Psych

[morecoffeepls, BSN, RN]

Hello, All:

I think I initially posted this in the wrong place. Any information would be appreciated.

I'm about to complete an RN-BSN program and am trying to decide which direction/track I want to take. I am board-certified in Psychiatry-Mental Health and really want to continue to work with this population. My field experience preceptor for the PHN class I am currently in has offered me a job as a visiting psych nurse. I could see myself in this role, and would just like some additional insight/advice if anyone had the time.

Beyond practice, I would also be very interested in salary information. This is where it gets a little "fuzzy" for me. Does this sound right? 40 visits weekly = 75K annually; but if I did 100 visits a week, I would double that? That sounds like I'd be racing around 12 hours a day just to throw some pills at someone and document. Or does it? What do I know? I am really motivated to make "real" money since my wife keeps making me put babies in her. I have considered the DNP and administration options, but there's something so appealing about being out in the community. I just don't know how realistic my expectations are.

[paddler]

Working in HH I have not yet come across a psych nurse who does HH visits. I would think the employer might be a government agency rather than a for profit intermittent type thing you see most of the posts that are discussed as pay per visit here? Maybe dept of health or corrections. I really don't know, sorry I can't be of help but I would think HH would have limited applications for a psych nurse specialist unless you are willing to apply your more generalist skills too.

I cannot imagine doing 40 psych visits a week, if there is such a job that does this. We all know lots of psych patients who takes quite a bit of time to corral into a focused conversation to accomplish the goals of a visit, and I have a hard enough time seeing 35 NON psych patients a week! My psych patients generally take twice as long to accomplish the same care needs as a non-psych patient, so if I were to only see psych patients I would probably not be able to reasonably see more than 20-25 psych patients a week. Not that I would want to! Bless you for doing so, I hope you find the info you need from someone here.

[KateRN1]

We do have psych nurses who do intermittent visits, but not enough to keep someone busy 40 visits per week--which is far too much in my opinion; 20 -25 would be more like it. It's really very much like in-patient psych except that your therapeutic milieu is the home and family rather than inpatient population. Goals are frequently behavior-related as well as goal-setting, medication education and compliance, family education and compliance with dementia care, etc. You would not be expected to administer meds in the home, unless it's to teach a patient or caregiver how to do it. About 99% of what we do in home care is teach, teach, teach.

[MauraRN]

I did psych home care for awhile. Started at $39 per visit then agency cut our pay to $36 per visit. I did 35-40 visits per week and with documentation it was an 80 hour workweek. Depending on location (urban, rural, suburban) the type of pt may be different. I saw drug-seeking alcoholics, manipulative working the system for free stuff types, a few elderly/demented a few MR but what made me run away from the job was the BORDERLINES. THey are difficult enough in controlled environment but nearly impossible to deal with in the home. Think long and hard about this if you have a family. I had to get out for my own well being as well as my son's. The pt population will suck you dry, unfortunate but true. Now I am doing regular med-surg home care and half of them have psych issues! Go figure.