Newer cardiac stepdown nurse thinking about switching to psych?

[michigan94]

Hello, I’ve been visiting allnurses for a long time and love the info I find on here and I’m in need of some advice. I’m a newer nurse who graduated in December, after graduating I accepted a days position on a cardiac stepdown unit. I’ve learned so much and am thankful for this opportunity but I haven’t been happy at all. My unit is high stress, high patient turnover, many of my patients are unstable and going into V tach/V fib, having chest pain etc.. I get so burnt out because I never get time for a break, and when I do I’m constantly getting calls from doctors/families, I just never get a second to breath. I go home in tears more often than not and I just feel crabby and not myself both in and outside of work. I truly admire the nurses I work with and all they do but I just don’t think bedside nursing is something I can see myself doing for much longer. I have an interview coming up at a nights position at an inpatient behavioral health facility split into an adolescent and adult unit. I’ve always had a passion for psych and loved learning about it, I did my mental health clinicals at this facility and enjoyed it but didn’t get to do or see much as a student. I truly do think I’d be happier there, I’m not looking for “easier” and I’m fully aware no nursing job is easy, but not having to deal with unstable medical patients or get treated disrespectfully by family members is a plus for me. I just want to be able to say I love what I do. My two biggest questions are: Do assaults from patients happen often in psych facilities? This is one thing I’m nervous about. And also, if I ever decided in the future I want to transition back to medical, is 6 months RN experience enough? (I do have 4 years CNA exp in acute care as well). I’m not sure what my long term goals are, but I have considered studying psych more if it’s something I really enjoy. I’d really love to hear from nurses out there who switched to psych, are you happy with your decision? What’s a typical shift like for you? Thanks. ?

[mangopeach]

Hello,

So as far as assaults

In my facility, its a rare thing- However, can it happen? Yes

Having said that, I never blame the patient. I blame management. Are they staffing the units correctly? Psych nursing is team nursing. You need a good team.

Most of the time, you can respond to a patient before they get aggressive. Most Patients don't get aggressive out of the blue.

I hate to tell you this but I deal with disrespectful family members all day long. People dealing with sick family members are usually stressed out and often don't know how to deal with their own stress and emotions and sometimes take out their stress on healthcare providers. They are projecting. I just remind myself its not about me. I try to offer them some resources or ask them what are they doing to take care of themselves . This tends to break the ice. I remind them they can't properly take care of their loved one if they are not taking care of themselves.

IMO, Psych is something you either love or you hate. If you love it, you won't mind the stressful days so much. We are in a mental health crisis in this country. Suicide attempts are up. We are in an Opioid crisis. A lot of facilities are short of beds. Most days I don't get a break. I eat standing up. Might be different in some parts of the country, but in GA where I am, all the facilities are hurting for staff so its busy all the time. Non stop work. I'm always shocked when someone from a different area of nursing comes to psych and says well I came to psych because its easy or I want to sit down more. LOL!

Having said that. I love what I do. I am a new grad Psych NP. I was a psych RN for 7 years before becoming an NP and I would not change it for a thing. I have seen people go back and forth from psych to other areas of nursing. Only way to know is to try for yourself. If psych interests you then go for it.

[hppygr8ful, ASN, RN, EMT-I]

Adolescent psych nurse here - not a day goes by that I don't deal with angry disrespectful family members. I'm pretty good with most people and end up doing a lot of damage control to mollify these folks.

Assaults are rare but can be pretty bad when they occur. I do have to say that I have never in 20 years of psych nursing seen an assault that was not brought on by some type of staff behavior.

Like the previous poster stated Psych nursing is team nursing and you will only be as good as your team. I will say the patients I currently see are way sicker than 10 years ago.

Still I love going to work every day.

Hppy