Psych Specialty--The Red-headed Stepchild of Nursing?

fergus51 · Nov 20, 2005

I think a student posted a thread about this not long ago. I don't work psych, never would, but several of my friends do. I think it's nursing, just like med-surg, you just use different skills. Too many people think nursing is just about tasks, like NG insertion or IV sticks and so they act like psych nursing isn't real nursing. Course, I've seen the same attitude towards LTC nursing, community/public health, administration, education, occupational health, etc.

truern · Nov 20, 2005

Nothing important to add to the thread, but seeing the title reminded me of the last time I used the phrase "ugly red-headed stepchild". I was at my hairstylist's shop....and realized that both she and the customer in her chair were red-headed :rolleyes:

One of those times you wish the floor would open up and swallow you whole :lol_hitti

GalRN · Nov 20, 2005

Well.... Apparently some nurses (and at least one hospital) gets it. I'm a nurse w/ primarily psych exp. It's my favorite field, and I always identify myself as a psych nurse. Recently I posted my resume online, looking for something better, and..... a recruiter called w/ a new position the ER at a local hospital just created. Seems they realized that they had a lot of psych pts coming through... both for psych emergencies and psych pts having medical issues.

So they created a position (my new job!!!!!) :) for an RN w/ primarily psych experience. They're training me in all of the medical stuff, I'll be ACLS certified in 6 months! I'll get all the psych pts and take medical when there aren't enough psych.

When I interviewed I met 1 doc and several nurses I'll be working with. They were all really excited and relieved to finally be getting a psych nurse...seems they've been asking for years!

CharlieRN · Nov 22, 2005

My areas of specialty are psych and emergency care. I have heard ER nurses say they can't stand working with psych patients and a couple hours ago heard a Psych nurse say how she could not stand working in an ER. It takes all kinds.

I do agree that Psych nursing is something other than "task oriented". A nurse goes through a "sea change" when he or she starts work in psych. I remember my first week on an inpatient psych unit. I was running to get a patient his scheduled med when the charge nurse stopped me and asked why I was not in the staff meeting. I explained about the meds that were due, and she said, "The meds can wait. Go to the meeting." You could have knocked me over with a feather.

student4ever · Nov 22, 2005

Well, psychiatric nursing IS very different from "regular" nursing - notice I didn't say REAL nursing! There is a much different focus - at least in my hospital. Our mental health center nurses FREAK out if a pt. comes up accidentally with a saline lock in. I am a PCT while in school, and transported a pt. w/ an AC lock in, which was forgotten about by the RN, and not noticed by me. Well, we got to the door at the lockdown MH unit, and the nurse flat out refused to let the pt. in the door with the lock in. I asked if one of the RNs could come out and take it out before we went in if she felt that strongly about it. She said, "I am an RN, and neither I nor any of the other RNs who work up here would ever touch an IV - you take it out, you work in the ER." Of course, I had to explain that I am not allowed to take out an IV, as I am a PCT - and that an RN or LPN must remove the lock. Well, after discussing this issue for a while, the RN refused to budge on the issue, and the pt. had to be transported back downstairs to have his saline lock d/c before heading back up to the MH unit. Now maybe it's just the psych nurses I have had experience with, but it seems that a lot of psych nurses have decided they like wearing street clothes and still calling themselves RNs, but not doing anything but pass meds and write assessments. Who knows what else they do up there, it's a locked unit - but my point is, they refuse to do anything requiring needles unless it's an injection. They will not touch an IV or draw blood. The house phlebotomist has to come in to do that.

And then, knowing all of this, the staffing coordinator has a psych nurse that got called off because they were over staffed, and calls the ER to ask if they can float her down to us because she needs the hours!!!! Like psych nurses (the ones like I've described above - I know you are not all alike!) would have any idea what to do floating in the ER!!! Sorry for the rant... didn't mean to go off.

Basically, my point is, even considering the kinds of rude people we have working on our psych floor, I don't think of psychiatric nursing as "the ugly redheaded step-child of nursing." Just something VERY different from a lot of areas of hospital nursing. That's all.

lovinghands · Nov 23, 2005

Well, psychiatric nursing IS very different from "regular" nursing - notice I didn't say REAL nursing! There is a much different focus - at least in my hospital. Our mental health center nurses FREAK out if a pt. comes up accidentally with a saline lock in. I am a PCT while in school, and transported a pt. w/ an AC lock in, which was forgotten about by the RN, and not noticed by me. Well, we got to the door at the lockdown MH unit, and the nurse flat out refused to let the pt. in the door with the lock in. I asked if one of the RNs could come out and take it out before we went in if she felt that strongly about it. She said, "I am an RN, and neither I nor any of the other RNs who work up here would ever touch an IV - you take it out, you work in the ER." Of course, I had to explain that I am not allowed to take out an IV, as I am a PCT - and that an RN or LPN must remove the lock. Well, after discussing this issue for a while, the RN refused to budge on the issue, and the pt. had to be transported back downstairs to have his saline lock d/c before heading back up to the MH unit. Now maybe it's just the psych nurses I have had experience with, but it seems that a lot of psych nurses have decided they like wearing street clothes and still calling themselves RNs, but not doing anything but pass meds and write assessments. Who knows what else they do up there, it's a locked unit - but my point is, they refuse to do anything requiring needles unless it's an injection. They will not touch an IV or draw blood. The house phlebotomist has to come in to do that.
And then, knowing all of this, the staffing coordinator has a psych nurse that got called off because they were over staffed, and calls the ER to ask if they can float her down to us because she needs the hours!!!! Like psych nurses (the ones like I've described above - I know you are not all alike!) would have any idea what to do floating in the ER!!! Sorry for the rant... didn't mean to go off.
Basically, my point is, even considering the kinds of rude people we have working on our psych floor, I don't think of psychiatric nursing as "the ugly redheaded step-child of nursing." Just something VERY different from a lot of areas of hospital nursing. That's all.

I worked as a psych aide for almost 10 years priori to becoming a psych nurse in the same facility. I remember flipping this attitude at times - I can tell you after being in both roles, it isn't as easy as you think. Btw, I wear scrubs and perform all the duties any RN is expected to do, including IV therapy. I am a regular nurse working in a specialty.

KatieBell · Nov 23, 2005

I do think Psych gets a short straw at times. They do use different skills, and certainly they are much better at communicating with our psychotic patients. Like Glaadriel, we have 2 dedicated psych nurses. We are excited to have them because that means we do not have to take psych patients, which we generally do not like.

Now, I do not want to be un-charitable, btu when they staffed on the unit outside of the psych area, it was a bit difficult. Most of their skills were out of practice- and if they couldn't do something, they wanted to debrief about it endlessly. As a team leader, these two ladies were a disaster waiting to happen. Most days, i had to start all their IV's, and help them understand and execute orders. At first I was happy enough, but when this went on for months, we all became drained of it. I especially got tired of trying to dry tears on one who just could not start an IV. My biggest problem with this was that, we don't have time for all that de-brief and anguish. On the other hand, they were EXCELLENT with our Psych patients, much better than any of us for sure.

All that said, I could not work in Psych. I have a lot of respect for those that do. It is different, and it is nursing, but it is not "Tasky" nursing- like Med Surg....but I will never say these nurses aren't nurses of course they are.

Balder_LPN, LPN · Nov 30, 2005

Recently I posted my resume online, looking for something better, and..... a recruiter called w/ a new position the ER at a local hospital just created. Seems they realized that they had a lot of psych pts coming through... both for psych emergencies and psych pts having medical issues.
So they created a position (my new job!!!!!) :) for an RN w/ primarily psych experience. They're training me in all of the medical stuff, I'll be ACLS certified in 6 months! I'll get all the psych pts and take medical when there aren't enough psych.

I have been married 2x and both my wives went to nursing school while we were married. I had no interest in it for my own carerr until I was an IT worker for a large homehealth co. while waiting for the boss one day I started reading AJN and the career exploration was for a psych triage nurse in an ER, I read the personality requirements for this job, and realized "hey they are talking about ME!!", the next day a high school buddy showed up as an IV nurse. I am now working on lpn and will complete my bsn, I will (few more years) be that psych triage nurse in the ER

psych4u · Dec 8, 2005

I have to say that I loooovvvvvee being a psych nurse. I've done just about every other kind of nursing imaginable, but psych is definitely my home. While I haven't gotten the "vibe" that I'm not a real nurse, I get very weird looks when I tell people that I am in psych. It's like they're not sure what my own mental state is. Once they realize that I am not actively psychotic, they get real interested and start asking me for stories. No, we're not pushing I.V.'s, running drips, monitoring vents, or transporting to surgery. We are, however, keeping people safe, offering millions of tissues a day, providing a strong shoulder to lean on, a keen ear for listening, and words of wisdom to help people get going in the right direction. Which job is more important? Neither. We are doing the same thing: HEALING. I will say what drives me up an absolute wall (and I'm sure I can get an amen somewhere from my fellow LPN's out there). "Oh, you're only an LPN?" "Wow, I thought you were an RN!" While I am working on my BSN and plugging along nicely, I will always be an LPN at heart and cringe when I hear that. When I do finish and become RN, BSN, I will NEVER embarass or disrespect a fellow nurse by using these belittling statements.

rogramjet · Dec 8, 2005

it seems that a lot of psych nurses have decided they like wearing street clothes and still calling themselves RNs, but not doing anything but pass meds and write assessments.

This quote bothered me. I am not a psych nurse, but I don't work in Med/Surg either. I am an outpatient educator. I do work with inpatients in my job, but when I am there I will not touch their IVs or pumps or anything else, I'm qualified, but I do not work in that department. I am still an RN. The great thing about being an RN is that there is room for us all. We all have our own tasks, duties, and focus, but we are all RN's and I still call myself an RN, I earned it, and I pay for it every year on my birthday. I have the piece of paper to prove it.

kadokin, ASN, RN · Dec 9, 2005

Well.... Apparently some nurses (and at least one hospital) gets it. I'm a nurse w/ primarily psych exp. It's my favorite field, and I always identify myself as a psych nurse. Recently I posted my resume online, looking for something better, and..... a recruiter called w/ a new position the ER at a local hospital just created. Seems they realized that they had a lot of psych pts coming through... both for psych emergencies and psych pts having medical issues.
So they created a position (my new job!!!!!) :) for an RN w/ primarily psych experience. They're training me in all of the medical stuff, I'll be ACLS certified in 6 months! I'll get all the psych pts and take medical when there aren't enough psych.
When I interviewed I met 1 doc and several nurses I'll be working with. They were all really excited and relieved to finally be getting a psych nurse...seems they've been asking for years!

That sounds great! As a matter of fact, it sounds like my dream job. I have worked in psych since I graduated over 10 yrs ago, but I would still like to increase my knowledge base of other specialites. Good luck and God bless, I am sure you will be an asset to your new employer.