Published
Maybe. It depends on where you go next, and how you sell yourself. Being comfortable with psychiatric patients is a definite plus, also health promotion is a big part of psychiatric nursing (ideally) so you get a lot of patient education experience. The flipside is that you wont use many psychomotor skills in a psychiatric setting and many of your medical issues are chronic not acute. I would be sure to continue to study up on med surg stuff so you stay fresh and current. Another benefit of psych experience is that the vast majority of what you learn is not taught in school, especially the psychopharm, so that will help you to stand out among other recent grads.
I started in psych fresh out of nursing school. This really hampered me in my early career. I worked in a free-standing mental health facility that was closed by the parent company. There was not an abundance of other mental health jobs in my city. Hospitals wouldn't even talk to me because of my lack of med-surg experience. I had a very difficult time finding employment. There is a widely-held perception that mental health nurses can't do anything else - something to consider as you decide.
In other hospitals I will not have the opportunity to see too many psych cases.
I'm just going to let you know now that this perception is very inaccurate. Psych patients are EVERYWHERE, as I'm sure you've noticed working psych that they don't get transferred to psych until they're medically stable. That means a lot of patients with psych issues on med surge floors, EDs, etc. You might not see as many simply because that isn't the focus of your floor, but trust me, they're there. ; )
That being said, *I* personally think that psych experience is useful for any RN who wants to improve their therapeutic communication, being able to handle emotional situations with clients, etc. But from what I've seen a lot of hospitals really don't 'count' psych experience for medical related jobs... and I've been told countless times to get med/surge experience in case I ever want to work a medical setting again. Psych is seen as a very niche profession and that psych nurses can only work psych. So, be careful staying there too long and continue to look for whatever field you really want.
Ochin09
52 Posts
I am a new grad that wanted to go to a med/surg area, but found a job in a psych hospital instead. I do not really liked it, but I am taking it as a new experience and I am keeping my mind open to learn something new. I am still trying to find a job in a med/surg area in another hospital but it is so difficult for a new grad to find a job without any experience. My question is if having experience in a psych hospital would it be considered experience to get a job in a regular hospital? thanks!!