Psych Nursing New grad

Published

Specializes in BLS, ACLS,PALS.

Hello Nurse Friends,

Just a question - I graduated June 2014 and working at a behavioral mental health hospital where there isn't alot of medical activity going on just mainly pysch off course and therapeutic communication - Meds and some IM is as much medical as it gets, I would like to get everyone's input on what they think would be best for a new grad, I would love to get my hands on a med surg floor so i can grasp all that experience and then move on to something more specific.... what do you all think?

Thank you so much

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ICU.

I am confused. You said you graduated in June 2014, but have 3 years of experience? I think you would get a lot more experience working on a medical-surgical floor, unless you like your current job and plan to stay in behavioral health.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Psych is a specialty of nursing. There is a lot of potential in this field and if you like what you are doing then you should stick with it and become certified in this specialty. If you want something that is more medically oriented then look for positions in med-surg type of nursing. It has been apparent that new grads are having difficulty getting into the hospital environments by the various postings on this site. I would guess that Psych is going to continue to grow because of the alzheimers epidemic, baby boomers becoming older who had more drugs in their bodies than any previous generation, and the generation of ritalin users for ADHD is coming up. There is massive drug addiction, Hereon, Crack, etc. So, truly this area of nursing will most likely continue to grow. Also the research on the brain is revealing more and more every day about neuro-transmitters and how medications affect them, improvement in treatment of depression is most likely on the horizon. If you feel you need to be stimulated in a different way then by all means try to get into a med-surg environment. But, if you like what you are doing, rest assured you are in a good place, it may just not feel like it right now. If you do not have your BSN try to start working on a higher degree, in fact it is better to do this when you are in a comfortable work environment, college is hard enough!! You will most likely be narrowed to working in only Psych type environments, but there is a future in this specialty.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Psych is a specialty of nursing. There is a lot of potential in this field and if you like what you are doing then you should stick with it and become certified in this specialty. If you want something that is more medically oriented then look for positions in med-surg type of nursing. It has been apparent that new grads are having difficulty getting into the hospital environments by the various postings on this site. I would guess that Psych is going to continue to grow because of the alzheimers epidemic, baby boomers becoming older who had more drugs in their bodies than any previous generation, and the generation of ritalin users for ADHD is coming up. There is massive drug addiction, Hereon, Crack, etc. So, truly this area of nursing will most likely continue to grow. Also the research on the brain is revealing more and more every day about neuro-transmitters and how medications affect them, improvement in treatment of depression is most likely on the horizon. If you feel you need to be stimulated in a different way then by all means try to get into a med-surg environment. But, if you like what you are doing, rest assured you are in a good place, it may just not feel like it right now. If you do not have your BSN try to start working on a higher degree, in fact it is better to do this when you are in a comfortable work environment, college is hard enough!! You will most likely be narrowed to working in only Psych type environments, but there is a future in this specialty.

Interesting post. I have been working as a Certified Nurse Assistant for five years at a behavioral hospital and want to try a different environment and see what else is out there. I just keep hearing from other people that my experience in psych will make me marketable.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in BLS, ACLS,PALS.

thank you everyone, and I dont know why it has 3 years of experience, i dont know how to fix that either, but to state teh relevant information, i guess i will be staying, I love what I do and the patients i get to meet every three days since this is an acute mental hospital so the patients' stay is very short.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I have saw this article online about ways a new grad can stand out and it shared that new grades with previous experience in ER, Behavioral Health and other specialties looks great on a resume.

http://www.theamericannurse.org/index.php/2013/10/15/5-ways-new-bsns-can-boost-their-chances-of-finding-employment/

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in BLS, ACLS,PALS.

tasha92337:

That is great news! I always thought that hospitals dont look at Pysch Nursing as a good nursing skill, but honestly, I do alot!!!

Thank you

Up Vote Up Vote ×
tasha92337: That is great news! I always thought that hospitals dont look at Pysch Nursing as a good nursing skill, but honestly, I do alot!!! Thank you
Your welcome. I trying to transition to med/surg to increase my clinical skills but its difficulty without having acute experience. I don't want to bug the recruiters but I may have to lol
Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in BLS, ACLS,PALS.

Turns out that Psych nursing keeps following me. I just got hired as another Pysch nurse for a Mental Health institute of Colorado which a is State job, and I dont know how it happened. Apparently my field for now is Psychiatric Nursng and there is nothign i can about it for now ')

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion