Psychiatric nursing

mentalhealthRN · Mar 7, 2011

Can't speak for those places specifically but as far as moving into psyc.....try to keep in mind that it will be different. It will call on new and less used skills. As far as stress.....that may depend on your unit specifically and every day is different. One day could be stressful because you had a lot of needy patients and are behind in your charting or meds. Or you have a pt or tso on your shift that end up escalating and in restraints. You can have a pt who has medical problem. Maybe serious, maybe not. Especially on an acute floor where the population is changing fairly often you have the discharges and admits which can get stressful if you get several and are already having a busy day.But the good thing about that is that your days are seldom the same as the population is constantly changing. You will learn to de-escalate and to notice subtle changes in people that may be the start of them becoming agitated or anxious. You will need lots and lots of compassion and try to always keep in mind that generally these people are ill and not doing things just to make you nuts. They often have very poor coping skills. And keep that medical knowledge handy as you will still use it. There are medical emergencies in psych that may be new so you should familiarize yourself with their presentation.....like NMS--Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome--if not caught can be fatal, serotinin syndrome, etc. And you will see many pts with anxiety who get CP from it but keep in mind that even psych pts can have MIs so assess thouroughly. Learn the common psych meds--lots less then in medicine so this should be cake for you (lol). Read what you can on things that will help you in the job about different psych dx. I am reading a book now called defusing angry people and think this is really useful info as you deal with anger a lot in psych. As far as the staff of course that will be different where ever you go but it is important to find a group of people that work well together as in this setting not working as a team can get someone hurt badly. Its nice if you find a group of people who you feel have your back and you should have theirs. With violent units this is really important. As far as work load that will depend on the shift and the staffing. Wish I could tell you more but good luck to you. And kudos for giving psych a try. It is a totally different world then medical. Helping people in a different way.

pinkiepie_RN · Mar 7, 2011

Springfield is a State Hospital, as you know. I was there for my psych clinical. I found it very boring and I rarely saw the nurses outside of the nursing station. One LPN was a med nurse and the rest were supposed to be on the milieu, but it was not true. PCAs ran an exercise group and I think there was an activity counselor but the facility is old and it needs to come to the 21st century.

I've heard good things about SEPH-EC. I worked at SEPH-Towson and it was an interesting place, with well trained staff.

I'd cross-post this to the Maryland thread.

nursekimbo · Mar 15, 2011

inpatient and outpatient psych are different as well. consider community psych- i loved it. you get to interact with people in the community and assist them with 'integrating' for lack of a better word, into society and get to know them on a personal level. good luck