Psychology Nursing for a new grad in NY

[NTytman91]

I have just graduated nursing school. I have been thinking about which field to go into and I found that I really enjoyed my psych rotation. I'm really considering going into the field but some concepts about psych nursing scare me.

I hear that mostly male nurses work in the psych field because you need to have physical strength to stop aggressive patients at times. I'm also worried about patients getting too attached to nurses. I have had my own experience where a patient automatically attached just because she claimed I looked like her daughter. She asked me for my address and everything! Now of course I didn't give it to her but the stalker issue does cause some uneasiness.

So please tell me about your experiences as a psych nurse, and whether you're male or female. What you like, what you don't like. Would you have chosen something else?

[NightOwlPsyRN]

I've worked inpatient psych for 2+ years now and it was my first nursing job out of nursing school. And I love it!

Regarding your comment about aggressive patients, physical strength, it isn't crucial. I'm 5'2" and 120lbs, so I would be jobless if that were a requirement! You are never expected to go hands-on by yourself. When a code is called for an aggressive patient, you have a lot of staff to back you up in case the patient requires a therapeutic hold. And even then, you want to use as little force as is necessary.

About patients getting attached to you, as you said, NEVER give out any personal information (last name, city you live in, etc.). I personally have not had this issue, nor have I heard it being an issue in both facilities that I work. The only attachment I see on the floor is some patients will staff-split...meaning if they make a request and is told no by one staff member, they will mosey on to another staff member and ask the same thing. The staff that appear to be too nice and give in to inappropriate requests/behavior, are the ones patients will get "attached" to knowing that they will most likely get what it is they want. As long as you set the appropriate limits/boundaries, attachment won't be an issue.

There's still a huge stigma associated with mental health, that being able to help this population get stable and out of crisis is rewarding. I get to work with patients with varying presentations, that no day is ever the same and there is never a dull moment. Personally, working in psych has given me a greater appreciation for people in general...because you never know what people are going through sometimes until they wind up in a psych facility. You understand more about the influence of meds and various therapies involved in stabilizing someone's symptoms and most importantly, how to keep someone safe when they are unable to do so.

One drawback in psych is I don't use my med/surg skills quite as much, since it is a requirement for patients to be medically stable and able to do their own ADLs in order to be admitted (considering psych hospitals don't typically have the equipment to handle a medically unstable situation...e.g. IVs, NG tubes, foleys, wound vacs, etc.). Another drawback is there is a lot of staff turnover in this field. From what I've seen, a lot of people leave the field because it wasn't what they expected it to be or some simply get burnt out.

[elkpark]

I've been in psychiatric nursing for 30 yrs. While there have probably been more male RNs in psych nursing over the years than in lots of other nursing specialties (just based on my own observation), it is certainly not true that "most" psych nurses are males. They are a minority in psychiatric nursing, just as they are everywhere else. Psychiatric facilities teach deescalation and restraint techniques that do not depend on the physical strength of the individual using them. While physical size and strength are an advantage when it comes to things like lifting clients, moving heavy equipment and furniture, etc., they are not requirements, or even necessarily an advantage, in psychiatric nursing practice.

In my experience over the years, clients who are agitated are much more likely to become physically violent with a male staff member than a female staff member; often the presence of a large, strong male staff member (nurse or tech) is what puts the client "over the eduge" from just being scared or angry to actually being aggressive.

As for stalking, I did a serious lit search on this subject a few years ago for a thread here about people's fears of being stalked by psychiatric clients (and the old canard that working in psychiatric nursing is much more dangerous that practicing in other specialties). What the literature shows is that psychiatric nurses do occasionally get stalked by a client, but not at any higher a rate, statistically, than the rate of stalking for the general public. So, you have no greater chance of getting stalked because you work in psychiatric nursing than you do of being stalked just for being a regular member of society.

If you pursue this, you will find that psychiatric nursing practice is a lot different than your student rotation. If you have significant reservations about it before you even get started, you might be more comfortable in some other specialty.