Psychiatric Techinicians

applesxoranges, BSN, RN · Jan 1, 2014

That's a long way to get to psychiatric nursing. Do you think it would be better to get into a nursing program sooner if you can? We have a guy who fell in love with psych and he has a job offer waiting for when he graduates.

studentmamaca · Jan 1, 2014

That's a long way to get to psychiatric nursing. Do you think it would be better to get into a nursing program sooner if you can? We have a guy who fell in love with psych and he has a job offer waiting for when he graduates.

Hi applesxoranges,

You're right it is a long way around, and to some degree the psych tech program is maybe unnecessary. I have the option of just going straight into the nursing prerequisites and applying from there which I have considered in the past. I guess until I read your message I hadn't thought about it again. I have two young children and I am currently finishing up my Bachelor's degree, the psych tech route seemed like a faster pathway to working but the the other route is more direct and it gives me a greater chance of being successful in my nursing science courses, prepping for the GRE, and applying to nursing programs.

Thanks for taking the time to respond to my post, I am going to spend a little time figuring out my plans.

studentmama

Retired APRN, MSN, RN, APRN · Jan 2, 2014

Yes, do give it some thought, and maybe do a little research. It's been many, many years (>30) since I worked in California, but in those days an LPT was pretty much the same as an LVN in many sense. I had one of my psych techs with several years of experience challenge the RN boards, but as I say this was a very long time ago and things have probably changed by then.

If you want to test the waters, perhaps you could get a job as a psychiatric aide while doing your Bachlors to RN coursework.

At any rate, welcome to one of the greatest nursing fields of all!