LuckyinKY

Where at in Cincinatti? I am striking out here in central Kentucky and broadening my range. I would to be at Cincinnati Children's but I am a new grad with an ADN and a non-nursing BS.

I managed to work full time through nursing school. I did nights on a behavioral health unit which worked better than I expected. On slow nights there was plenty of time to study. I did often cheat myself out of sleep and slept through many classes, but I graduated with pretty decent grades.Having a calendar is essential to track your assignments and due dates. Be prepared to study any time. I had my laptop with me almost everywhere. I could pull out study outlines while I was at the park with kids or waiting at the doctor's office. Don't forget to eat and sleep, it isn't pretty if you do.

1. Do not buy the required texts at the bookstore, buy the older edition for $5 on Amazon, Barely anything has changed and depending on the program you may never open your book. For that matter wait 2 weeks before buying anything to make sure if it is really necessary. We bought all of this expensive software for our iphones when free software would have worked almost as well. 2. Skip printing Powerpoint lectures and lugging a 4" thick binder to class. Bring a laptop and type notes in Powerpoint directly. 3. If you want to work full time and go to school, night shift is where its at. Lots of study time on night shift. 4. Work as a tech while in school, the job market is super competitive and techs will have an advantage since you can network with hiring managers and possibly have a job waiting for you. Plus you gain invaluable experience and become much more comfortable working with patients. 5. Never stop doing NCLEX questions.

Great article. I tech on an acute psych unit and I love where I work. Most of my patients are people who you would never pass on the street and know they are a "psych patient." These are people who are willing to recognize that they need help, they are depressed, they are down on their luck, fighting personal demons or are fighting substance abuse. It can be frustrating yet the small victories are savored. I also remind my classmates that psych patients are everywhere, not just on a psych unit, so it is good to understand some basics of psych nursing and to have some compassion.

I am doing it and after a month of adjustment and finding the right schedule, it is working out pretty well. I have classes in the morning on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday and clinicals all day Wednesday. I work 3-12 hour shifts a week from 7p-7:30a. I work Tuesday night since I have no class Wednesday and Saturday and Sunday nights. That way I only have to go class on Monday after work. I prefer night shift because it allows more study time and is not as exhausting as day shift.

Second year nursing student working full time as a psych tech. Night shift. Thankfully there are often quiet nights where I can get some studying done while my patients are sleeping.

I work full time nights, have 2 kids and I am attending nursing school full time. I work on an acute psych unit which works out well since my patients usually sleep through the night. After 11pm, I just need to do q 15 patient checks which I usually have another tech helping with. I have plenty of study time on night shift. My husband works near my work and our 4 year old goes to preschool on campus, so my husband just picks me up and I drop my son and him off before either going to class or home. Right now I have class every weekday but Wednesday, so I work Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday nights, so I only have to class one morning after work from 8-10am and can just go to bed the other days. I also have my mom helping out until I graduate in May which helps some, but we were juggling it pretty well even without her help.

One thing I would point out is that it is best to get your non-nursing coursework done before starting a nursing program. I would start knocking out the A&P, Micro, nutrition classes now, that way you can focus on doing well in your nursing classes. I did this and it has payed off. I see so many nursing classmates struggling through anatomy and micro. You can start taking classes until you get accepted into a program at a community college or the school you want to attend for nursing.

Agree! I am always asking if they need a break or a blanket.

I work on an acute behavioral health unit and appreciate our sitters very much. They help keep our patients safe since we cannot watch them constantly. It depends on the sitter of course, but most have been very helpful. We do have some that have acted inappropriately (asking a detoxing patient where to buy drugs) or fallen asleep, and these sitters tend to give the position a bad name. The one thing I wish is that the agencies would screen their employees a little better, apparently they do not even drug test.

Re-posting my study guide with some minor changes: Fluids and Electrolytes Study Guide.doc

The role of nutrition in treating psychiatric illness? I am trying to find articles but having a heck of a time. We have all of these constipated opiate detoxers on my unit and the hospital food is certainly not helping. Also I was thinking with my methadone mothers, most have poor nutritional status, so I wonder if some nutritional counseling and improved diet could at least help improve neonatal outcomes. I know that food is the one thing we consistently get dinged on during patient satisfaction surveys, yet we keep getting yelled at for being over our patient snack budget. I know that my patients certainly appreciate an extra snack or more choices during meals.

I am a Psych tech and tend to wear cargo khaki pants and comfortable shirts like polos or cotton fitted shirts along with sneakers. I am on the move constantly and needs lots of pockets. I would not feel comfortable wearing a skirt. I prefer to be more casual but not sloppy.

Tech working 36-48 hours a week while in school. I have bills to pay, kids to feed and a mortgage. I work mostly nights so I can study while my patients are sleeping.

I am a nursing student, have worked as a pharm tech and now I am a psych tech. Like the others have said your best bet is to be a nursing tech on a med-surg unit. You will learn alot. Working as a pharmacy tech did help with pharmacology, working as a psych tech is helping with therapeutic communication. I love my psych job, but I also have a interest in psych nursing.