psychRN136

The last 2 hospitals I've worked at "Code Grey" is the code for violent patient/family. In psych we all wear panic alarms and a hit to the button calls the code. Alarms go off all over the unit, security comes running, as well as staff from other psych floors.

Sorry guys..I'm trying to get used to posting on Allnurses. Some of my responses are not going under the correct poster. Bear with me :)

@ Nurse Beans...I like the idea of school nursing--hours are great--but it seems hard to get into in my area. They want experience in an acute care setting of at least 2-3 years, which to me means medical nursing of which psych is not since the biggest medical concern we treat is diabetes.

I have applied in many different outpatient places with no callbacks, however I am really not interested in staying in psych in any capacity and drug addicts are exhausting to deal with. I may look into wound care where you have only brief patient contact, one task--assessing and treating wounds--and moving on. Preferably a wound care clinic M-F 9-6 or/and an occasional Saturday.

Thanks beekee :) I thought of that, however I'm afraid if they did a background check, they would find out I was an RN because it's a public record.

Good point. I'll try posting on another site also. Some may hang around just for giggles...who knows

So I have been a nurse for only about 4 years and am trying to get out. I hate inpatient nursing, am stuck in psych which I did not choose outright...it chose me after 2 years of looking for a first nursing job. Tons of applications to anything else outpatient or desk job or other areas outside of psych have proved fruitless. No callbacks because I've been stuck in psych too long which holds very little medical experience since most patients are walking/talking. No IVs or catheters. I don't even want another nursing job unless it is outpatient or a desk job, because I don't like the work environment of a hospital nurse...working holidays, chronic short staffing, endless requests to pickup extra shifts, rude doctors, violent, drug seeking patients...etc. Because of my lack of years of experience, non-direct care jobs are nearly impossible. So I've been seeking to go back to my old career in accounting. Now, in that arena, I am unable to get anyone to even give me the time of day for an interview, even though I have over 15 years experience in accounting, and have only been out of it for 4 years. That's why I'm trying to go back now, before it gets to be 5 or more years. I feel like I'm between a rock and a hard place. I hate inpatient nursing to death and can't see myself spending another 15 or more years in it before I can retire but I cant seem to get to a better situation because of my lack of experience. And from what I hear often from this site and everywhere is that inpatient nursing is the same wherever you go, just in psych we get the most aggressive patients. So my main question is has anyone had success leaving nursing and going BACK to an old career? What did you do to transition back? The feedback I got from one recruiter is "the concern is that you are a career changer, going back and it raises flags for some and the pay will be lower". My response is sometimes money isn't everything and a lower stress work environment would be worth it.

I know many nurses, who have only worked in psych straight from school, go right into ED after 2 or 3 years with no prior med/surg experience. No IV, no catheter experience. IM injections only. They will train you on the skills you need. One said she was in classroom/simulation orientation for 3 weeks before hitting the floor. Total orientation period was 12 weeks.