Jobs for a Nursing Student interested in Psych Nursing?

vintagemother, BSN, CNA, LVN, RN · Jan 2, 2015

Hello, so I was just wondering what were some jobs for me. I'm a third year Nursing Student. I have three more semesters and I'm finished with nursing school (A year and a half). I'm interested in Psych Nursing. I've never had a hospital job before. What are some good jobs I can do, to get a foot into psych nursing? Thanks !

The psych facility I work at, as an Lvn, hires non certified people as rehabilitation aides. In this position, the pay is low, just like Cna jobs in SNFs. But if you're interested in psych, the position would be beneficial because you learn deescalation techniques to use during episodes of physical aggression including both physical protection and therapeutic communication, you also learn psych specific charting, and generally get a "feel" for in patient psych nursing. The down side is you may not want to work in a private facility like this as an RN because the pay is much lower than a hospital pays an RN.

vintagemother, BSN, CNA, LVN, RN · Jan 2, 2015

One more idea.. I worked through an agency as a sitter-CNA providing 1:1 care to Pts with a psych issue and a medical problem when I was in school. I also worked with dementia Pts in SNFs as a Cna. Both of those positions gave me somewhat of a psych background prior to becoming a nurse in psych.

notnursezelda · Jan 2, 2015

unit secretary? mental health tech?

a cna job wouldn't help in this scenario as much as it would with others fields

notnursezelda · Jan 2, 2015

note: some places do have cna's. i just meant the facility i was at did not, so i would think mental health tech would be a better fit, if you want to really interact with patients and get a feel for the position, also a great way to learn

elkpark · Jan 2, 2015

Different facilities call their techs/aides by different titles. Every psych facility/unit I've worked in (over many, many years) has hired CNAs to work as techs on the psych unit(s), and this is a popular, traditional job for nursing students and psychology students to get some "real life" exposure and experience in psychiatric settings. You wouldn't even necessarily have to be a CNA to get an aide/tech job on a psych unit, although the duties are pretty similar.

Best wishes!

Also, as noted, lots of hospital employ nursing students (among others) to work as 1:1 sitters with people with psychiatric and safety concerns in the hospital.