rpw4031

Thanks for the quick reply Firefiter. We are in Topeka, KS and our recruiter is out of Oklahoma City. Anyone who could post an alternate phone number in case we never hear from our recruiter again would be greatly appreciated!

My wife met her Air Force recruiter the first week of December and he thought she made a good nurse candidate (he let me sit in with them). He talked about being in a crunch for time and needed all these things ASAP and and told her to take a day off the first week of Jan to go to MEPS and a day off the second week of Jan to interview with a chief nurse. When she got home from that first (and only) meeting with the recruiter she got a lot of stuff done and faxed it all like he said. He was supposed to mail a fed ex envelope as soon as recieving the faxed papers but she never recieved it. When she attempts to call him it goes straight to voicemail. He was so excited and gung-ho during the interview and we haven't heard from him once even with my wife faxing him the documents he asked for. It is now the first week of Jan, the week she was supposed to be scheduled for MEPS. Is this normal? Is it just a holiday thing? She has not been able to find a number to call to reach anyone in his office. He went on and on about getting this stuff in to show she was serious about joining and now he is missing with no word. I hope he was not in an accident or something. What does she do now? Just thought I'd ask this on my wife's behalf while I'm on the site, since there are a lot of knowledgeable nurses out there (and maybe a recruiter or two?).

Wow, come on people. We all want to defend what we do for a living, but let's get real. Psych is easier, and if you all think it is so tough then you're in the wrong specialty. If you have experience doing both psych and med-surg then how can you even try to say it is not easier? Don't give me that "skills" vs "brains" stuff. Are they different? Yes. Is med-surg harder? YES. The original post is wanting to know if, in the real world, psych is easier than med-surg and it is! Am I proud of what I do for a living as a psych nurse? Absolutely. Can everyone do it? No. But less people can handle med-surg. Not trying to offend...

I did as you said and you are right, there are a number of courses out there, some even offer graduate school credit. That may just be my ticket! Thanks!

I have seen psych nurses have a hard time finding med-surg, ER, and ICU positions but not usually the other way around. I think if you just kept at it you would find someone who recognizes your "soft" skills and how valuable you'd be on a psych unit with your med-surg/cardiology experience. Most VA hospitals tend to have a large psych focus and they have been known to hire non-psych nurses for the psych units. Good luck!

If you are not uncomfortable (afraid) around psych patients and you stick to adults and not peds or geri then yes, psych is easier.

I left the USPHS because my wife and I wanted to be closer to home with our newborn daughter. We had been stationed on the Navajo reservation in AZ but are from KS. If it were not for being committed to the USPHS I would have tried getting on with the burn unit at KU Med in Kansas City when I graduated from nursing school. Now I'd be happy with any kind of ICU. Maybe it would be easier getting on with an ER, afterall there is psych involved, and then trying later to go into the ICU. Anyone out there go to ICU/ER from psych?

When I graduated from nursing school I was assigned to an outpatient pediatric clinic by the US Public Health Service and didn't get to go right into ICU as I had hoped. When I left the service I tried to work ICU at a VA hospital but after interviewing they only offered me a psych position. Now I've been a psych nurse for a couple of years. I like psych nursing but really want to work ICU. I have not had much luck even landing an interview for an ICU position. Seems like they would rather hire new grads. Any advice?