instructor discouraging student from becoming a psych nurse!

[RN1263]

i'm an r.n. student & i had been thinking about going into psych nursing after i graduate in may, but when i took psych last semester and let my plans be known to my instructor she said " ...but, you have anxiety...(pause)...you haven't had OB yet, maybe you'll like that!" & walked away!

i feel she had basically said i'm not right for psych nursing & i shouldn't do it? first of all, my anxiety is "mild" & is definately triggered by nursing school. this instructor saw me right before a med/surg skills test & i will admit i was anxiety ridden (but, i didn't want a clinical "F")! also, i'm not perfect, i do sometimes get depressed, but does that mean i shouldn't do psych? how can a psych nurse not have their own negative emotions sometimes?.....i do know when to be professional and not let that affect patient care....

anyway, she really discouraged me at the time, but my mind keeps wondering back to psych nursing, even though i've looked into many other things that i could do. do you think it would be a mistake for me to go into psych? i usually don't let people deter me that easily, but i figured "she's" the expert?????

[edorn]

Hey everyone,

This is my first post. I am so glad I stumbled onto this particular thread. I am a psychiatric nurse and also a BSN nursing instructor, and I take my students to clinical to my practice setting!! I have 8 students who are beginning to embrace psych nursing because I have been able to demonstrate to them that psych nursing is the soul of ALL nursing. After all, we all have a soul, and that does not get checked at the door when entering a medical care setting! We are all psych nurses at some level since we approach care with a holistic framework.

I am sorry to hear that any instructor would discourage a student from this exciting field. Any student who feels this calling should be extemely supported to enter this field. I happen to specialize in child/adolescent mental health and it is heartbreaking but important work to intervene in the life of youth before they develop lifetime habitual destructive patterns of behavior. Mental health settings are the place where the nurse is so uniquely a living therapeutic intervention. Please do not let anyone discourage you from exploring this specialty. There are plenty of medical issues among the mental health population as well, so don't think it is some sort of second class nursing practice. Regards,

edorn

[RN1263]

thanks to everyone who has replied!

edorn, thanks for your words. i WAS very discouraged and have looked into other areas of nursing (i'm 6 mos. from grad.), but i have kept coming back to psych. not only am i interested in psych overall, but also during my psych clinical the other staff at the psych hospital didn't seem "miserable" like the nurses do on the med/surg floors!...i figure the only way to know if it's for me is to try it when i'm done and see, but i don't know if the "only" psych hospital by me will have any openings & if they don't the only other option where i live would be a geropsych unit of a hospital. i don't know too much about geropsych?

[PsychRN-Kris]

Don't let it discourage you and follow your interest!

I was told "Oh you don't want to do THAT" and "Well you need 2 years of Med-Surg before they will let you be a psych nurse" and "Noone gets into pysch right out of school and WHY would you want to?". I pushed for psych preceptorship my final quarter of school, the only one in my class who did. Well guess what? I got hired into psych right out of school and am loving it. Best of luck to you.:wink2:

[DDRN4me]

Hey everyone,

This is my first post. I am so glad I stumbled onto this particular thread. I am a psychiatric nurse and also a BSN nursing instructor, and I take my students to clinical to my practice setting!! I have 8 students who are beginning to embrace psych nursing because I have been able to demonstrate to them that psych nursing is the soul of ALL nursing. After all, we all have a soul, and that does not get checked at the door when entering a medical care setting! We are all psych nurses at some level since we approach care with a holistic framework.

I am sorry to hear that any instructor would discourage a student from this exciting field. Any student who feels this calling should be extemely supported to enter this field. I happen to specialize in child/adolescent mental health and it is heartbreaking but important work to intervene in the life of youth before they develop lifetime habitual destructive patterns of behavior. Mental health settings are the place where the nurse is so uniquely a living therapeutic intervention. Please do not let anyone discourage you from exploring this specialty. There are plenty of medical issues among the mental health population as well, so don't think it is some sort of second class nursing practice. Regards,

edorn

YOu are sooo right!! I loved psych but didnt think i would be good at it (tendency to care a little too much) but i have found that i used it each and every day and that is what makes me a good, caring nurse!! I now work at a pedi psych residential facility and have combined my two favorite kinds of nursing!! go with your heart... and if it doesnt work out you will have learned something about yourself and that type of nursing... knowledge of any kind is never wasted..good luck! mary

[DDRN4me]

btw.... :welcome: to edorn!!!

[lizprn06]

Don't worry about what your instructor said. I think your history of anxiety will help you be more empathetic to your patients. I am a new grad and I love psych nursing! I work in a child/adolescent unit. I worked for a short time in critical care and hated it. I would come home from work crying and completely stressed out. Psych nursing, especially with kids is stressful as well but it is a different type of stress. It's hard to explain, but the stress associated with a patient that coded is different from the stress of restraining an out of control and dangerously agitated 15 year old. By the way, I had a great day today. The meds on my psychotic 1o year old patient are finally starting to work and he was well enough to play monopoly with me!!!