silentdivide

Thank again Ned. This is some great information. I have heard back from a couple already (the two large ones) and am looking forward to how this will transpire. I imagine it will be more challenging given that I do not have a work permit, but I do have CGFNS as a start.

Wow, thank you NedRN! Very informative. See this was the difficulty in the first place--I googled various agencies and never came across any of the ones you mentioned. What I will probably do is check out the agency websites and forward a resume to each of them. Also, thanks for letting me know there is need. I've got a friend who is a psych nurse in Washington state but it is for a state facility and therefore the pay is poor. Of course this gave me the wrong impression given I have no idea what the world of psych is like in the US. Thank you again for making this more clear for me!

Of course you can! I know a couple of colleagues with bipolar who are psych nurses with me. They are also good friends of mine, too. It's just like any other illness or challenge in your life--just be conscientious and proactive not to let it affect your ability to do the job and keep your patients well and safe and no problem! :)

Hi all! As the title states, I am interested in finding an agency that would help me head down to do contract work anywhere on the west coast. I'm hoping some people from this amazing community could share some wisdom. About me: I've got a license in Minnesota but have never actually worked in the US. I have a BSN since 2012 and have been nursing since then. I've done 1 year of M/S, almost 4 years of psychiatry (both inpatient and ER and I prefer psych ER) and taught two semesters of the BSN program at a college. Is there even any demand for RNs specialized in acute care psychiatry? Is the pay comparable to M/S or less? Is there anyone on here that has successfully done this? Any input is appreciated :) To be honest, its quite daunting looking at working in the US because of the different levels of healthcare there is when compared with Canada's system.

Psych ER here in Canada 1:6 ratio max usually and on inpatient CAU 1:5 on days and 1:7 on nights. Only RNs, no other classes of staff other than 4 security officers. It can get pretty intense sometimes. 14 seems like too much in your case. I worked short-staffed a couple times 1:15 and that was ridiculous. No time to do psychotherapy or behavior management, just say hi and dish out meds :S

Thanks for this!!

Hi there :) I'm an RN (gradded 2012) and work full time in Psych Emerg and Psych Intensive Care in BC, Canada. I can tell you that it has been nothing less than an incredible experience. My clinical decision-making/judgment, assessment, and communication skills have developed substantially since working here. I also work in medical ER on the side (but less and less over the days) and have found that yes, skills do fade a bit, but it has been worth the trade off for my new psych skills. A lot of experience/exposure gives you some excellent psychosocial knowledge as well as ethical critical thinking (treating involuntary patients, for example). I would encourage you to try and keep your understanding of disease pathology and what not through research on your downtime. I've done that and was able to pass the NCLEX-RN (recently) and have barely worked in med-surg the last year and half. Psych is simply amazing!

I work in Victoria--casual RN on a few floors. I graduated from UVic. From what I've seen, this is a highly competitive place to find a job as an outsider...because there are a lot of nurses wishing to relocate her from the rest of Canada. And what was already said about the hiring process being sluggish...it's true; it's HORRIBLY slow here to get the ball rolling. Could take you 6 months to two years to get fully hired as a casual, IMO (as an outsider). VIHA just hired over 150 new grads (from the local uni) in April. And they will be doing the same thing again next year. It's their new grad initiative to retain their own grads. Honestly, no offense but good luck... :-(

I would suggest Medical for sure. You can't go wrong with either, but keep in mind that the majority of patients coming in through ER have not just undergone surgery. The culture and knowledge expectations of a surgical floor is usually tailored to the particular surgery they deal with (i.e. ortho, cardiac), whereas medical has a much wider exposure. You'll see everything in ER. My experience: I've done both surgery and medical and am casual in ER right now.