I think I want to be a psych nurse

vashtee, RN · Feb 16, 2008

I am doing clinicals on a psych unit right now... The RN spends almost the whole day charting and speaking to the doctors... the LVNs and aides interact with the patients a lot more where I am working. I'm not sure if this is just because they have students there or not, though.

It's not what I expected.

RNMike68 · Feb 16, 2008

Hi Aflorial! It is very exciting that you are looking to broaden your horizons in a specialty that allows you to help people when they are at their most vulnerable. Quite honestly, in the acute care inpatient setting, there is a LOT of med passing to be done, as we are stabilizing patients quickly so they can resume care in an outpatient setting. However, you are quite right in thinking that there is also a great amount of nurse-patient interaction that takes place. IMHO, the greatest tool that a psych nurse has at her/his disposal is the therapeutic use of self.

To answer your shift question, I would recommend the day shift when starting out. It will give you maximum exposure to a varied patient experience with the best mix of staff. Also, you will gain experience with discharges and admits while other nurses are around to learn from. The night shift usually has fewer staff as the patients ALL sleep through the night :bugeyes: (that's the theory, anyway!) But even if the unit you are applying to has adequate night staff, you will still learn much more starting out on days (again, just my opinion). I would recommend seeing if you can job shadow at one of the places you are interested in before jumping in with both feet. Us psych people are quite funny about patient privacy, but I believe it's worth finding a site that is willing to let you get a feel for what psych nursing is all about.

Lastly, yes, most of us psych nurses are very passionate about what we do and love it dearly (well, at least I do!), but while most psych nurses love their job, not every nurse loves being a psych nurse. Just a point to be considered. Again, good luck to you and I wish you well as you explore psych-nursing.

elkpark · Feb 16, 2008

To answer your shift question, I would recommend the day shift when starting out. It will give you maximum exposure to a varied patient experience with the best mix of staff. Also, you will gain experience with discharges and admits while other nurses are around to learn from. The night shift usually has fewer staff as the patients ALL sleep through the night (that's the theory, anyway!) But even if the unit you are applying to has adequate night staff, you will still learn much more starting out on days (again, just my opinion).

ditto ... :)

rn4ever? · Feb 17, 2008

Been a Psych Nurse for a year now. Straight out of Nursing school I chose it right away. Because that's what I wanted. Like any other unit, we have our good and the not-so-good days!

I have worked all shifts. I started with 3-11pm and that was my baptism by fire but I learned a lot from it. 11pm to 7am was the nicest (it's calm---usually and workload is less. No med passes except for some PRNs of some patients who "have a hard time sleeping" and sometimes accuchecks and giving methadone at 6am to some patients who have an order for it which is not very often). But it's true that they are usually understaffed. I also sometimes worked 7am-3pm. In the end, we were offered 12 hour shifts so I chose 7am-7pm shift. I prefer it because time goes by fast and we are more adequately staffed (although there are of course some days when were not!). All the people in charge are there just in case you need them---and I don't need to be wide-awake in the evening. Good luck to you!

Hello to you all! I have one year experience in med-surg/ortho. I have been looking for a specialty where I have time to spend with my patients-no just pass meds. I want to be able to interact with them and get to know them. I find myself thinking about Psych lately, and by reading several postings, it seems that most Psych nurses are happy and satisfied with their job. I like to talk and counsel people, therefore, I think I might fit right in. My question is, should I take a 7am-3pm position, or 11pm-7am position as a new psych nurse. I want to be able to learn the field as much as possible. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Male Filipino Nurse · Feb 17, 2008

I am doing clinicals on a psych unit right now... The RN spends almost the whole day charting and speaking to the doctors... the LVNs and aides interact with the patients a lot more where I am working. I'm not sure if this is just because they have students there or not, though.
It's not what I expected.

It's true. The RN's in my unit usually are the ones doing pt. intakes, legal holds, staffing, Probable Cause hearings, etc. If they do communicate with the pt. it's usually them saying "Ask the staff on the floor, I'm busy." In general that's how it is. There are however a few RN's that truly bust their ass to help and that's something i truly respect. As an LVN, I'm responsible for the patient's medications and treatments so i'm fully immersed in communicating with them. I feel sometimes it's best to communicate rather than ignore because a lot of these people have already been ignored outside the hospital. Communication is KEY in this particular unit. If you don't know how to use therapeutic communications you will not survive. These patients are smart and will manipulate you if they sense weakness.

afl123 · Feb 17, 2008

Thank you all for your responses. I appreciate each adviced given. I understand nursing is very challenging in what ever specialty you are in. There is never a dull moment for sure. I am always ready for a challenge and I hope to enjoy it like you guys do because I am looking for my niche.

Another question I have is about the doctors relationship with nurses. In the places that you work, are you respected by the doctors and staff? I don't see any respect for nurses in the place were I work. Especially not from the doctors. It is very discouraging. Afterall, I am a professional and I would like to be treated that way. Any response would be appreciated.

RNMike68 · Feb 23, 2008

Another question I have is about the doctors relationship with nurses. In the places that you work, are you respected by the doctors and staff? I don't see any respect for nurses in the place were I work. Especially not from the doctors. It is very discouraging. Afterall, I am a professional and I would like to be treated that way. Any response would be appreciated.

Generally the nurse-physician relationships where I work are tremendous. In fact, it is one of the things that attracted me to psych initially. There is a team approach to everything and I feel that I'm valued by the psychiatrists that I work with. Also, there are a limited number of psychiatrists that admit and round on patients at my hospital, so we tend to establish very congenial relationships. There have been exceptions, of course, but those are generally the exception, not the rule. I have even noticed that the relationships with medical physicians that follow my patients are, for the most part, respectful. My psych-hospital is part of a larger hospital system that includes a large med/surg unit where my wife used to work. She ended up quitting and taking an agency position for another hospital, in part because of the horrible way she was treated by some physicians. :angryfire Those same physicians are, shall we say, on their "best" behavior while at our psych unit. Maybe they are afraid that we won't come to their aid if they get in trouble with a patient or that we might take their keys away. And you know what we say in psych? "The only difference between a patient and thee is who has the keys!"

KrissyPRN · Feb 23, 2008

I have to say I like working mental health & addictions. I feel respected by the doctors and the other staff. I work on the obs unit in our dept and I am responsible for most of the admissions to our unit as well as the transfer of patients to other facilities. I work directly with the screener who does the psychosocial assessment and handles the insurance precerts. We have 5 psychiatrists that take call and see our patients. They are all very nice and respectful. I work 7P-7A 3 nights a week. We are very busy at night as far as admissions go so I have to contact the on call psychiatrist on a nightly basis a few times a night. They are always very nice and I have yet to experience them get irritated because it's 3 am and I'm calling for the fifth time to admit yet another pt.