I applied for a psych job at a hospital...what to expect?

[regnurse1995]

I have applied for a 12 hr shift two nights/week.

We will have up to 8 patients.

There are psych techs.

My question is this. Can someone please tell me what night shift is like at a hospital? What is the real picture of this type of nursing? I have experience in Med/Surg, ICU, LDR, Home health, and wound care. I do not want high stress.

I spoke with the CEO at a job fair. He said it's not the same kind of med/surg stress, but rather mentally challenging. He said the staff was like family and there was only a 3-4% turn around out of 85 employees in the dept. Is he saying this just because he is desparate to get staffing?

I am in my 40's. I don't mind busy, but I don't want high stress. I am looking for a nursing job that I can handle and not sure if this is it or not. I have a niece who is bipolar and I've been helping her this past year. She is very manipulative.

For those of you doing it, I would love to hear from you. Is there someone who wouldn't mind speaking to me in detail about this?

Thank you so much!

[kiwipsychnurse]

Is it acute inpatient or rehab. If its rehab once they have gone to bed kick back and relax. If its acute then could be another story. People walking around trying to talk to you all night is not good for the whole ward and the patients tend to sleep away the next day due to being up all night. Avoid big conversations after midnight, don't be afraid to give out PRN if people cant sleep.

Most night shifts Ive had have gone well, only been punched once, but the guy was very unwell.

Give it a go and tell us how things pan out.

[regnurse1995]

Thanks so much for the info.