Mental Health Nursing Myth?

[cha0tic]

Still new to Allnurses and I hope I am posting this in the right place. I've been told by a few colleagues that once you start working in a mental health setting that it is difficult to find a job afterwards in another setting, such as med/surg. Is there any truth to this?

[mofomeat]

I've heard a bunch of times that once you work in mental health you go a little 'off' yourself.

So who knows?

BOOGITY BOOGITY BOOGITA BOOGITY

[NurseCard, ADN]

I have known folks who have worked in the mental health field for a short time,

who have gone on to careers in ICU, Med/Surge, OB, etc....

It could depend on how long a person STAYS in mental health. In

mental health, a nurse will use skills such as critical thinking, assessement,

documentation, administration of meds.. communication skills...

BUT may possibly not use a lot of other nursing skills such as

venipuncture, foley insertion, dressing changes....

In other words, a lot of the "hands on" skills may be lost, but I

personally think that those can be re-learned a WHOLE lot easier

than the skills mentioned above, that a mental health nurse will

actually retain. Soooo...

[cha0tic]

Thanks for the input NurseCard. So as long as its not too long of a time period its okay? I just wanna shed some light on the subject of if one does mental health nursing that there is very little chance of getting into another field.

[NurseCard, ADN]

Yeah, I mean if you get out of school and spend six years in mental health,

a Med/Surge or ICU manager may be less likely to hire you than, say... if

you just graduated nursing school 6-12 months ago and have been working

in a psych facility since that time. It's just the fact that the person who

has worked psych for six years has possibly gone a long time without ever

inserting an IV, inserting a foley, or changing a complicated dressing. Plus

psych DOES tend to be a slower paced, less task oriented environment.

[cha0tic]

The reason I ask is because I've been called for an interview at such a facility. Dont get me wrong, I would enjoy working in that kind of environment but its not where I see myself 2-3 years down the road.

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

It is possible for nurses to leave psych for other fields, even after several years. It may not always be easy, especially in this job market with a glut of nurses working for work (thus leading to very choosy employers and a lot of competition), but it's not impossible.

If you are wise, you will try to pick up a non-psych per-diem job at the same time, so you gain experience outside of psych as well as to help you network for when you want to move on (if you decide to leave psych, that is).

[cha0tic]

Very sound advice Meriwhen! Thanks!

[cha0tic]

So the census is that the difficulty from transitioning from mental health back to, lets say, med/surg is due to unused skill sets?

[KaeliF]

Yea from what I've heard mostly psych nurses don't get a lot of skills practice but lets be honest that's all VERY easy to relearn. The only other thing I would consider is that if you go into any kind of specialty that's where your competence will develop. Therefore, if you want to go into say ICU eventually, it will be harder coming from psych than med/surg because in psych, while you WILL get patients with other physiological issues that you'll need to take into account, that's not where your focus will be. Obviously the best thing would be to get a job that will lead into whatever you eventually want to specialize in. But I don't know how the job market is where you are, if you can afford to hold out for another job offer that's great, in my area you kind of just have to take whatever you can get!

[GeneralJinjur]

So the census is that the difficulty from transitioning from mental health back to, lets say, med/surg is due to unused skill sets?

Yes, that is the general consensus. I started out in psych and like it so much that I haven't bothered looking elsewhere. I still miss med-surg, but I can't knock a specialty that lets me learn and grow as a nurse every day. If I ever get to where I can handle everything an acute psych shift throws at me, I'll start looking for something different.

[hso5004]

I actually ran into this problem myself but with maternity experience instead of psych. I worked for 4 years right after graduation on a postpartum unit, was getting bored and did some cross training to med/surg, nicu, peds. Ended up moving to another state for grad school and thought that was the perfect time to transition into med/surg or ICU as I am always looking for a challenge. Unfortunately the way the job market is currently, employers can be very selective in who they hire out of the hundreds of applicants they receive. I thought med/surg would be an easy in, but had multiple HR personnel tell me that the hospitals were preferring to hire from within (typically CNAs filling GN positions) before they would consider hiring a nurse with experience in another field. (takes almost the same training period but for much less money). I've also run into a stigma that is associated with maternity nursing (and I think psych would be similar) that nurses who have not worked in those settings feel as if those nurses (maternity/psych) "have the easy jobs" No nursing job is ever easy and each job has its own ups and downs. As far as switching goes, if you keep your mind set and your eyes on the goal you want to achieve it will happen. It may not happen as quickly as you'd like and you may have to take a job that isn't in your plan. But just remember every job is a stepping stone and you will learn something new no matter where you go. Also psych patients are everywhere, and if you have a background in working with those patients I think that gives you an upper hand at any other nursing, because you cannot escape them in any setting. Good luck!