Psych rotation

donnasRN · Aug 12, 2009

Hey, I'm not a Nurse, but I've worked in a psych hospital as a counselor. I'll be starting Nursing school in a few weeks but when we had students doing their rotation I noticed they never really got to follow the Nurses on the unit. I'm not sure how it is in other hospitals, but they would go into report, sit in a few therapy groups, read a few charts, and speak with some patients. They rarely got to spend any time with the Nurses, we were the ones directing them on which groups would be best and which patients they should speak with. Not sure if this is the way it's supposed to be but the only way I've seen it lol

BTW, congrats on starting your rotation!

soapbrain · Aug 13, 2009

Hi there. I am also a nursing student, just finished my psych rotation... In answer to your question, no, my clinical experience was not much like a working nurse's day (but I have no idea how this would operate at other facilities/schools). We did not pass meds and didn't really work too terribly closely with the RNs on the floor. But I don't think it matters that much, really, because (in my opinion) the most useful thing for you to do while you're there is talk to patients and try to pick up therapeutic communication skills.

I think one of the best things you can do to enhance your learning experience is sit in on group therapy sessions, because it allows you to evaluate the therapists' use of therapeutic communication (which you can then model) or observe that particular therapist's LACK of therapeutic communication so that you know what not to do. Something else I found useful was going to the team meetings with the psychiatrist, therapist(s) and nurse(s) where they discuss each patient's case. It allows you to see how they arrived at diagnostic decisions, how the patient's insurance affects the care they can receive, why specific treatment modalities are being used, etc.

Good luck with your rotation! I hope you enjoy it, I definitely did :)