Is med-surg a must? Not wanting to get pidgeon-holed..

[EricaSAFJAF]

I was offered a job today at a psych facility...psych nursing is exactly what I want to do so im very excited to be in such a position. I'm a new grad by the way...I have a 2nd round interview this monday at an acute care/rehab hospital where it's more traditional med-surg-y type of stuff... if they offer me a job as well, would it be silly to decline since i believe psych is what i want to do? I'm pretty sure psych exp is only really transferrable to other psych facilities lol...

[Hygiene Queen]

i kept hearing through school that if you go into psych nursing you will "lose your clinical skills" like starting IV's, inserting foleys, etc.

I hear that too, but I work in geri-psych which utilizes all these skills and more.

I'm doing dressing changes, IV's, full ADL's, EKG's, foleys, colostomies, blood draws and have plenty of labs to address.

And while my pts are supposed to be stable, they are also old so I'm constantly aware that things can go south at anytime.

I'm always addressing things like hyper/hypotension, diabetes, possible fractures and my favorite and yours... chest pain.

Just because it's psych does not mean there is no medical component wherein you utilize your skills.

I became a nurse at 41.

Sorry, but I'm to old to play around.

I knew I wanted to do geri-psych, so that's what I did.

What a lot of folks didn't get, was that I wasn't looking to move to any other area.

I wasn't looking to climb the ladder and build a fantastic career.

I only have so much time left to work as a nurse and I'm not going to spend it being miserable in med-surge.

(I'd rather be occasionally miserable in psych, you see... but work really isn't supposed to be fun, now is it?)

I just knew what I wanted.

Sounds like you do too.

Go for it.

I did and no regrets here.

[Jess_Missouri_RN]

Went into M/S as a new grad. Have spent two years and just accepted an infusion home health position...exactly what I wanted. I wanted home health the minute I started nursing school. Knew I need M/S experience, I've got that now and will be moving on. Didn't find it difficult for what/where I wanted to be.