just getting so info

[Donurse]

I am going to school and although I am just becoming an RN I am looking at specializing in a specific area. One area that I am looking at is Psychiatric Nursing. I wanted to find out what were the advantages and disadvantages of the feild.

[Diane K.]

This is a great field for those with compassion and a sense of humor. After working in acute care settings for more than 20 years, I find it as enthralling as ever. It helps to have self awareness and self motivation as keeping up with current treatments and reading everything you can find about psychopathology will increase your skills as a nurse and increase your job satisfaction. Bear in mind that the warmth and caring you show these patients may be worth more than you could know, as these people are often abandoned because of their ilnesses. Good luck! Would like to know how you make out.

[Rebecca King]

Donurse, good for you. I personally think Psych nursing is the only holistic nursing. Of course, that is just a personal opinion, many others, I am sure, feel this same way about his/her area of nursing. I do know that after having spent 7 years in ICU, CCU, and Med/Surg I found my greatest rewards in psych nursing. Psych patients have life-encompassing needs. For example, the privilege to drive a car, have children (or even a support person), own a home, make long-range plans for his/her future, etc, etc, etc (all those things many of us take for granted on a daily basis). If you feel that you have a lot of care and compassion to give this kind of patient, psych nursing is the speciality for you. Good luck with your career.

[mule city rn]

Get some med-surg in first. I didn't and it really limited me at times. I've been a psych nurse for 26 years and still love it. I hate hospital administration with a burning passion, but love working with the patients. It's something different every day.