"real" role of pysch nurses

ARNPsomeday · Apr 19, 2005

nursethis, how much time would you recommend in Med/Surg before entering Psych completely?

In my experience, some time working Med/Surg right after graduation was invaluable in fixing many of the things I learned in my memory. Things like lab values, common medical meds, common medical conditions, etc. There are certain categories of information common to all areas of nursing, and working Med/Surg requires dealing with them on a daily basis.

nursethis · Apr 19, 2005

Hey StuPer....I realize these things are taught in school, but in my experience, we covered an awful lot of material in school, with little time for reinforcing or familiarizing. I think my retention rate coming out of school would have been poor without some practice.....APRN, I don't know....I guess at least a year? Until you're comfortable?

broknsole · May 4, 2005

Hello, this is my first post, and I've never really done the whole forum thing before, but there seems to be a lot of information available, so I thought I'd give it a try. I'm 22 right now, and I graduated last May with a BS in psychology. After graduating, I gradually accepted the fact that there's not a whole lot I can do with only a BS. I had considered nursing years ago, but I was intimidated by dealing with needles (I've always been nervous about them, and I'm afraid that I'd hurt someone if I had to take blood). However, last fall I spoke with someone who was going through a local nursing program, and she absolutely loved it. She mentioned that there are usually specialized units for the blood taking, and I probably wouldn't have to do that all that often if it was something I was uncomfortable with. Now, I applied and was accepted to that nursing school (it's an in hospital program jointly working with a community college), and I start in September. I realize it's a little early to be deciding on a specific area of nursing to get into, but I was wondering if anyone had any input about...well, really about anything having to do with nursing. Has anyone had similar concerns about needles? Has anyone had any experience with Forensic nursing, which is another area I was considering. Also, did anyone have trouble finding a job after graduation? I know everyone is saying there's a huge demand for nurses, but I wondered if that was the case operationally. Any information would be very much appreciated.

thanks,

Becky

Hello,
My name is Amy and I am new here. I graduated nursing school last year. Before graduating I wasn't sure what area of nursing to go into. I have a real passion for psych. I have an AD in criminal justice because I wanted to work with juveniles which never panned out for me. I also liked critical care. My psych instructor was real encouraging saying she thought I had the ability to be good at psych nursing. She also said if that is what I wanted to do then go straight for it, skip that year of med-surg. Well being that I wasn't sure, I ended up in med-surg. After almost a year, I feel like I am getting burned out. I really struggle with the fact that because of the patient ratios and general job duties I can't provide the care I want to give or would even want my family to recieve. It honestly makes me ill. I am thinking more and more of heading into psych. But I don't feel I am really aware of what all goes into psych nursing. For my psych rotation we concentrated on the "communication" aspect of everything. We didn't pass meds, etc. I am just concerned that I am blind to what it is really all about. I know my passion isn't med-surg. If anyone could give me a run down of their resposibilities and how their day goes it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Amy

CHATSDALE · May 4, 2005

becky, i believe that your time in psychology will be an asset to you as a nurse..as for the needle thing it is one of those things where you do something so often it becomes second nature to you

as for learning about aspects of med-surg in school...working is a whole other ballgame..all psyche patients are subject to physical ailments many of which can mimic or acerbate symptoms you will find that your time in med surg was well spent

psyche can be slower paced [at times] that med surg but the stress level can be overwhelmingg also

basic thing is that you spend so much of your life working it is imperative that you work happy .. be glad to go to work--be glad to go home

ARNPsomeday · May 5, 2005

I get mad when I hear yet another potential psych nurse has been told to do a years me/surg by university lecturers to get that 'vital' experience just incase you dont like psych, I always counter with "in that case why don't you advise all nurses planning to do med/surg to do a years psych" 'just in case'.. sheeesh. It is a thinly veiled predjudice against psych that prompts this rubbish, there are nursing shortages everywhere, if you'd done psych straight up I guarantee you'd have still got into med/surg should you have chosen that. ...

StuPer, I know exactly where I want to work. This very big hospital has its own stand-alone mental health center which is beautiful, with big windows, clean, and the sunshine pours in... Anyway, it is carved in stone that in order to work there all RNs must first do at least one year in purgatory. It must be because of the acuity of most psych patients, and I also suspect it is one way of staffing their med/surg floors.

Morgan314 · May 24, 2005

Hello,
My name is Amy and I am new here. I graduated nursing school last year. Before graduating I wasn't sure what area of nursing to go into. I have a real passion for psych. I have an AD in criminal justice because I wanted to work with juveniles which never panned out for me. I also liked critical care. My psych instructor was real encouraging saying she thought I had the ability to be good at psych nursing. She also said if that is what I wanted to do then go straight for it, skip that year of med-surg. Well being that I wasn't sure, I ended up in med-surg. After almost a year, I feel like I am getting burned out. I really struggle with the fact that because of the patient ratios and general job duties I can't provide the care I want to give or would even want my family to recieve. It honestly makes me ill. I am thinking more and more of heading into psych. But I don't feel I am really aware of what all goes into psych nursing. For my psych rotation we concentrated on the "communication" aspect of everything. We didn't pass meds, etc. I am just concerned that I am blind to what it is really all about. I know my passion isn't med-surg. If anyone could give me a run down of their resposibilities and how their day goes it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Amy

I worked for 7 yrs on a hospital psych unit before my current position in an outpatient community mental health center. My duties include meeting with new "clients" before they are seen by the psychiatrist to get vitals, ht,wt, and list of current meds, giving injections (decanoate meds), providing individual and group education on meds and diagnosis, but, one of the main things I do is assist clients with completing applications to indigent med programs as most of our clients cannot afford medication if they don't have medicaid or insurance. It is very rewarding to work with chronically mentally ill clients to help them maintain stability on meds and to see them living a "normal life" as they work on their recovery.

DinkysKitty · May 24, 2005

..This probably wouldn't look good on a resume, but I spent time in a psych ward. (depression, and "suicidal ideations".. I was a cutter basicly". The nurses that I seen where there to document behavior, have conversations with us, they would do some activites. Another nurse would give us medication. I'm not sure is she was a RN, but she was the only one who could administer any form of mediacine to us. Groups were lead by a therapist. And the psych nurses sat outside. My impression is that they were babysitters.. (I don't mean to offend anyone, this is just at the hosptial I was at)

lovinghands · May 24, 2005

..This probably wouldn't look good on a resume, but I spent time in a psych ward. (depression, and "suicidal ideations".. I was a cutter basicly". The nurses that I seen where there to document behavior, have conversations with us, they would do some activites. Another nurse would give us medication. I'm not sure is she was a RN, but she was the only one who could administer any form of mediacine to us. Groups were lead by a therapist. And the psych nurses sat outside. My impression is that they were babysitters.. (I don't mean to offend anyone, this is just at the hosptial I was at)

From viewing your posts, it looks like you are new to this board. Welcome to allnurses.com. It also appears that you are pre-nursing - good luck to you with your studies. :)

RNs aren't babysitters no matter what specialty they enter. Take a few moments to study up on our profession before making off-handed remarks (you'll get along better with e1). If you are curious about our responsibilities, there is a wealth of information on this board. Just ask away ...

Best wishes to you.

DinkysKitty · May 24, 2005

From viewing your posts, it looks like you are new to this board. Welcome to allnurses.com. It also appears that you are pre-nursing - good luck to you with your studies. :)
RNs aren't babysitters no matter what specialty they enter. Take a few moments to study up on our profession before making off-handed remarks (you'll get along better with e1). If you are curious about our responsibilities, there is a wealth of information on this board. Just ask away ...
Best wishes to you.

That's how these nurses appeared to me. The nurses couldnt give us any sort of medication, not even tylenol. I'm trying to remember what they were, this has been about 3 years now. I think that theor tags said behavior specialist. I know that there was one nurse hat did the medications and if we needed any medical attention she would do it. This was on the pediatric floor of psyc. I didn't mean to offend anyone with my comments, I have no idea what their actual role was. One of them even stated that they were like a baby sitter..

CharlieRN · May 25, 2005

I have worked about 20 years as a psych nurse, in the hospital setting.

The primery task of nursing on an in-patient psych unit is to maintain the safety of patients. While registered nurses are responsible to make sure this happens, they mostly supervise the process. The people who do the "babysitting" usually are not degreed or licensed staff and go by many titles depending on the facility. Here they are called mental health workers or residential care workers, at another place I worked they were psychiatric aids. "Behavioral specalists" sounds like a particularly politically correct name for them. In my experience as charge nurse of an adolescent unit, a lot of RN's are not needed. A nurse in charge and one to pass meds will do it in a pinch. What kids mostly need is a strong presence of sane, caring adults. These will be as good or bad as facility policy encourages them to be. The vast majority will be caring, responsible, dedicated, long suffering, and grossly underpaid people. Since on most psych units everyone wears street cloths, it is dificult to identify everyone's job just by looking at them.

Psych aids have no business conducting therapy sessions as they are not trained at that level. Nurses often do conduct or co lead group therapy although if there is a single area that they must focus on most it is observation and assessment. The nurse is responsible for knowing what is going on, on the unit and trying to understand what is going on with each patient sufficient to keep the patient safe and the unit a safe environment.

kadokin, ASN, RN · May 26, 2005

Working first in med/surg and cardiac units has helped tremendously in my work on the psych unit. How many times do anxious patients report chest pain, not to mention all the somatic complaints, and the medical emergencies? My medical background has been extremely helpful in assessing patients' medical conditions.

amen to that.

kadokin, ASN, RN · May 26, 2005

Hello, this is my first post, and I've never really done the whole forum thing before, but there seems to be a lot of information available, so I thought I'd give it a try. I'm 22 right now, and I graduated last May with a BS in psychology. After graduating, I gradually accepted the fact that there's not a whole lot I can do with only a BS. I had considered nursing years ago, but I was intimidated by dealing with needles (I've always been nervous about them, and I'm afraid that I'd hurt someone if I had to take blood). However, last fall I spoke with someone who was going through a local nursing program, and she absolutely loved it. She mentioned that there are usually specialized units for the blood taking, and I probably wouldn't have to do that all that often if it was something I was uncomfortable with. Now, I applied and was accepted to that nursing school (it's an in hospital program jointly working with a community college), and I start in September. I realize it's a little early to be deciding on a specific area of nursing to get into, but I was wondering if anyone had any input about...well, really about anything having to do with nursing. Has anyone had similar concerns about needles? Has anyone had any experience with Forensic nursing, which is another area I was considering. Also, did anyone have trouble finding a job after graduation? I know everyone is saying there's a huge demand for nurses, but I wondered if that was the case operationally. Any information would be very much appreciated.

thanks,
Becky

Becky, I hate to be the one to tell you but I have never heard of a specialized unit for "blood taking". Anyone else? Your discomfort w/needles could be a positive, if you handle it the right way. Needles are a part of nursing, you will have to deal w/them to get through nursing school, if nothing else. But think about this, you may have quite a few pts who feel the same way and this gives you the advantage of empathy. Fear of hurting someone can be a positive. It will make you more conscientious and more careful if you don't let it control you.