Rhone

Thanks (belatedly) for this post. I feel very much the same way--while I'm sure there are some people with legitimate chemical imbalances, when I read/hear about what home/famly life is like for some of the kids in my unit, I think if I were them I would want to kill myself too!

I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying the new job and that you feel more appreciated at work (after, apparently, working so hard to get that respect from your coworkers). :)

I'd give the same advice that I gave in this thread regarding a psych nursing interview. Good luck!

In my facility the techs are called "mental health workers". They don't have to be CNAs, but some are, and some have undergraduate degrees. I appreciate the work they do. Despite the fact that we are able to rotate them around for actual lunch breaks (while we nurses usually gulp our food down on the unit so we're available if needed), I don't envy them--their pay is crap and they spend their shifts running therapeutic groups with the patients, and they have to deal with the majority of the patients' difficult behaviors. I may not take my breaks, but most of the nurse-specific stuff I do (giving meds, doing admissions and discharges, etc.) feels like a break compared to managing a room of hyper, oppositional, aggressive children.

I'm not sure why there's some much money in anesthesia to begin with, but it's moot because the public option was dropped from the health care bill months ago. Those posted articles are out-dated.

The patients on suicide observation don't have to wear any visual indication at my facility. Our rounds sheet, computerized charting system, and a dry erase board in the nurses' station (not visible to the patients) all show what level of observation our patients are on, and I learn who the patients are, so I don't see any other visual indicator as being necessary.

Try LTC or Psych, as Jules says. Some of the LTC facilities that turned me down as a new grad LPN seemed like they might be interested in new grad RNs. Psych doesn't seem as bad for new grads--it was a psych facility that finally interviewed (and hired) me. Sheppard Pratt has open RN positions, and you can apply for RN positions at State facilities with an application from Maryland's DHMH web site.

Ms. Ann and Military Spouse, thanks for the suggestions. Mt. Washington wasn't hiring new grads, and I recall looking at CMS, but at the time their only open position was a bit too far away--something I could have done if I wasn't also intending to return to school to work on my RN. Fortunately, however, I did get a job (which I'm loving!) not long after I posted this thread. :)

Well, in fairness, it takes about 4-5 years of full-time study to complete a clinical psychology PhD or PsyD program, so if On The Way intends to work at this place for all of that time, then the time isn't an issue. The problem (from the employer's perspective) is being a nurse who wants to get entirely out of nursing. If you were going into an MSN program to be some kind of advanced practice nurse, that looks good because it means you are learning more about nursing and becoming a better nurse while you're working there. It doesn't look good if you're going to be spending the next half-decade learning how to be something very different from a nurse.

Nursing is stressful. Stress brings out the "meanness" in a lot of people. Also, taking the time to word things nicely and diplomatically often takes, well, time--something nurses often have in short supply. That said, I think the "nice" nurses outnumber the "mean" ones--you just hear more about the mean ones.

I agree with TheDude here. Most people have misperceptions about professions they aren't familiar with--nurses are no different in this regard, other than (if this board is any indication) their hypersensitivity to being misunderstood. Yes, media portrayal of nurses (and many other professions) is ridiculous. Yeah, the advertisements show nurses "caring" instead of doing "intelligent" stuff. Perhaps that's because patients take the intellectual stuff for granted--most of us assume people know how to do their own jobs after all. What makes the most difference in a patient's perception of a nurse is the compassion and empathy (or lack thereof) he or she shows when doing the job. So it is no surprise that hospitals would want to show their nurses as compassionate and caring, instead of showing them setting up IVs with one hand tied behind their back. Instead of griping about the misunderstandings, politely clear them up when you encounter them, and take some pride in belonging to the most trusted profession.

I agree with everyone else, you don't want to talk about the personal stuff. There's a high probability that it will hurt your chances of getting the job, and it's very unlikely to help. Also, in terms of professional boundaries, you aren't really supposed to be talking to the patients about your personal issues. Regarding your education plans, that is something that can make you look good if you are furthering your education within your field and you make it clear that the education will not interfere with your working the hours/schedule of the job that you are applying for. It helps convey that you are motivated and a high achiever. When I interviewed for the job I just got, I let them know that I plan to go on and get my RN (I'm an LPN now) and eventually be a family or psych NP; but I also made it clear that the job would be my first priority and I would select a school that I could fit into my schedule. In your case, though, even though you plan to stay in Psych, you don't plan to continue in nursing, so I wouldn't suggest bringing it up.

Everything is on weekdays. It's not the same exact schedule every semester (and I don't know if they might try something differently than how they had it while I was there), but generally each week there's one full day of classes (like 8 or 9am 'til 2 or 3pm), possibly a class on another morning, one or two days for clinicals (7am - 1pm), with lab and open lab times fit in there somewhere. I highly recommend going to at least one open lab per week, because there's not enough time to practice much during the actual lab class and if you don't practice you will be a nervous wreck when it's time for skills testing. The program runs for 3 semesters (Fall, Winter, Spring) crammed into one year with only a week or two off between semesters.

Well, thanks for the correction. In the PACU I observed, the nurses only had one patient at a time. And I wasn't trying to suggest that PACU is easy. Some people are good at focusing intensely on one thing at a time and have trouble splitting their attention, and some people are better at splitting their attention. From the PACU I saw, it seemed ideal for people who fall into the former category.

I'm an INFP, but I'm a new nurse so I can't really compare different areas of nursing based on anything other than experience from clinicals and my own hypothesizing about what I might or might not enjoy. I can say, though, that I'm very much enjoying the nursing job I just started at a psychiatric hospital. The other nurses and mental health workers on my unit have been very positive and welcoming, and in terms of personality I feel like a better fit there than I did on the LTC and med/surg units in clinicals. And as far as my interactions with the patients, I feel more satisfied when I can work with them on an emotional and mental level rather than dealing with primarily physical problems. If you'd prefer acute care but like working with patients one on one, what about working in a PACU? I had the opportunity to shadow a nurse in a PACU during clinicals and I felt very much like that was something I could enjoy doing--you get to focus all of your attention on one patient instead of splitting your attention between 5 or 6. It doesn't get much respect from modern Psychology (which tends to shun stuff associated with Carl Jung), but I think it gets some use in things like career counseling.