Ok, so as the name implies I have an interest in psychiatry. Actually, I only became a nurse to become a psychiatric nurse practitioner, and in four weeks I'll finish a MSN program to do just that. Oddly enough, I've never worked in a psych unit in any capacity other than budding APRN. Of note, I've really taken to psychiatry to the point of devoting much of my leisure time to learning more about the field, e.g. history of psychiatry, applicable psychology (neuroscience, cognition, social psychology), neurobiology, psychopharmacology, etc. This has really become my "thing."
A couple of weeks ago I left my other position and took one on a psych unit under the auspices that I would remain there until I become fully credentialed in a few months. As a lateral transfer, personnel and everyone else involved was fine with it.
My intent was experiencing more of the inpatient side of things despite the fact that my career interests lie in outpatient psychiatry. However, I am seriously bored to death, and I am considering quitting and not working again (at all) until I start my already contracted APRN position. I realize that psych nursing is hard work, and over the years I've become intimately acquainted with the nuances of an inpatient setting.
I've already learned about and dealt with unit security, escalation/de-escalation, psychopathology, psychotropics, therapy, therapeutic dialogue, etc. The computer system is the same as my previous RN department since it's the same hospital, and there was really nothing to learn but what boxes are checked (and which aren't) when someone is admitted, discharged, or how this particular unit goes about accessing the Pyxis which is grossly different than what I'm used to.
I'm not saying I'm overqualified or even overtrained for the psych unit, as a RN, but I'm dissatisfied with my role expectations, I finish my required work early, and sit in the day room talking ad nauseum with patients or explaining how medications work to nurses that have been there for varying lengths of time such my reply to a "seasoned" RN lamenting "I don't understand why our unit's blood pressures are always so low." This isn't bad, but I'm watching the clock thinking "if I were at home I could be finishing x paper or reading y chapter."
Basically, I think I took the position with a different mindset, and I'm bored. I don't dislike it, but I don't like it either. I'm not dreading going to work tomorrow, but I'm completely numb to it. Previously, I was staffing urgent care, and I enjoyed that (not the emergent side though) because I would spend the day talking to the PAs and APRNs that staffed UC about their treatments, and in the psych unit the residents and attending don't seem approachable. I'm not timid of them, but they're just not available for that type of dialogue.
I suppose I'm looking for coping strategies other than "just suck it up." I'm not financially obligated to work, but I have a dim view of people that don't so I keep slugging away everyday.
Are they asking the question or making the statement, or are you?
I came onto this site to have informed discussions with other serious clinician's. I will leave this conversation here and I will not be drawn into this discussion with you, otherwise it will go on forever as you will go on with your vapid questioning. Thank you for your time, although you have wasted it on me and will never get it back. Good luck with your distinguished career of 20 years+ experience and specializing in "a little bit of everything", which means that you are a master of nothing!! On the flip side, I am a master of my specialist craft that means I trump you!!! Good Luck Gollum!
I came onto this site to have informed discussions with other serious clinician's. I will leave this conversation here and I will not be drawn into this discussion with you, otherwise it will go on forever as you will go on with your vapid questioning. Thank you for your time, although you have wasted it on me and will never get it back. Good luck with your distinguished career of 20 years+ experience and specializing in "a little bit of everything", which means that you are a master of nothing!! On the flip side, I am a master of my specialist craft that means I trump you!!! Good Luck Gollum!
There's an Internet meme that describes this peeing contest perfectly. I can't quote it exactly because it would violate the TOS (something I'm not inclined to get in trouble over for the likes of you), but it goes something like this:
"Arguing with fools is like playing chess with a pigeon. No matter how good you are, the bird poops all over the board and struts around like it won anyway."
You have taken a thread about someone wondering if they made a good life decision, hijacked it and made it all about you.
Also, mocking someone who is more of a generalist in the field of nursing than you are with all your "specialized education" is just trifling on your part. There are myriad opportunities for all of us in this field; you still (presumably) put your pants on one leg at a time, just like the rest of us.
You may know more about a small subset of nursing than I do, but it doesn't make you a better nurse. Frankly, given the attitude you display here, I would prefer to do online research than ever come to you for information.
Jensmom7, You are right and I accept your comments. I am extremely sorry for my comments and wish to withdraw all of my comments if I have offended anyone. I look forward to real discussions with informed clinician's in the future!
I came onto this site to have informed discussions with other serious clinician's. I will leave this conversation here and I will not be drawn into this discussion with you, otherwise it will go on forever as you will go on with your vapid questioning. Thank you for your time, although you have wasted it on me and will never get it back. Good luck with your distinguished career of 20 years+ experience and specializing in "a little bit of everything", which means that you are a master of nothing!! On the flip side, I am a master of my specialist craft that means I trump you!!! Good Luck Gollum!
No, there isn't any hierarchy, and I just made a simple observation. You criticized another poster for being "arrogant" and then made a point of commenting that, by comparison, you haven't been bragging about getting accepted into a PhD program, but I've seen several other posts by you in which you've made a point of commenting (rather gratuitously) that you've been accepted into a PhD program (I've seen it often enough that I remember (despite having no particular interest) that you're going to be going to school in Washington state). I didn't even mean it particularly as a criticism, but you certainly got defensive quickly, and now you're claiming to be a "master" of your "specialist craft" in order to dump on another member for being a generalist. It sounds like maybe you're the one who believes there is a hierarchy here, and are annoyed that the rest of us don't seem to appreciate your superior knowledge and credentials.
No, there isn't any hierarchy, and I just made a simple observation. You criticized another poster for being "arrogant" and then made a point of commenting that, by comparison, you haven't been bragging about getting accepted into a PhD program, but I've seen several other posts by you in which you've made a point of commenting (rather gratuitously) that you've been accepted into a PhD program (I've seen it often enough that I remember (despite having no particular interest) that you're going to be going to school in Washington state). I didn't even mean it particularly as a criticism, but you certainly got defensive quickly, and now you're claiming to be a "master" of your "specialist craft" in order to dump on another member for being a generalist. It sounds like maybe you're the one who believes there is a hierarchy here, and are annoyed that the rest of us don't seem to appreciate your superior knowledge and credentials.
Thank you for your positive feedback. Much appreciated. I am an expert in my specialist field and I make no bones about that. I don't pretend to be an expert in other fields, as I do not have the specialist knowledge to claim that. Mental health care is a specialist field and unfortunately in countries such as the USA, Australia and New Zealand, have decimated mental health care and the skills and knowledge required by specialist practitioners to support individuals with mental health problems. Anyone can fill a disruptive patient with medication, which undoubtedly does very little to actually produce any significant improvements in functional gain in those individuals. In regard to my comments about being accepted onto a PhD program, I was doing that merely in jest and the irony has obviously been lost on a lot of people! I don't claim to have any superior knowledge. I am an RN. I'm not anything else. If you believe that I have superior knowledge, then thank you for your insight. I have not made that claim! It's also great that you have been reading my other posts; I appreciate that.
nickfitz1969
92 Posts
I came onto this site to have informed discussions with other serious clinician's. I will leave this conversation here and I will not be drawn into this discussion with you, otherwise it will go on forever as you will go on with your vapid questioning. Thank you for your time, although you have wasted it on me and will never get it back. Good luck with your distinguished career of 20 years+ experience and specializing in "a little bit of everything", which means that you are a master of nothing!! On the flip side, I am a master of my specialist craft that means I trump you!!! Good Luck Gollum!