Psych Nurses!!!

Published

Give the pros and cons of this field. I want to be a psych nurse but I don't feel I know enough about what it actually IS to make that decision just yet. Thanks to all who reply. Its much appreciated.

Oh. My. God. How common are occurrences such as these???

it depends on where you work and equally as importantly, who you work with, but violent incidents do happen; however, I believe many of them can be avoided with proper assessment and communication

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Psychiatric.

2 of my 3 years of nursing have been in psych, with one year of med/surg...

My Pros:

1) It gives me a chance to use skills that are in my opinion more difficult than starting IVs or inserting catheters...the communication skills you'd use for a paranoid schizophrenic are vastly different for those you'd use on someone who is depressed.

2) I feel that I can really get to know my patients better.

3) I can use my education skills, particulary in the outpatient setting, where I currently work.

Cons:

1) Jobs around here are harder to find if you're a psych nurse.

I agree with whoever said to get some medical experience...you will encounter patients who for whatever reason either can't or won't communicate with you in a way you can understand, and your assessment skills will be crucial. Good luck!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

To preface, I've been in psych for 2 years now. Been an RN for 2.5 years, and right now I work in a psych ER (where I've been for the last 1.5 years).

Pros:

1. More time to talk to pt than medical floor/ER

2. I find mental issues fascinating

3. I absolutely LOVE seeing a pt clear up after a dose of haldol after they've been off their meds for a while

4. Helping pts learn boundaries and limit-setting - although aggressive manics and borderline pts can try my nerves sometimes

5. Truly psychotic patients that have lost touch with reality are my favorite to observe and converse with. You just can't make some of that stuff up!

Cons:

1. The enviroment is inherently dangerous. Where I work especially since pt's are coming straight off the street, sometimes still in handcuffs. It is imperative that you develop the skill necessary to read body language and tone to prevent violent outbursts (or at the very least prepare for them). (On a side note, I found out that cops in the local police department call me the "needle nurse" because I'll happily and quickly medicate an agitated/aggressive pt that does not respond to verbal deescalation or show of force, sometimes before the cops have even finished writing their BA. It has defused countless situations that could have escalated quickly and ended badly.)

2. Pts brought in involuntarily DON'T want to be here and will act out thinking that will get them out faster.

3. I've noticed that female patients are usually nastier, more aggressive (verbally and otherwise) and more uncooperative than the male patients that come through here.

I will also note that I am leaving psych for the OR because I'm tired of wondering if tonight is the night I'm gonna get slugged. The staffing ratios at the facilities in my area suck and the novelty of working behind a locked door is gone now :icon_roll I figure, if I can deal with the verbal abuse of a creative manic and/or boderline, I can certainly deal with the bipolar surgeons out there.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I really don't intend to work in an ER seeing as that seems to be where danger is in the air. I intend to work in an institution, the place they go AFTER they've been to the ER. I want to either work with adolescents or in CD as I've had experience with both (messed up childhood and an alcohol problem...).

Up Vote Up Vote ×
I really don't intend to work in an ER seeing as that seems to be where danger is in the air. I intend to work in an institution, the place they go AFTER they've been to the ER. I want to either work with adolescents or in CD as I've had experience with both (messed up childhood and an alcohol problem...).

I don't know anything about you personally, and am certainly not commenting specifically on your situation, but it is not at all uncommon for people to feel drawn to working in mental health settings because of personal experiences they've had with mental health issues and/or the kind of dysfunctional experiences and backgrounds common to mental health clients, and sometimes because, on some level (usually unconscious), they're looking to get their own needs met. While I would never say that having a "problem" background or some personal experience with a mental health dx means that you should never work in psych, I will say, loudly and every chance I get :), that it is vitally important that you have your own "baggage" well under control before attempting to work in psych. By that, I mean having a long, serious period of sobriety, having a chronic mental illness (depression, bipolar disorder, whatever) stabilized for a significant period of time, or having dealt with (and I mean dealt with, not successfully repressed so far) whatever painful situations may be in one's past. I've seen what happens when staff haven't dealt with their own stuff, and, trust me, it ain't pretty!! Psych clients have enough problems without the staff bringing their own issues to work with them ...

Again, I'm not commenting on your situation specifically, just speaking in general, and I really hope that I don't sound insulting or offensive. :) It's just that I (have learned from experience to) cringe everytime I hear someone interested in psych say, "I want to work with X clients because I've had the same experiences they have ..."

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I really don't intend to work in an ER seeing as that seems to be where danger is in the air.

I think it needs to be made clear that psych in general is dangerous. Whether you work in an ER, acute inpatient, outpatient, or long term care, a psychiatric patient can decompensate in any of these settings. Let me be clear in saying that MOST of my patients are NOT violent. Angry, disconnected from the situation, not oriented absolutely - but patients can be violent anywhere. Sometimes acute inpatient and CD patients can be worse because they test the limits that staff place on them. Not necessarily violent, but acting out does happen.

When I worked on the acute inpatient unit I had a patient charge at me just to see what I would do. That same patient also picked up a water cooler and tossed it down the hallway.

Please don't make the mistake of thinking that because you're on a detox unit, adolescent and/or child unit that it is any less dangerous.

Also, please take elkparks advice to heart.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion