Psych nursing is easy

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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.

Specializes in NICU, Trauma, Oncology.

As someone who hated every second of my psych rotation I would never say psych nurses have easy jobs. I think it takes a great deal of work to be able to provide care to these patients.

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Specializes in psychiatric, corrections.

SmH.....I work on an acute adolescent female psych unit. It's also a UHS facility, so I am the only RN on the floor. It's not easy all the times, we've had kids who have staged riots....just an all out massive Code Greens. So no....i would not say psych nursing is easy....when you have 10 teenage girls jumping the nursing station and trying to beat the hell out of you, and the other 10 are screaming and trying to kick out the glass windows, it's after hours and the doctors won't answer the phone to give you an order for shots...... No it's not easy. Yes, some days are better than others. But you have to take into consideration the ACUITY of the patients you're dealing with. The Military PTSD/CD units are always calm. I'd think psych nursing was easy if i only worked there.....I hate when people (not saying you) but when people say psych isn't real nursing. I'd like to see them deal with this kinda stuff. I doubt they could last

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Specializes in psychiatric, corrections.
The majority of RNs on this site agree their patient workloads are manageable. To me.... That equals EASY. Considering the ER/trauma center workload is never manageable.

THIS.....this is why psych nursing has some of the worst staffing of probably any nursing specialties. This kind of attitude. Most of the patients are walkie-talkies so we get the shaft when it comes to staffing, people think it's so easy. But wait til you've been assaulted because of these kinds of attitudes and then have ro come back the next day and treat your patients like nothing happened....psych can be dangerous and I've yet to ever have a 30 min break. A fully staffed unit, docile patients and a 30min break are about as make believe as Unicorns

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.
SmH.....I work on an acute adolescent female psych unit. It's also a UHS facility, so I am the only RN on the floor. It's not easy all the times, we've had kids who have staged riots...

UHS and other for-profit facilities are horrible because they will cut corners every single way possible in order to maximize the profits. And they LOVE to take it out on staffing. Try to get out of there if you can.

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Specializes in Nephrology, Med/Surg.

How do I get into psych nursing without psych experience? Most posted psych RN postions require 1 year psych experience at minimum. I'm BSN 20 years dialysis & med/surg experience.

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Specializes in Leadership, Psych, HomeCare, Amb. Care.
Nah, we're just really good at what we do. But you'll find out soon enough, I guess.

elkpark, you're a superstar. Like Michael Jordan & Patrick Kane, etc you just make it look easy.

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Specializes in Leadership, Psych, HomeCare, Amb. Care.
How do I get into psych nursing without psych experience? Most posted psych RN postions require 1 year psych experience at minimum. I'm BSN 20 years dialysis & med/surg experience.

I've hired several new grads. Too bad Maryland is such a far commute Illinois

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No it's not easy. You just don't know what you are doing. If you are correctly assessing your patients, planning and delivering their care, documenting properly, advocating for them and preventing crisis, then you are doing a good job and it's hard work. Anyone can hang out. That's not nursing.

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Nickfitz1969, I don't believe that the author was suggesting that medications are a panacea for psychotherapy and adjunct modalities. However I would suggest that you take a little time travel back to the days before phenothiazines were invented and see what psychiatric treatment looked like then. Your attitude on medication is at best, unrealistic and at worst dangerous. Medications are simply useful adjuncts that allow sufficient symptom relief in order to benefit from treatment. Even with their side effects they beat radical lobotomies, trepination, insulin shock and ice packing. They are also preferable to melancholic, vegetated depression and psychotic posturing. I see first hand the difference in pt.s treated with SSRIs between the 1980s and today, so please try tempering your own poison with some professionalism.

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
Nickfitz1969, I don't believe that the author was suggesting that medications are a panacea for psychotherapy and adjunct modalities. However I would suggest that you take a little time travel back to the days before phenothiazines were invented and see what psychiatric treatment looked like then. Your attitude on medication is at best, unrealistic and at worst dangerous. Medications are simply useful adjuncts that allow sufficient symptom relief in order to benefit from treatment. Even with their side effects they beat radical lobotomies, trepination, insulin shock and ice packing. They are also preferable to melancholic, vegetated depression and psychotic posturing. I see first hand the difference in pt.s treated with SSRIs between the 1980s and today, so please try tempering your own poison with some professionalism.

The poster to which you are responding hasn't logged into the site in nearly a year. I highly doubt he will read your response.

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If psych nursing is easy then I'm in the wrong facility!!! I love my job and my patients (most of the time) and while it may not be as "busy" as a medical or surgical unit, it's it own type of specialty. anyone who thinks psych isn't tough has never been a psych nurse. Just my opinion though.

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Specializes in PICU, Pediatrics, Trauma.
I've had the same experience every time I've taught a psych clinical rotation -- the students all start out thinking this is going to be easy, a nice break from all their "hard" clinicals, they've heard they're just going to sit around and talk with people (how hard can that be?), and, inevitably, later in the rotation, one or more of them says to me, "Gee, Ms. ----, I thought this clinical was going to be easy, but psych nursing is really hard! You have to think hard all the time!!"

Side note...Im probably going to start a new position soon in an acute in-patient psych hospital (fingers crossed). Do you have any recommendations on how to best prepare? Many years in Nursing, but no psych experience other than nursing school about a hundred years ago. Haha!

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