itsbekah

I meant a specialty compared to ICU, NICU, etc which requires more training.

Thank you! I've been reading on pantravelers as you suggested and it brought up another question. How exactly would you describe the pre employment testing? Mainly in the psych field of travel nursing. Also is this test required prior to being approved for any assignment? I heard some hospitals will decline you or end your contract if you do not pass. Also, how many tests are you required to take? I have read a few posts that say they had to take several (up to 5 even). Is that only if you're in a specialized field such as ICU?

Thanks you! I will look into that. I have already joined the psychiatric travel nurse group on Facebook and you're right it has recruiters left and right posting.

I have searched the site and have not found answers specifically for some of my questions or specific for my situation, hence why I have posted.

Hello allnurses! Im currently a psych nurse with almost a year and a half psych experience and almost two years med surg experience prior to psych. I've become very interested in travel nursing in psych as I plan to continue my career as a psych NP one day. Here are some questions I have: 1. how does travel nursing locally (Texas) vs travel nursing in another states? I have heard it pays less if you do travel locally and it would be the same as if I worked a regular staff job at a hospital. Currently I just started making $31.25 an hour. 2. What is a good base pay to go by when choosing an assignment? Also I have heard psych nurses get paid less as it is not a specialty. 3. Is there an abundance of psych jobs available? Would it be enough to have consistent assignments lined up? 4. What are some recommended travel nurse agencies and why? 5. How competitive is the process of applying and obtaining an assignment? Id really appreciate any feedback from all of you. I've done my research but it's always good to hear advice and opinions first hand from actual travel nurses. Thank you!

I've been a nurse for two years on a medical surgical floor and recently transferred to a psych facility. I've always loved psych since I was a kid and did good in school when studying psych. I told everyone getting my first job as a psych nurse was my dream come true and now three to four months in I'm questioning it. I don't know what it is but I feel emotionally drained already. We had psych patients on med surg but it never emotionally drained me like now. I feel incompetent and like I'm a bad psych nurse. I'm good at communicating with other people I know but for some reason with psych patients I'm at a loss for words. I'm not good at handling situations where patients act up. I'm fearful sometimes and doubt myself. One nurse even joked and said I was a wimpy nurse which really hit me and made me think. The other night I had a patient talking to herself all night in a loud voice. I told her to try and get some sleep or lower her voice because she might disturb other patients. She lowered her voice but stayed awake until 4am. The other nurses were telling me to give her an IM dose of haldol to put her to sleep. I said she was not agitated and responded politely with me. They argued and said she wasn't sleeping and needed to sleep. One nurse said "you need to think about what kind of day she's gonna have". I held out hope that maybe she was going to fall asleep but eventually didn't and I gave her a shot at 4am. The nurse jokes loudly "I would've done it three hours ago but it was your patient". I don't know if I'm too soft or if the nurses working in psych for a while have just become tough skinned. I've seen some nurses talk to patients so rudely. I never like to be rude and like to be professional but they laugh and say I need to be direct. I talked to my sister about it and she said nurses were not and never will be seen as authority figures and laughed. I don't know what to do or how to act. I love psych and even planned on going to NP school but this whole experience is turning my confidence upside down. It also doesn't help there are a lot of new nurses on the unit and it's hard to get a correct concrete answer from anyone. If anyone has any advice it would be greatly appreciated. I feel like my dreams are being crushed.

thanks wveryone for your feedback. Psych is something I am really interested in even before I took nursing. I'll take into consideration everything and do a little more research into it. Also, I know what psych wards look like but im not phased cause everyone needs help and thats how I want to help, thats where mybinterest really is. Based on the comments im a little discouraged to pursue a career as a psychologist but Im not going to be satiafied working as a nurse even a mhnp. I guess ill have to do some research into this more.

Thanks. I will check out that forum. Im considering taking bs in psychology as a stepping stone to becoming a psychologist

thanks for your feedback. ive been going back and forth between the two. From my research they say you always need to have a bs in psychology to be a psychologist. in your opinion do you think it would be more practical to pursue the mhnp career path?

I passed nclex last dec 2013 and I've always considered being a psychologist or even eventually getting into psychiatric nursing. So if I were to take psychology how could I use my degree being a RN? if ever I decide not to pursue being a psychologist in the future. I would really appreciate any opinions or input you have about this.

Well your question is kind of hard to answer but here's a tip. Just think "positive" or "negative". For Example: (I'll just make a question up) The newly admitted pt is disoriented, what should the nurse do? (The question is asking for something positive to the patient) A. Restrain the pt (Negative = wrong) B. Notify the Physician (Negative) C. Orient the pt to time and place (POSITIVE = it will have a positive effect on the pt and help the pt) Sorry for the question but I hope you get the point.

3 weeks is still a lot of time. I say good job for getting at there since Kaplan questions are hard even more so than NCLEX imo. Don't focus so much on scores, just use them as a guide. You should be focusing on the rationales and figure out why you got the scores you did.

I also graduated in the PH. I didn't take the local board either but I didn't have a problem applying to NCLEX. I also know that it isn't even required. I had lots of people telling me that it was and I even read that it was listed on the requirements and if you weren't a local passer you had to include a letter with your application on why and I did, no problem. I applied to Texas btw.

First off, it's impossible to know everything so don't overwhelm yourself with those thoughts if you can. IMO you only really need an outline. Tiny details won't really help you during NCLEX. You just have to know your basics and work from there.

I was thinking about Rachell Allen when I first started review but chose Kaplan because Rachell Allen is only four weeks I think. I also didn't like the reviews on it. Many said that it felt very rushed and the instructors were boring. Although, my roommate before and his wife took it and they both passed. It could have been the review or it could have been that they woke up everyday at 5am to study until night. It depends on the student in the end. I suggest Kaplan though. It's about 3mos ad I think much cheaper and very good. I took NCSBN 3 week review. I didn't like it. They have content ebooks and post tests. I skipped it and went straight to questions. I feel like I waste my money on it really.