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I'm so glad that you had a great run the passed few shifts and that the patient's responded so well to your care. That is the greatest reward. Knowing that you have made a difference. How long have you been doing the 12 hr. shifts? I know that it must be very difficult to remember all the names and I am sure that I myself will experince the very same thing in psych. The patient turn over rate I am sure must be equal to that in the medicine units. Resources are less available to those in psych and often patients are forced out before they receive all of the care they really need. But for the time that we both have each patient we can make a difference for each of them (both medicine & psych). I was truly shocked when I received a call back interivew with the head nurse on my first interview last week. The recruiter originally said that they would not take a new grad in psych. So when she called back two days later I was shocked. I meet with the head nurse on Thursday this week. I guess they decided to continue the interview process. I hope that this works out because I'm really very excited about the possibility.

What you are saying is exactly what others have said to me in the area I live. There are a lot of new grads getting positions in various areas of nursing without having to go into an area that they do not desire to pursue. I was shocked two days ago when the recruiter called me back and said that they did in fact have the position in psych that I wanted. I have a 2nd interview this week with the head nurse on the unit. I didn't expect the call back since I was told at 1st interview that new grads were not taken into psych. At that time I was truly dissapointed thinking I would have to do time on units that I really didn't want. It was a diificut week just thinking about it. When your heart is in something I think that is vital to pursue it. It makes for a better nurse for the patients on the unit. I think that when you are young and starting out in nursing you have the time to pursue many areas until you find your nich so to speak. But when you enter the profession of nursing later on in your life it often with a specific interest and goal in mind. Not usually for the purposes of having income; if you can understand and or relate to what I'm saying. When your older you tend to look at things from a different light from things that life has taught you.

Keep smiling - My response was made directly to a specific post by a specific user (who saw fit to psychoanalyze, criticize, and judge me without sufficient information and a medical degree in psych.) and not as a Genral Post ! It was both inappropriate and not helpful. As well, when I stated that this "WEB-SITE" contained a lot of critical & judgemental responses by experienced nurses towards those of us with little or no on the job experience (seeking professional guidance) this means posts that can be found under this and other threads.....and therefor not directed towards all of you neither on this particular thread nor any other; unless one feels they fit the part. I have responded and requested guidance on various threads; as well have read posts made by some on this thread who also responded on other threads in the very same critical judgemental way. My original post on this thread was seeking guidance and not a forum by which some can arbitrarilly attack. The thread title is "Have I made a mistake"? Within that context I posted under 'General' not specific to a particular user on this thread; therefor it was neither necessary nor relevent to read all of the posts under this particular thread. If I were to respond to a direct post then of course I would have followed the thread back to its original post and responded accordingly. I have read many of your posts on various threads and found your statments to be extremely helpful to me. However, there are some that continuously attack. All of the experienced nurses have been in a new grads shoes at some point in their career and it just shocks me how they have forgotton how scary it is when you start out there. Why can't they find words that are more supportive and less critical. We are all nurses. We should all treat each other with kindness and respect regardless of when we graduated and how long we have been a nurse. Not all new grads act like they know it all. For those of us that have a genuine respect for those of you that have been doing this for so many years; it is YOU that we turn to. And we do so because we know that we can learn so much from you. Why would someone cut us down before we even get wet? Don't they realize how harmful that is? Please continue to offer positive guidance for those of us that seek your experience.

Thank you so much for your kind response. I wasn't going to open the allnurses site given the response to me by others. But, I know that I would lose out on guidance and information from others that have a kinder and less judgemental way of offering advice from your years of experience of which I have great admiration and respect. Psych has always been extremely interesting to me long before I entered nursing school. Through school the best part of my clinical rotations was when I was at the bedside having conversation to all of my patients. I know that I made a difference to each one especially with their psychological and emotional fragility. I did also find the medical apsects of nursing and subsequent care required very interesting and rewarding when I provided care - it was hands down the ability to spend time with the patient's. My biggeest concern is that I will not be able to give each of my patient's that same attention to their emotional etc... needs on a med-surge unit because of the high patient load. I love working with the patients and I fear leaving the unit each day with a sense of guilt for not giving them all of what they need. I spent a lot of time while on the units talking with the RN's who had been their for many years picking their brains for their valuble experience and guidance. Hands down they told me that while my intentions were great the fact is that there is not enough time to really spend time with the patient's. That is what concerns me. I know that each nurse out there wants or wanted the very same things I do now but the reality is that time constraints inhibit the nurses ability to give that to their patient's. This is why I wanted to go into psych. I figured that I would have more time to do what I do best-to communicate with and connect with the emotional & psychological needs of my patient's. I am 47 yrs of age with a wealth of life experience in may areas - it is my hands on that lacks what I need to be a great nurse - this I know. And I am more than willing to work hard to learn all that I lack. I just don't want to make a mistake from the get go by making the wrong decision as to where to start out of the gate. You have helped me enormously and perhaps have alterd my thinking as to the right direction I should take. I do agree that entering psych first will pigean-hole me for my future in nursing. Thank you so much for your kindness and experience - your approach and response to my post could not have been stated better. Thank you...

:rotfl: I appreciate all that you shared and many of it is true; however most of it is judgement based on very little information. I hope that you don't do that with your patients. Second of all you are incorrect about having to go the way most nurses have done in the past (med-surge & risk pt. lives with so little staff). Actually, I believe that all nurses should be required to do psych nursing before any other type of nursing since a lot of the medically ill pt's on the units do as well have psych issues whether short-term or long-term. Nurses I have seen on many units while in school lacked the ability to communicate effectively with very sick people. As well, those pt's confronted with terminal and/or lifelong illnesses needed a nurse that could deal appropiately with ALL of their needs NOT JUST medical - Nurses I have seen have either forgotten what they were taught so many years ago or just don't care. Either way the pt suffers....I feel that all nurses should be required to go through in-house re-training every two years to remind them of the need to meet ALL of the pt's needs - NOT JUST the medical ones. You know, I was so blown away by how very judgemental and critical you guys are on this web-site that I just had to pull it up for my Psych & Peds Professors so they could see for themselves the type of nurses that I might have to be around while at work. They read some of the various threads and bantered about how very rude & judgemental all of you are. They then went on to say that I should not be wasting time looking for info & guidance from nurses that take their own frustration out on new grads who are so full of spirit (that which the pt's really need). Maybe you should try changing your job to one that is less stressful. Working with you must be a real bummer :rotfl:

My original desire was and is psych nursing but I am being told that they don't take new grads. So how does one get started in psych. Even if I did med-surge 1st they will tell me that I have no experience in psych. My heart is in psych all the way if I could just be given the opportunity. And yes there were extenuating circumstances however not relevent to my ability to become a great nurse nor the time frame of which I waited to seek employment. My biggest concerns are not with and never have been having to work hard. If that were the case I would have never made the choice to start nursing when I could have just continued to stay home take care of my husband and go on many vacations per year. My decision to go into nursing was to be able to make a difference in patient care. But, as I saw while in nursing school and the nature of the lack of resources in our country and subsequent healthcare system my great intentions/desire is flawed by the lack opf sufficient staffing regardless of the location in our country. As a new grad we have so much to learn yet still care for the same amount of pt's that all of the experienced nurses have; and given that I have concerns over being able to give my pt's the spectrum of care that they need and should have regardless of our shortage in staff. As well, and please don't take this the wrong way but it was the experienced nurses that shared the horror stories about how new grads are treated by the RN's that have been there for a long time. As well, many of my peers did and continue to fly by the seat of their pants in that the experinced nurses on the units are not willing to teach. Often tellling the new grads " learn it the hard way like I had to" and everyone wonders why new grads hesitate.

I too graduated last May and held off on the boards until January because I was in no hurry to go through what you have. I did not realize how bad it was out there (10-12 pt's per RN) until I was already in the thick of nursing school. I went on my 1st interview yesterday and the recruiter tried to shove med-surge at me and I politely refused; I was seeking a psych position instead. She knew this but still tried to convince me to do med-surge. I was told I wouldn't get a position in psych since I was a new grad. Then I was thinking of L&D. Now I am totally lost after reading your thread. I think I am going to end up in community MRDD where the RN's oversee. I totaly refuse to do the med-surge nightmare.

Could you please guide me accordingly. I am a new grad just beginning to look for a job. I didn't have to read this thread to know just how hard it is to do those 12 hr shifts. I went on my 1st interview a few days ago and found that there is no other option other than the 12 hr shift. However, I was looking for a psych position where 8 hr shifts were the only option. I thought to myself 'Great" the drawback there however was that they were not willing to take a new grad. This I don't understand. What is the point to killing yourself on a med-surge 12 hr shift with 10-12 nurse/pt ratio if your going into psych nursing. When the recruiter told me that this probably would not be possible she asked me if she could put me down for med-surge. I replied "No that would not be possible but thank you for the offer" she looked at me like who the you no what I was.

No! The RN's were not the ones who were behaving that way; it was the nursing assistants. They were the ones doing the VS on the pt's not the RN's. The RN's didn't have the time nor the inclinatiion to behave that way. As well, I don't understand what all of the nursing students are talking about on this thread with regard to requiring help from the staff RN's. Last year I graduated and for the time I was in school I never followed a RN around for my shift. I got report when I came in and gave report when I left. The only time I looked for the RN for help was when my instructor directed me to do so or if one of her pt's required something I was unfamiliar with. PS. I never had any real problems with attitude or other from those on staff. I treated all with the respect that they have earned and deserve. In turn I received respect for what I was trying to do.

I graduated in May 04, waited to sit for boards until Jan 05 because everyone kept telling me that I had to do med-surge first. I put everything off because I just couldn't bring myself to comit to something I really did not want to do. My interest and reason for going into nursing was to do psych nursing or Hospice Care (neither area will hire new grads). I went on my 1st interview yesterday and was told that few hospitals would hire a new grad in psychiatry. How do I go about getting into this area of nursing if I'm not given so much as an opportunity ? Could someone experienced in the field please give me some guidance as to how to do this....I was even thinking community nursing. Wherever I can go to get the chance to begin my nursing career?

For the students experiencing the game of "hidden BP equipment" check the bathrooms in unoccupied rooms, conference rooms perhaps at the end of the halls, and mostly those hidden behind the curtains at the pt's bedside. Also, if you approach the nursing assistants with respect they will be more than willing to help where needed. Take what you have learned during your psych rotation and use it when approaching staff. Sometimes they will be more willing to help when you either humble yourself, and if need be just act like you haven't got a clue. They will be eating out of your hands in no time. It's a technique that will be required once you are out there a a RN. I learned this early on and it worked like a charm. Besides you would be surprised what you can learn from the assistants.

Please educate me on how it is you take a BP on a pt. without a BP cuff? Is everyone referring to an electronic BP machine vs. BP cuff (ausculate)?? I graduated last May and I must say after I experienced the game of "hiding BP cuffs & machines by the staff" I asked my professor if I could bring in my own cuff. She did allow me to do this despite infection control because the pt's I was giving meds to did require me to take BP. Not to mention each & every pt I cared for I performed my own vital assessments.

When you were a new grad how long did it take you to complete your work ? Did an 8 hr turn into 10-11 hrs etc...or 12 hrs into 14-15 ? Also, in your opinion if you know would it be better to work those kind of hours all in a row or broken up. Does the grafeyard shift give you the same amount of experience ?

New Grad.......I believe that the NY laws permit maximum of 4 hrs madation onto a 12 hr. shift. If someone knows different pease let me know...