New grad needs advice from experience Psyc nurses

Whispera, MSN, RN · Jul 19, 2011

An advanced dementia unit isn't going to give you a whole lot of psych experience. Surely it will give you experience with patients with dementia, but they are a whole different population than that in a generic psych unit. You'd probably get some med/surg experience there.

I don't believe the old story that a new grad should get a year of med/surg experience IF the nurse has a love in nursing that's other than med/surg. Then I think he or she should go for the love. It has worked for me anyway.

Consider if you have a love in nursing that fits with either unit for which you have an interview... if not, I'd say go for the med/surg because you'll see a whole lot of everything there.

gnursjr2 · Jul 20, 2011

I went straight into Psych as a New Grad. I love Psych and intend on staying in this field, but I seriously think as a new grad to do Med Surg 1st for 1 year. That way if you ever want to expand your horizons as and get out of Psych, you can. It looks good on your resume to have that background, and it will help you somewhat on the psych floor. I always have to do some type of wound care, today even a colostomy bag change, and this is on an acute psych unit. I wish I had more medical background, but once you go into psych, and don't have that medical background you're kind of stuck if you decide down the road to change. I went straight into Psych d/t the fact that when I graduated no one was hiring new grads, so I had to move out of state and landed a job at a private psych hospital. Now I am a traveler psych RN. Good luck 2 U!

Yiggs · Jul 23, 2011

I work in Psych currently but I worked med/surg and trauma for several years prior to accepting a position in Psych. I would advise you to take the med/surg position over the psych position for two reasons: Firstly, you are more marketable with med/surg experience. If you choose to move to a different state or hospital after working psych for a couple years you would be viewed as someone who has no med/surg experience and would be advised to do a refresher course. Secondarily, psych patients are being admitted with multiple systems involvement, and unless you have some kind of acute care experience you will be at a loss and the patients will be at a disadvantage. When I went to psych to work, the nurses were CLUELESS - patients were complaining of chest pain and when I said the protocol is EKG and oxygen for chest pain while you wait to hear from the doctor, they were like...these are psych patients we don't do that here!! I remember insisting that a chest pain pt. gets an EKG, turned out the EKG was positive and pt. went emergently to cardiac cath. I could tell you numerous stories of negligence because nurses started in Psych soon after graduating and forget the ABC of nursing, putting patients at risk. Again, from my experience you have nothing to loose working med/surg first; it will definitly pay off and it will put you head and shoulders above the nurses when it comes on to assessment and picking up subtle changes in a patient's condition, also you will know how to respond appropriately when you need to. Tell us what your decision is after you have made it!