morganm_0819

I work inpatient psych, and I have psych crisis experience. The best thing to do is study up on the drugs like Haldol, Depakote, Librium, Thorazine, Clozaril, etc. over time you'll be able to learn some of the nauances and what certain things look like. For instance the difference between flat and blunted or different presentations of illnesses like schizophrenia and schizoaffective. Ask plenty of questions and really be mindful of communication, the better you are at building report, the more the patient may feel comfortable opening up, which make doing treatment plans easier and can better see their concerns.

I think 2-3 years of experience is a smart move, especially with traveling. I work in psych and did traveling after a year and a half, and I wish I would have stayed home a little longer before going. My one take away though, after working with a couple different recruiters though, is I would plan on going to somewhere you know you want to live and just get the job yourself. Yes, it may mean staying there for a little while, and absorbing the cost of living, but it'll put you on more control of where you go and you get to speak directly with the facility you work with, not having that middle party there to act on your behalf. I remember one recruiter I had, I felt like I had to fight tooth and nail to get my money straightened and they weren't really there when I needed them, which stressed me out a lot.

After praying about, and some research, I decided to go with the transplant floor.

I agree with this whole heartedly and it is something I myself am working on. 2.5 years of being a nurse and I am either too timid at times, which causes me to bottle things uo until I snap, or just find myself miserable at work. Thank you for posting this response, its something I needed to see.

I think it would depend on how the 3 12s are done. I do 12 hour nights now and honestly I spend more time sleeping and trying to tidy up my apartment than anything. In saying this, I miss my 3-11 shift or I wish I could do my 3 12s in a row so I can get my days off in a row so I can perhaps get stuff done.

I've been traveling for about a year now, and my LinkedIn has hooked me up with recruiters, which is helping me to find gigs. I definitely think making one is helpful, especially since we live in a day of networking and social media. It'll open doors you wouldn't have known were there by having one.

All but the 3rd option are at the same hospital. Choice 3 is at a different location but under the same company as the other 3 options.

I kinda keep leaning towards transplant, but I'm not sure. I haven't really though too much of ICU, it always made me nervous though in school and I struggled with it back in school, so I'm scared I would struggle for with it now. The 3 types of med-surg floors would give me 8 weeks of orientation, while the step-down would be 12.

I really like the heart, it's always fascinated me. I sadly would have to relearn a lot of it though since o don't have much in the experience of it. I definitely wouldn't mind learning about it though.

Okay, I'm new to this site, so I hope I'm submitting this correctly. I am really hoping to get some perspective on a tough choice I have to make. I have been a nurse for a little over 2.5 years, but all my experience has been in psych. I've decided though to leave psych, although I love it, to go med-surg,because I feel like I could learn a lot of skills I haven't gotten due to only being in psych. With that said, I recently applied to a few positions at a hospital and all 4 of my interviews went well, so the ball is in my court in as to where to go. First floor I applied to was med-surg with telemetry capabilities that is the transplant floor. They see a lot of bad kidneys and livers and these patients have either received a new organ already, needing some observation post surgery before going home, or on the list to see receive a new organ. Second floor was a cardiac step-down unit, seeing patients with a-fib or from cath lab. One example the nurse manager gave me was perhaps a patient post CABG, once they are off the vent. This one seems a little overwhelming perhaps to me, considering I don't have any med-surg experience so I've thought of shying away from this. Third floor is a med-surg floor with telemetry capabilities the mixture is med-surg with cardiac patients. Fourth floor is an ortho-neuro floor a friend of mine set the interview up with. She had told me there are a lot of bad backs and hips, and the floor received ESRD overflow from the transplant floor and stuff the ED sends up (COPD exacerbation, stomach pain). I feel like I could really gain good experience which ever floor I go with but I feel stuck as to where I want to go. Any advice would be deeply appreciated.