Med/surg to psych

NedRN · Jun 22, 2015

Nope, unless you get lucky, you will need experience on a psych ward on your work history. You will be competing with actual psych nurses for travel assignments. Who would you choose if you were the manager?

marie875 · Jun 22, 2015

Well it's not always easy to find psych nurses, so there might not be many options for them to begin with...And i don't mind competing or getting rejected. I just want to opportunity for an employer to see me as an option is all.

NedRN · Jun 22, 2015

Why not try for medsurg and psych? Ask agencies to submit you for both. But if you really want to be a psych nurse going forward, step up and get the experience. Right now, you probably don't have a clue about lock down, prisoners, day care, crisis intervention, group, child, integrated care (interdisciplinary meetings), and community health. This is just off the top of my head. I don't know what I don't know either nor much of a clue how to deal with just those situations mentioned that I do know I don't know. You know?

MyPrnPleaseBSN · Jun 23, 2015

While you have encountered several psych patient on your med-surg unit, things are done differently on the psych ward however. Having the confidence working with psych patient is a great start..matter of fact, some nurses are afraid to work with psych patients... have you ever thought of PRN'ing over to psych first? just to at least see how things are on the actual unit? ;

PacoUSA, BSN, RN · Jun 23, 2015

Working with med-surg psych patients does not translate into psych nursing experience at all. You are not experienced in the treatment of psychiatric conditions, you are only experienced in treating the medical conditions of patients that have active psychiatric issues. There is a big difference between the two.

PG2018 · Jun 23, 2015

You can transition from med/surg to psych easily although they are rather different. The reason I didn't like inpatient anything (med/surg or psych) was the extraneous charting, documentation and minutiae of general nursing. I'm not interested in managing every little thing the patient has going on, but if you are you'll do fine. I had trouble with a change from ER to inpatient psych because the operational roles were so different - everything from admissions to charting to orders to autonomy. It was never the psychiatry or verbal de-escalation, which is the greatest skill to hone with IP psych, that was a problem. To answer your questions, you'll likely not get placed for travel psych having never worked psych, but I understand your interest. My advice would be to start working in mental health now, whether full-time or not, and then seek travel placement in that role. Something else I picked up, on my path to becoming a Psych NP, was that most nurses didn't know squat (myself included) about psychopathology and psychopharmacology. Devoting some self-education to that, I can recommend some texts, and learning what a quality mental status exam is will help (numerous templates online). In IP psych, nurses are compelled, often, to chart "BIRP" notes which really is nothing but a requirement for reimbursement, and the time that I worked in IP I merely charted a mental status exam for the B. That simplified things very much. I commend you for you interests. We need dedicated IP staff. Persevere, and you'll reach your goal. It's very doable, and I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

Angel79 · Jun 25, 2015

Hello Psychguy,

I have been a psych nurse for 4.5 years now and only four months of a med-surg floor after graduation. I have been interested in psych travel nursing for some time now. Have you ever traveled as a psych nurse? I'm debating between traveling and getting my NP in psych. If you were chosing, which would you choose? Do you like being a psych NP? Thanks for your input!