PsychNursStudent

The response to this thread has been amazing. Thank you everyone. I am so interested in working in the mental health field and this has opened my eyes up in a huge way, to better understand the various roles of the psychiatric nurse in both the hospital setting and the community.

Awesome replies! Thanks everyone, I have a much better understanding now! ...oh and you all sound like great nurses :)

Hey, I'm currently in a psych nursing program and am really passionate about working with the mentally ill. However, I've started to realize that I really don't have a clear picture of what psychiatric nursing looks like on a daily basis. I have friends in the program who keep telling me that its going to be "just sitting there and talking all day", while others say that psych nurses are still mostly concerned with physical care, but specialize in doing physical care and nursing type tasks for individuals who are also suffering from a mental illness (and therefore need to be communicated with in a unique/different way). Could someone possibly clear this up for me so I have a better idea of what I'm getting into? Thanks