nurse vs. social worker

[Infofreak411]

I was considering going back to school for either nursing or clinical social work but am at a total loss! I'm not sure what to do.. I've always had a fascination and great interest for medical (I would read my friends nclex for fun lol). But even more so, I have an interest in mental health and love the idea of counseling and helping people with psychosocial issues.

With that being said I was thinking of doing social work but people told me how horrible the pay is and how hard it is to get a job so it was suggested and taken into consideration that I become a psych nurse because the pay would be better, the schooling shorter and there would be way more opportunities.

I thought this would be great because in addition psych nursing would combine both psychology and medical which I love.

But my question is, do psych nurses actually do much counseling or get involved with much of the psychosocial aspects? Or is it more passing meds, checking vitals and restraining?

I'm so confused! What do you think?

[Momma1RN, MSN, RN, APRN]

Depending on the facility, there is a lot of opportunity for 'counseling' psych patients in psych nursing. That being said, I've been in facilities (as a student) where nurses pass meds and mental health workers are the people who actually spend the most time talking with patients. From my experience, psych nursing is a little bit easier to get into as a new grad than a med surg floor (but I live in a very very saturated part of the country for RNs/medical professionals). Good luck!

[~PedsRN~, BSN, RN]

I will tell you why I could never work in social work... because as a nurse, I see their cases and I have yet to see ONE case end the way that it should have. UUUUGH..... I can't imagine.

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

Just a quick offering: Not sure why you were told the schooling would be shorter for nursing than social work, but that's an error. It's longer. The pay IS better, that's true, but it's not easier to find a job...despite the hype, there is no national nursing shortage. Some areas of the country have more of a need, but speaking in broad terms, you may find yourself unemployed for some time after several years of nursing school. Much like with social work.