Psych nursing in Seattle area

Neats, BSN · Apr 23, 2010

navos near seatac is an inpatient and outpatient facility. has a great reputation. i interviewed with them as a fairly new nurse bsn. although i did not get the position i felt the staff and the way they presented themselves to me i would have liked to work in their environment and with them. the pay was good, longevity of staff as well. look them up.

another choice is in auburn. they have a gero psych mental health unit unit among other mental health services. just go to their website, you can type in auburn regional hospital to be directed to them.

we also have western state hospital near tacoma wa and eastern over on the other side.

you can look to our military presence; madigan is one of the best teaching hospitals with a dedicated mental health unit and cutting edge therapeutic services.

lastly we have in seattle harborview. owned by the state of wa this is a teaching hospital that occasionally has mental health nursing openings.

so here you have it. good luck i have found the nursing community in wa state to be competent and filled with caring nurses who are competitive with nursing positions. most of all wa state nurses are just nice.

LethaChristina · May 8, 2010

There are also mental health units (a voluntary adult unit) at Swedish Cherry Hill...

two gero-psych units at Northwest Medical Center in Shoreline (voluntary and involuntary)

I'm pretty sure a unit at Steven's in Edmonds (I think involuntary)

a unit at Overlake (Bellevue) for voluntary

child's psych at Childrens...

Fairfax--a psych hospital in Kirkland

king co. detox unit

youth detention in Seattle (on Alder)

the king co. jail has a psych section

there is also another psychiatric hospital (I can't remember the name) for mostly involuntary patients in West Seattle

I have worked in many of these places--yes, the collegiality is good--but treatment premises are pretty much out-dated in many of them--heavy into "biological psychiatry"--and little attempt to incorporate the new more promising therapies (except perhaps at the VA Hospital--I have a friend who has been treated there for years, as well as knowing navy physicians who have been treated there with success from "war trauma" with rapid-eye movement therapy.)

There are also several addiction treatment centers.

aura_of_laura · May 10, 2010

Letha,

Could you clarify what you mean by involuntary vs. voluntary units? Surely the units can't be divided that way! I've never heard of a hospital only taking involuntary or voluntary patients (unless the east coast is waaaaayyy different than the west!). It seems counterintuitive, since patients regularly switch from 302s to 201s or vice-versa...

Thanks for all of the names - I hadn't even heard of some of those facilities! I knew there had to be more than what wikipedia was telling me

LethaChristina · May 10, 2010

There is a tendency in Seattle to isolate those who have been civilly-committed through the court system... while Northwest Medical Center's patients on both units are both voluntary (admitted through their own request) and involuntary... the ones where I specifically note as "voluntary" do not admit those under civil commitment laws (they do not have adequate security... are not locked units, etc.) People seldom change "status" in this state... unless a county-designated mental health professional is called and declares a person "detainable"... (also needed are two affidavits by persons who agree with this--do not both need to be professionals) while a person is on a "voluntary" unit. Changing status from "involuntary" to "voluntary" while detained is incredibly difficult... even though, per law, it is possible.

LethaChristina · May 10, 2010

By the way, if a patient on a "voluntary" unit is declared detainable--they are transferred to one of the "involuntary" units--often quite a distance from the original hospital.