Psych nursing is easy

Specialties Psychiatric

Published

Does anyone else think so? I just started not too long ago so my perception can be wrong but it seems so much easier compared to other nursing specialties. I love that I get to talk to my patients , sit, and eat lunch and go to the bathroom lol. I know it depends on the floor ( I work on just plain adult psych so no substance a users) . Would love to see what others think, thanks.

I have worked in several areas of mental health now, and in my opinion it is not an easy job. It can be draining, challenging, intrusive, painful, threatening and downright scary. It can and does change who you are as a person. It can be rewarding, interesting, fascinating and a very privileged position to be in. Mental health nursing, and nursing/care in general is a very difficult profession as we deal with people, the most unpredictable of beast on the planet :)

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Psych nursing is different, not easy. Certainly there is less task orientation than in a med/surg ward. I work with a lot of task oriented individuals - often they are the ones swanning around a psych ward waxing lyrical about how quiet and lovely it is. Equally as often they find themselves poorly equipped to handle some of the more challenging aspects of psych nursing.

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I've been working in Inpatient Psychiatry for the VA for almost two years. I LOVE my job. But there are days where I want to leave and never come back.

As charge nurse, I am responsible for not only up to 20 psychiatric Veterans, but also nursing assistant staff. Sometimes just making sure I have enough time to get my work done is enough. On top of that, I am constantly checking to ensure that nursing assistant staff are completing their assigned work, which is NOT always as easy as one would think.

I am also a safety nut. I am constantly on my feet, rounding the unit- looking in Veterans' rooms to ensure that they are not harming themselves, a peer or have any contraband in their room. I am also walking around cleaning up messes which include but are not limited to 1) medications that someone cheeked and spit out 2) a cup of juice that an agitated Veteran decided to dump in the middle of the hall, which now becomes a fall risk 3) URINE because psych patients LOVE to urinate on the floor for some reason. I am also CONSTANTLY assessing my Veterans for suicidal and homicidal ideation to monitor their need for 1:1 observation.

I lead a second role on the unit, which I call Firefighter because I am constantly putting out fires between my Veterans. As anyone can imagine, a Veteran with severe psychosis and another with PTSD do not mix well, especially when my psychotic Veteran is screaming and entering their room uninvited because they are "looking for my dog". Veterans have quarrels over numerous other things such as meals, phone usage, slamming the doors, which channel the television should be on, etc. The list goes on and on.

I feel that I am chasing the psychiatrists around all day. I am asking for a reassessment on so-and-so because I believe they should have their 1:1 observation discontinued. Or I need a STAT order for a 10 and 2. This is not as easy as it sounds. The psychiatrists are so busy with treatment team and fulfilling their daily duties that it makes it hard for nursing to always have them readily available.

Admissions does not care WHAT is going on when they say "I'm bringing you a combative, agitated Veteran with Schizoaffective disorder in five minutes" I've literally been in the middle of a psychiatric emergency with someone screaming, hollering, threatening to beat me or a peer up and Admissions brings them anyway. What do I do? I cannot refuse care to that Veteran because I would then be wrong and neglectful.

I've been punched, spit on, pushed and shoved, sexually harassed, verbally abused, etc. Most recently, the trend has become that Veterans enjoy displaying TOTALLY inappropriate sexual behaviors and acts right in front of myself and other staff. It has been a very testing environment for myself lately. It seems that our unit cannot catch a break on admissions.

Then there are restraint situations. A LOT of paperwork, making phone calls, legality, etc. And besides that, it is by far my least favorite part of my job. I despise strapping someone to a bed. It feels so inhumane to me. That aside, I am smart and insightful enough to know that restraints are necessary when a Veteran is a danger to themselves or others when all other therapeutic measures have been unsuccessful.

At the end of the day, I LOVE WHAT I DO. However, I do disagree with the statement that Psych nursing is easy. FAR FROM IT. And if it easy, maybe you're not doing all of it. The more encounters and experience you gain, I believe that you will see that psych nursing requires just as much skill as general/primary nursing. I believe that psychiatry is a specialty and it requires a special set of individuals to care for the mentally ill in society.

And the most important lesson I have learned: WHEN IN DOUBT, MEDICATE!!!!!

Peace and Love

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I couldn't think of any other way to describe it. You hit the nail on the head here.

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Margotnurse21, I was quite fascinated by your post about working with veterans...would you be willing to share what you love about psych nursing? Your job sounds like it's not for the faint of heart, yet you seem quite passionate about your chosen specialty. I don't think this veers off topic either, as what you love about psych nursing may be equally challenging!

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I love seeing what my patience and compassion can do for one person. I also love that I can serve our Veterans just like they have served our country. I truly love these patients. They do say the darndest things sometimes too! Most of all I love to see them at discharge. Between therapy and medication, they may do a 180 during their stay and that tells me my job is worthwhile.

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Maybe it's easy for this student because it's where she's destined to work. Best wishes to you, OP.

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Psych nursing is easy?? Please tell me where this unit is so we can all come work there! As a veteran psych nurse who has worked 11 of my 15 yrs in psych nursing, I'd say, never let down your guard! Just when you do that, something is bound to happen! Yes, you get to sit down. So what? Yes, you get to take a lunch most of the time. So what? You also need to de-escalate patients, put them in restraints and document that. You have to carefully watch for side effects and especially fall prevention due to the sedating nature of the meds! I could go on. Please don't add to the perception that psych nursing isn't like "real nursing" by saying how easy it is. You just haven't been in it long enough!

She never said it isn't like real nursing, only that, thus far, she seems to be enjoying Psych because there's actually time to sit a little and actually interact with patients. She even said that her perception could change, since she's only a student at present.

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OMG - Easy? Obviously you haven't had manic, aggressive or harming self yet. I don't consider 4 pt. restraints while a pt. is trying to bash own head into the floor easy. I don't consider talking to someone for 20 min. to get agitated person to calm rather than go into restraints easy. I don't consider being hypervigilant for those in ETOH withdrawls & assessments to go to ED easy - 6 discharges + 6 admits + 3 Dr.s new orders + conducting group + Sched. & PRN medication + Documentation easy. You just haven't worked that floor long enough to see the real work.

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Specializes in Leadership, Psych, HomeCare, Amb. Care.
OMG - Easy? Obviously you haven't had manic, aggressive or harming self yet. I don't consider 4 pt. restraints while a pt. is trying to bash own head into the floor easy. I don't consider talking to someone for 20 min. to get agitated person to calm rather than go into restraints easy. I don't consider being hypervigilant for those in ETOH withdrawls & assessments to go to ED easy - 6 discharges + 6 admits + 3 Dr.s new orders + conducting group + Sched. & PRN medication + Documentation easy. You just haven't worked that floor long enough to see the real work.

Had to give you a like after the day I had. Which I won't go into here.

Definitely not an easy day. Luckily there were no injuries of any significance.

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Specializes in psych, addictions, hospice, education.

I think when someone says a job is easy, it can mean that it's interesting and the work the person loves. For me, loved work seems much easier than work I don't love..

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As a new grad, i didnt know what i had signed up for when i became rn supervisor at my facility. We have about 200 patients, 150 in one station about 50 in the other. Each station we have 3 lvns, 12 cnas, and we have 2 rn supervisors 4 times out of the week. Try being the only RN two days out of the week, with no DON, no casemanagers, no staff members at the front desk because its a weekend and theyre off. Trying to not only supervise your staff making sure theyre on the floor not chit chatting on one side leaving the pts unattended. Try making sure your lvns are doing their job right and not slacking off. all at the same time when you have to be at two stations during your shift. Oh lets not forget assigning cnas to 1:1 supervision for pts who are suicid or DTO. lets not forget you finding out you're short staffed as soon as u come onto your shift or that you need to send cnas to supervise pts at a hospital or appointments

And on top of all that....try handling ALL of that when a pt decides to kick someones ass making them unconscious. Oh hey by the way did I tell you all of this can happen when youre the only RN and have 200 patients??? Yeah not so easy is it?

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