Psych nursing while pregnant

Specialties Psychiatric

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Neuro, ICU, travel RN, Psych.

I'm sure that it happens from time to time, people obviously get pregnant. But how dangerous do you think it really would be? Something to avoid at all costs, or doable?

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At the (psych) facility at which I work, several nurses and techs have been pregnant during the three years I've been there and no one has had any problems. Many people with no psych experience or exposure to speak of have lots of concerns about the "danger" of working psych that just aren't realistic. I don't think that being pregnant in a psych setting is necessarily any more risky than being pregnant as a nurse in any other healthcare setting.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Neuro, ICU, travel RN, Psych.
At the (psych) facility at which I work, several nurses and techs have been pregnant during the three years I've been there and no one has had any problems. Many people with no psych experience or exposure to speak of have lots of concerns about the "danger" of working psych that just aren't realistic. I don't think that being pregnant in a psych setting is necessarily any more risky than being pregnant as a nurse in any other healthcare setting.

Thanks, that is kind of what my thoughts were as well. But since I have never actually worked psych I figured I would ask some people who had the knowlege. We are trying to get pregnant, and I had planned on waiting to switch, but I really don't like my job. I don't think I can handle staying where I am at for atleast another 9 months.

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Specializes in Acute Care.

Your probably more protect there than on a normal nursing unit. There are lots of psych patients out there.

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Your probably more protect there than on a normal nursing unit. There are lots of psych patients out there.

Not to mention that the vast majority of "psych patients" represent no threat to pregnant women anyway ...

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Specializes in psych, addictions, hospice, education.

to add on to what elkpark said...most psych patients aren't out to hurt people. they're more likely to want to hurt themselves, if anyone.

don't base your opinion on what you see in movies and on television, or on what people with no experience in the field might say...

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Neuro, ICU, travel RN, Psych.
to add on to what elkpark said...most psych patients aren't out to hurt people. they're more likely to want to hurt themselves, if anyone.

don't base your opinion on what you see in movies and on television, or on what people with no experience in the field might say...

oh i wasn't basing anything on movies. some of it came from reading things on here, but as you said.. usually from people who don't actually work in the field. from everything i can understand, its not really dangerous when you work in a safe facility that handles escalations in patients behavior properly.

i honestly didn't think it was a big deal. but i had to ask mainly for my husbands peice of mind. he supports whatever career choices i make, but hearing from nurses who actually work in the field just puts his mind at ease, ya know?

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.

I also don't necessarily think it is unsafe for pregnant staff but do keep in mind that you will probably need a thick skin. I have seen more than one agitated patient threaten an unborn baby. :(

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Neuro, ICU, travel RN, Psych.
I also don't necessarily think it is unsafe for pregnant staff but do keep in mind that you will probably need a thick skin. I have seen more than one agitated patient threaten an unborn baby. :(

Good point! I handle things like that pretty well, so I think I'd be ok. While I'm obviously human, I've always been pretty decent at seperating work. Pregnant hormones things may get to me a bit more, but I think I should be ok.

Unfortunately I just had a car accident so I am out of work for a bit with a wrist fracture. So I have to wait until I am back and all before I can look into switching.

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Specializes in Med./Surg., Diabetes, Med. ICU, home hea.
to add on to what elkpark said...most psych patients aren't out to hurt people. they're more likely to want to hurt themselves, if anyone.

don't base your opinion on what you see in movies and on television, or on what people with no experience in the field might say...

hmmm... while assaults don't happen "regularly" at our county facility, it does happen. i've been bitten twice, punched in the nose twice, we have one non-licensed staff out after being hit in the heat/neck with a plastic chair. if your clients are that well behaved, more power to you and your staff! we tend to get the worst the county has to offer, they rarely get prosecuted for assault no matter how much we press the issue. administration's attitude is: "it happens. maybe this isn't the job for you" if you complain. it is not always the axis i that causes assaults, more often than not, it is the axis ii. clients learn that when they can avoid prosecution/jail for assaulting staff, they can often "bully" staff into bending the rules to get what they want... even when its not therapeutic.

while baby is fairly well protected, you have to weigh the risks vs. the benefits. ...and keep on your toes, know your clients, know your back-up!

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I think it's doable if you're very aware of your surroundings.

Yosemite said "KNOW YOUR CLIENTS, KNOW YOUR BACK-UP!" I 100% agree. Tell another staff member where you're going, don't give patients special privileges, know who's violent and know who's sexist. Don't be afraid to ask someone what a patient is capable of. I used to let one really nice guy come with me to set up snacks in a separate room... a more experienced tech yelled at me when he found out because it turns out this guy had strangled his sister while in a confused state! How stupid was I?

People are reluctant to admit that psych patients can be very violent. The truth is, confused, scared people act out. I work at a pretty crappy hospital that will accept just about any patient (patients other places won't take), so maybe I'm biased. But, I have hard time thinking of many former patients that didn't at least attempt something violent, be it accidental or not.

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People are reluctant to admit that psych patients can be very violent. The truth is, confused, scared people act out.

I don't think the issue is whether some psych clients are capable of becoming violent -- to me, the issue is whether violence is more likely to happen on a psych unit than in other healthcare settings, and I think that's highly debatable. In my experience, all of us who have spent any serious time working in psych are aware of the risks; we're just also reluctant to help perpetuate the unrealistic stereotypes and stigma attached to psych clients.

You're correct that confused, scared people act out -- however, confused, scared people aren't limited to psych settings. :)

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