditional nursing program.