NewBee21

I don't necessarily have any advice for you right now, but I can completely relate. I just graduated after 5 long years of school to get my BSN. I worked as an CNA in the hospital for a few years and knew that I didn't want to work in the hospital as a nurse. I had an internal struggle with the idea of pursuing a non-hospital nursing position after graduation. I felt very lost and thought that if I didn't work in the hospital I wasn't as smart or as important as my colleagues working in the hospital. As there are many good parts to hospital nursing, I wasn't interested for numerous reasons. I often felt depressed and anxious and knew that I didn't want to feel like that or deal with a lot of the issues that come with hospital nursing. I am currently looking for outpatient nursing positions, and with the economy it isn't the best of circumstances, BUT I have a good idea of what I want and I know I'll eventually get it! :) My best advice is to continue to study hard, get experience in areas that are of interest to you and trust your gut. I know it seems like the road to happiness is tough to find right now but your hard work will pay off. Trust yourself and make decisions that are best for YOU.

I graduated with my BSN in June and have been looking for an outpatient RN position since then. I have years of hospital experience as an aide and do not think floor nursing is for me. As many of you know it has been very difficult for new grads to find ANY nursing job. I was lucky to get a full time day position with good benefits and pay. This position, however is in psych. I am very interested in psych but I feel really uneasy and anxious about starting in psych. I feel I am not in the best mental state myself with many things happening in my life and I am very nervous that I will not be able to get my anxiety about MY safety under control OR be able to separate the problems/issues I deal with at work (depression, anxiety, schizo, bipolar, borderline personality disorder) from my personal life. I am very unsure about taking this position and have other clinic interviews. What do you think? I've asked to spend a some time shadowing to see if I can ease some of my anxiety about safety but I am afraid I am just not cut out for this type of nursing at this point in my life. Do you think this is a smart move to get started in psych or should I hold out a little longer to find a position that better fits me? Thanks so much!