New RN...excited

[John24]

I passed NCLEX in mid January and finally got the job I have been pursuing since. It's a psych hospital for kids 5-18. I start next week!

The part that is interesting here is that I am only 21. I am wondering how my age will affect everything. I figure that some patients might open up more to me because I'm close to their age and I'm not really an "adult" in their eyes. On the other hand, I also figure I will have patients that will try to intimidate and manipulate because of the same reason.

[Nurse_]

Congrats!

It's a whole different monster once you become the nurse. Unless you work in a group home, the time you think you'll spend with patients are limited because of the amount of paperworks you need to do. I'm sorry to burst your bubble but that's the case. You will conduct some group meetings but getting them to open up will not be your primary job description. You will have to assess the effectivity of the medications they are on, properly assess the side effects, court dates (as some of them will require conservatorship) and coordinate with the doctors.

No matter what your age is, the patient will try to manipulate you... psych or not. You have to be assertive and maintain a professional distance to be effective. Stating your age should not be part of your nursing, in any field, because your age does not have any bearing in your competence on being your patient's nurse.

[John24]

Congrats!

It's a whole different monster once you become the nurse. Unless you work in a group home, the time you think you'll spend with patients are limited because of the amount of paperworks you need to do. I'm sorry to burst your bubble but that's the case. You will conduct some group meetings but getting them to open up will not be your primary job description. You will have to assess the effectivity of the medications they are on, properly assess the side effects, court dates (as some of them will require conservatorship) and coordinate with the doctors.

No matter what your age is, the patient will try to manipulate you... psych or not. You have to be assertive and maintain a professional distance to be effective. Stating your age should not be part of your nursing, in any field, because your age does not have any bearing in your competence on being your patient's nurse.

Thanks for your thoughts. Yeah, I was told that most of my work would be in meetings and med assessment. I was just making the point for when I do assessment and such. I also mention my age on here because I look even younger than 21. I won't have to say anything (wouldn't ever do so anyway) for them to know that I'm pretty close to their age.

[JuliRN]

I'm a 24 year old RN who works at a 16 bed psych facility. The age of our pt.'s varies, many times a lot of them are older than me but I find that my age really isn't an issue at all, no matter how old the pt. is. I do lots of 1:1, conduct groups, etc. There is a lot of nurse-pt. contact where I'm working (along with the dreaded paperwork) but I've found that as long as the pt.'s perceive you as being genuine and sincere, age means very little to them.