crazy4psych

Just started nursing school a little over a month ago and I had my first day of clinical today. Pretty basic day. I just did vitals, hygiene and had the opportunity to do a couple of accu checks. Everything was going well and my nurse even offered to come with me to perform the accucheck on our patient. I lanced the finger and tossed the lancet in the sharps and took off my gloves and the RN got the blood on the chem strip and recorded the reading. My RN was kind of in a rush so she handed me the vial of chem strips and the glucometer with the chem strip still in it. Since I didn't have any gloves on, I carefully took out the chem strip making sure not to touch the blood and then performed hand hygiene before leaving the room. All seemed well, but I have an hour drive home from this hospital and my anxiety is my own worst enemy. All I kept thinking of was, "what if I got a little blood on my fingers and then got it on the vial when putting it in my pocket to perform hand hygiene. What if I got a little blood on my finger and didn't clean well enough and then got some on the next patient I did the accucheck on?" I didn't say anything to my instructor because my RN was with me when I was doing the skill and I felt like I would have sounded like a complete idiot. I feel like I can really be successful in this program, but I am so incredibly worried about catching something or messing up and cross-contaminating another patient. Are my fears warranted? With the tiny amount of blood that gets on the chem strip, is it a big deal to take it out of the glucometer without gloves?

I am going to be starting my BSN program in a few days and I know I'm jumping the gun, but I'm trying to get an idea of job prospects that will keep me motivated when I'm up late studying and thinking "this isn't worth it!". I already know that I am going to avoid medical settings like the plague because I have seen the working conditions and it doesn't appeal to me at all. I've been working on a psych unit lately and psych along with public health are areas that I know I could absolutely Excel in as a nurse and are areas I am deeply passionate about. Since I already have my foot in the door at a new grad friendly psych hospital, I'm trying to figure out what steps I can take to make myself standout as an applicant for public health positions? I currently live in Orange County, CA and I always creep on my county's HR to see job postings and PHN positions are definitely out there. I'm a white male who knows very little Spanish and given the demographic of southern California, I think this could be a road block for me obtaining a position. Those of you who work in public health in my area, what kind of experience did you have outside of public health? Is a senior preceptor ship in public health a good idea? Any feedback would be awesome! Fyi: I'm doing a 5 semester, year round program, so unfortunately, I won't be able to volunteer during the program as I will be working and going to school full time.

Hey everyone! So I'm reaching out again to all of you lovely people for some advice, personal experiences...anything really to make me a little more sure about the path I am taking in life. I'm starting nursing school at the end of the month and to be honest, I've been second guessing my decision more than getting excited and embracing the next few years. The reason I am so apprehensive about nursing school and nursing in general is because I am not interested in the "traditional" areas of nursing such as med/surg, ER, ICU, etc. I've worked in the float pool as a sitter and volunteered on various floors and those environments scare the living you know what out me. I know that with no matter how many years of schooling, I could never handle the stress that seems to be in every acute care medical specialty. I find the theory behind the practice interesting, but I don't see myself ever being comfortable with the hands on skills and acuity of patients. With that said, I was really fortunate to get a job as a mental health worker at a local, free-standing psych facility. I've worked for a few weeks already and it seems like psych nursing could really be my thing. I work on a crisis stabilization unit and the staff is so awesome and it really is a team environment with everyone helping each other out--something I never saw when I was working in a general acute care hospital. The nurses, while busy and stressed, don't look miserable and when I ask them how they like the work, all of them have said they enjoy psych with a few who have come from backgrounds such as ICU. I am drawn to psych for a few reasons: emphasis is placed more on the psycho-social components of the patient, rather than acute medical problems. While the patients I have seen do have medical issues, they are pretty basic such as htn, diabetes, ciwa protocols and occasionally superficial wounds from people cutting themselves. In addition, I am also drawn to psych because of current and past struggles with mental illness. I have struggled with depression and anxiety since I was a little kid (now 25) and it feels so nice when I go to work and talk with the patients, build a rapport and see them as people that were dealt a tough hand as opposed to weirdos that talk to themselves. My goals are to finish school, hopefully get a job where I currently work (a place that is very new grad friendly in the saturated market of southern California) and try to find my niche. After working a few years in psych, my ultimate goal is to get into public health nursing as epidemiology and health education are passions of mine. Those of you currently working as psych nurses, did you start school knowing you wanted to work psych and really no where else? How did you get through school with all of your peers wanting to do more traditional areas? During orientation, I was eating lunch with some people and we got to talking about areas we are interested and I said I really could see myself liking psych and everyone looked at me like I was a little off my rocker. I know I can get through school because I am a hard worker and do find the theory interesting and I think I should be able to get through clinical knowing that it's a necessary part of the process and I'll learn things I can apply elsewhere but I won't have to work in those areas in the future. I know psych nursing is very stressful but I see it as a different kind of stress. Instead of stressing about sending multiple patients to and from various diagnostic procedures, copying with stat labs and orders and tube feedings and iv starts, and dealing with acute medical situations, 'll be dealing with the multitude of different kinds of stressor in psych but ones that I think I'll handle well. Am I being naive in the way I am going about nursing? Any feedback would seriously help so much.

Hey everyone! So with my BSN program starting in the coming weeks, I decided to take a position as a MHW at College Hospital in Costa Mesa. I'm gonna be working in the CSU which is their crisis stabilization unit--lowest functioning patients in the hospital. Those of you that have worked for CHCM or its sister hospitals, what have been your experience there? The staff seems super friendly and it's a real team-like environment with many of the staff having been there for 10+ years (which has to be a good sign). Also, those in that have worked in any psych environments, what did you do to get accustomed to such a unique setting? I've worked in the past as a sitter so I'm aware of the unique personalities and unpredictability of many psych patients, but I've never had to deal with a unit of 26 patients. It's a free-standing psych hospital that takes mostly low income, homeless, etc. I was able to shadow a bit today during orientation and it seems like this place could really be my niche so I want to give it my best. Any feedback is really appreciated

I'm pretty much worried about everything when it comes to bedside care. I take medication for anxiety so I am already a naturally anxious person and the scope of practice on a medical floor is something that I know I would absolutely crumble under if I had to take on a full load of patients. The reason psych appeals to me is because the patients are medically stable and I feel like my personal understanding of mental illness will allow me to provide really compassionate and effective care wothout having to worry about performing much hands on skills.I have always wanted to work with undeserved populations and this is where my public health interest stems from as well a dream job for myself would be working in a role where I could provide health education and disease prevention. I also second guess myself about nursing because I don't want to have a "traditional" nursing role. While I find med/surg type nursing theory interesting, im.much more interested in one's psychosocial well-being and I'm not sure if my end goal for a career can be achieved in another field.

I joined this site not too long ago to get some more info on the nursing profession as a whole and to be honest, the more I look around the site and see the reality of what nursing is, I become more doubtful that I will succeed in this field. I went into school a few years back wanting to become a dietician, but I figured nursing could accomplish the samend sort of goals and then some. I've volunteered and work currently in a hospital and I've learned several things. I've learned the I am super compassionate, very empathetic and enjoy feeling like I made an impact on someone's day. However, I have also learned that I highly, highly dislike direct patient care. Not that I don't think the work is interesting, I just have bad anxiety that is exacerbated when I think of all that a bedside nurse does in a majority of settings. Areas that do interest me very much so are psych and public health, but I am not too sure of the demand for nurses in these areas, especially for new grads. Im very structured with school and really enjoy the pathology of various disease, etc, but I am afraid that I'm gonna get through school and be left with a degree I can't use because I wont want to apply to certain positions. I have thought about possibly getting my MSW, but southern California cost of living exceeds that of most social worker positions. And I have also thought about occupational therapy, but I keep coming back to nursing and I'm not sure if it's because I'll be done in 2 years as opposed to 4 or 5 (I'm 25 already) or because Ill regret quitting before I even start. Do you think it's foolish to pursue nursing when I can only see myself working in psych or public health? Are these areas just as bad as medical floors in terms of insane workloads and never ending stress and anxiety? I want to make something of myself but not at the expense of putting my mental health in danger and putting my fiance through the troubles that come with a constantly stressed out partner.

First post on this site, so I am hoping for some good feedback if its out there! I am starting nursing school this fall at Cal State Long Beach as well as starting a new job as a Mental Health Worker at a local psych facility. Prior to getting the job in the psych hospital, I volunteered in various nursing units at a typical acute care hospital as well as currently being employed as a sitter in the same hospital. Having the opportunity to work in the float pool and be exposed to so many floors and types of patients, I can definitely say that mental health is an area that I am for sure interested in and something I could see myself doing well in as an RN. When I finish my BSN program, I would love to get a job at the psych hospital I am going to be working at and possibly pursue my PMHNP after working for a few years. I know that the job market in Southern California is currently horrendous, but for those of you working in psych within the So Cal area, is it any better for new grads looking to get employed in a mental health setting? I am hoping that experience as a MHW will help when push comes to shove. Any feedback on your experiences with finding work and the role as a psych nurse in general is much appreciated!

First post on this site, so I am hoping for some good feedback if its out there! I am starting nursing school this fall at Cal State Long Beach as well as starting a new job as a Mental Health Worker at a local psych facility. Prior to getting the job in the psych hospital, I volunteered in various nursing units at a typical acute care hospital as well as currently being employed as a sitter in the same hospital. Having the opportunity to work in the float pool and be exposed to so many floors and types of patients, I can definitely say that mental health is an area that I am for sure interested in and something I could see myself doing well in as an RN. When I finish my BSN program, I would love to get a job at the psych hospital I am going to be working at and possibly pursue my PMHNP after working for a few years. I know that the job market in Southern California is currently horrendous, but for those of you working in psych within the So Cal area, is it any better for new grads looking to get employed in a mental health setting? I am hoping that experience as a MHW will help when push comes to shove. Any feedback on your experiences with finding work and the role as a psych nurse in general is much appreciated!