lilmoongoddess

I want to give an update on my earlier post. I was initially scared about losing all my 'clinical skills' and I must say that the first mental health unit I got hired on was not an overall positive experience. The older nurses were mean to the younger nurses, as well as the patients. Nurses on the unit were not allowed to start IVs or take blood. I am happy to say that I have since moved on to a different mental health unit in another hospital and since the unit takes patients even before they are 'medically cleared,' nurses have many opportunities to practice their 'clinical skills'. :) I will be IV certified, I will take my own blood samples, I will perform blood transfusions, etc... so things are looking good and I have fallen in love with psychiatric nursing :) now my long-term goal is to work in the psych ER or in the community :)

I'm nervous about the exam results too I studied for a long time and it seemed like the questions were so random. I know I answered at least 10 knowledge based questions wrong, on top of the 50 that I was uncertain about

Yes! I am a new grad as well (writing my RN exam in October) and I can completely relate to your situation. First of all, I completed an extended acute placement on a certain unit (which will remain unnamed) and I also completed my consolidation on the floor. I went in to nursing knowing that was the area I want to work in, thus I dedicated 6 months of my education to practicing in that unit. When I finished my studies I had an interview but the manager informed me that I wasn't selected for the job because I had told her in the interview that I was trying to finish a master's over the summer. I thanked her for her honesty and she stated that I am an ideal candidate for the position and to try again in the fall. Now I have seen another posting (the floor has a high turnover rate) so I applied and emailed the manager and this time she hasn't answered me. There is no way she doesn't know how much I want to work there and I'm really discouraged. I'm frustrated that she tells me I'm an excellent candidate, so I wait a few months for another posting, and then she ignores me. Do managers not understand that new grads want and need to work?Secondly, I waited for this job position to open, but in the meantime I applied to other jobs. I finally received a chance at another hospital in the same area of nursing. But similar to your experience, the interview was interrupted 3 times with code blues that the manager had to attend to. On top of that, they asked me 10 scenario questions, some which were so difficult that as a new grad I didn't even know how to answer them. I became so nervous, especially with being interrupted continuously, that my mind kept going blank

Thank you for sharing this :) I have accepted a new graduate position in an in-patient mental health unit and I'm looking forward to starting my career here :) I have been discouraged by some fellow classmates negative comments about mental health nursing, but the important thing is that I love psychiatric nursing and helping people cope with their mental illness :)

Hello! I'm a new grad and I have accepted a position on the inpatient unit in mental health. I'm excited to start my career in this field, but I have a question for those who have or already work there. I keep hearing rumours that nurses in mental health lose their nursing skills and thus the chances of receiving a job in acute care are limited. My long-term goal is to become an ER nurse, so I'm wondering if there's anything I should do to ensure that I can do to achieve this goal in the future?