pros/cons of psych nursing?

Ilya · Apr 15, 2009

I can't do any VA or gov - not US citizen.

State facility - I called them, they didn't want to talk to me until I get my RN license, the lady was sort of rude, so I don't know what to think.

I am applying for one place in MD, but they told me that they had only one opening for new grad.

I would be thankful for any leads that you could share.

Whispera, MSN, RN · Apr 16, 2009

Don't let a rude lady who answers the phone make you think negatively of a whole place....maybe she's just one rude button in an un-rude button-box...and maybe she was just having a bad day!

I didn't realize you had to be a US cit to work at VA or gov facilities!

Ilya · Apr 16, 2009

Don't let a rude lady who answers the phone make you think negatively of a whole place....maybe she's just one rude button in an un-rude button-box...and maybe she was just having a bad day!
I didn't realize you had to be a US cit to work at VA or gov facilities!

The state facility is pretty bad, I had my clinicals over there. If I can't find anything else...

lifecycle1898 · Apr 23, 2009

Con: If your a male nurse your expected to function as a goon as well as a nurse.

kiwipsychnurse · Apr 30, 2009

We had a student in our workplace a few years back (forensic psych hospital), our senior manager was on the ward and asked him if he planed to work in mental health. His reply was golden. He said "I want to work where I get a Thank you, not a f..k you". Classic!!!

I've now done 10 years in psych, 1 year general mental health and 9 years forensic. It's been a great 10 years, however don't expect too many warm fussies from the patients as most people do not like being admitted and subjected to various medications and told what to do.

Restraining, yes done a fair bit of that over the years, however I think our stats are at an all time low. Not too sure what we are doing right, maybe our ration of staff to patients, and we have some really big boys working on the nursing team.

If acute mental health is not your thing, try the rehab side of things. Very little restraint and you get to see people moving back out to the community.

What don't I like about psych nursing? People sitting in offices with little or no patient contact making stupid decisions that impact nursing and patient care.

That's about it from my point of view, no regrets 10 years on. Pays well too.

How this helps

Kiwipsychnure

Orca, ADN, ASN, RN · Apr 30, 2009

Pros: A chance to give of yourself without hiding behind medical procedures. A chance to make a genuine difference in a patient's quality of life and way of dealing with life events.

Cons: Often seen as less of a nurse by collegues on medical units. Can be seen as lacking skills if you later try to get a job in another specialty.

Straight out of nursing school I was hired to work a mental health unit. I was quickly branded as a "psych nurse", unable to do anything else. I was thrown out of work when the parent company of my facility decided to close it. It took me three months to find another job despite a large number of nursing openings in my area because my background was entirely mental health (except for three months in long term care).

Thunderwolf, MSN, RN · May 1, 2009

As a previous psych nurse, the stigma of being "just a psych nurse" still exists...like a quasi-nurse. There is (don't shoot me now) both some truthfulness and falsehood about this. Personally, I have known many a psych nurse in my past experiences...and they grew no more in their nursing experience and knowledge base...psych and nothing else. This is self limiting as a nurse. And many of these nurses fully admitted that they were limited and even felt incompetent regarding assessment and intervention of non-psych illnesses...ie diabetes, decubs, asthma, hypertension, CHF, electrolyte imbalances, EKG changes, et cetera. You can't be wholistically effective if you only focus on the mind and heart, but ignore the body. Does this not make sense?

If you work primarily in psych, improving that knowlege base and experience truly prepares you to meet the most needs of your patient before you. It definitely makes you more rounded as a professional nurse...better apt to intervene on the presenting problem...depression, diabetes (both can overlap...hmmm), or whatever.

The falsehood lies in a misbelief that psych nurses are not genuine nurses. Totally not true. It entails a whole different skill set of intervention. And no, psych nursing is not necessarily easier. And in many ways, can be more difficult than med surg or critical care.

The problem with nursing, like the medical profession, is our way that we specialize ourselves right into a neat little box....and then expect our patients to do the same. Totally unrealistic, but most do it any way. The most competent nursing and medical professionals are mindful of this error, then move beyond it...treating the patient in his/her entirety...not just the pieces and parts of one's specialty.

Sorry if this turned into a mini-rant.

But, this is just my professional view.

Ilya · May 16, 2009

Thanks for all the responses.

So far I've landed 2 interviews in psych - but they're not sure when the positions will be actually open, because of the financial reasons. We shall see.

Orca, ADN, ASN, RN · May 16, 2009

As a previous psych nurse, the stigma of being "just a psych nurse" still exists...like a quasi-nurse. There is (don't shoot me now) both some truthfulness and falsehood about this.

You're absolutely dead on about this. There are mental health nurses who perpetuate the stereotypes that are unfairly applied to many of us. When I began working in the prison system, the infirmary that I worked in had both medical and mental health inpatients. I was assigned to the medical patients. The psych nurse who was assigned to the others refused to do anything that was the least bit medical (physical assessments, running EKGs, etc.). It didn't help the mental health nurses' image among the medical nurses that all they could do was sit and talk to inmates.

allnurses Guide · May 17, 2009

Con: If your a male nurse your expected to function as a goon as well as a nurse.

:rotfl: That's funny! Kinda true, though.

The unfortunate thing with so many psych patients is, they just will not LISTEN to a female nurse. They don't respect females; many have learned to disrespect them. On the child unit that I work on, every morning we have to call a male over to help get order because these kids just won't listen or respond well to the females.

Orca, ADN, ASN, RN · May 18, 2009

The unfortunate thing with so many psych patients is, they just will not LISTEN to a female nurse. They don't respect females; many have learned to disrespect them.

This works both ways. Some male patients won't take any direction from a female. Others see anything a male tells them to do as a challenge to their manhood and they will resist it, but a female has a calming effect on them. This is one reason it pays to have a good mix of male and female staff on the unit.

I had to chuckle at the "goon" analogy. Years ago when I was working on a hospital adult psych/CD unit our program director brought a prospective patient through on a tour of the unit. He spotted me and said, "I bet you are here to keep people from causing trouble. People don't test you, do they?" The tone of his voice indicated that he thought that I was there solely to intimidate people, which I assured him was not the case. Whether or not he believed me I will never know. As far as I know he was never admitted to my unit.