Stop Hating on Psych Nurses

[LibraNurse27]

Hi all! During covid19 my hospital received funding from the government to cross train RNs to other units in case of a surge. Mostly it's been Med/Surg, PACU, OR training to ICU and Stepdown. I've been training a lot of people! Our manager asked who from Stepdown wants to train in ICU and picked a few people who have been in Stepdown for a while and were interested (not me!).

I've been going to inpatient psych to help with covid pts. I like it! Their manager asked me to cross train. I'm excited to train but my coworkers are laughing at me and about how everyone's going to ICU and I "got sent to Psych". As if ICU is superior. They're asking why I want to go there, it's no skills, "why do I want to deal with those people", it's just babysitting.

Most don't know I have a psych issue so it's insulting on a double level, to me personally and to psych nursing in general. Psych nurses are amazing and help people in need of compassion as well as treatment. I like seeing people go from hallucinating, depressed etc get better with meds and therapy (although I know it's not always butterflies and rainbows!) It gets me down to see my patients cycle through substance use, withdrawal, go out and drink/do drugs, come back, etc. without addressing the root of the problem. Has anyone faced this situation and what can we do to combat it? All areas of nursing are important

[Tenebrae, BSN, RN]

I've made the move to acute pysch this year. I really enjoy it, and funnily enough find my med surg skills are still getting a work out.

I had a patient who was showing the signs of pyschosis however very atypical presentation. Also had severe COPD. Becoming unwell despite still taking the meds, wondered whether the patient may not be absorbing the meds due to the end stage disease. We decided to get the patients meds changed to subcut route, and lo and behold the patient's symptoms resolved.

Do what you find rewarding, who gives a *** what other people think as long as you enjoy what you are doing

[klone, MSN, RN]

My husband recently made a career change from hospice nursing to psych. He LOVES it, and is talking about taking the certification exam once he has enough hours.

[Katie82, RN]

Sad to see that mental health still carries such a stigma, especially among "professionals". I would pick psych any day. I never liked ICU, either feast or famine. I enjoyed the pace when things were jumping, but I also did a lot of sitting around staring at monitors waiting for things to happen. Love working with "psych " patients in case management. Keep in mind that a lot of your co-workers are probably scared of psych patients.

[cardiacfreak, ADN]

The wonderful thing about nursing is that there are so many specialties! Personally I hate Labor and Delivery will never work it and love that there are nurses who want to! I don't like ER and again I am glad there are nurses who thrive in this area.

I currently work Hospice and hear all the time , "That's so sad, how do you stand being around dying people all the time?". I have even encountered nurses who tell me they think all Hospice does is kill people. Everybody's personality is unique, so find what you like and to heck with what another nurse thinks of your speciality.

[pixierose, BSN, RN]

It IS sad to see that mental health still carries such a stigma - psych is EVERYWHERE.

I feel extremely lucky in that my first position (and continued per diem position) was/is psych. Learning to talk, but most importantly to listen ... those skills are important and absolutely priceless. Patients with depression, or in psychosis, are in my ED. They’re in med surg, or those ICUs.

My ED coworkers were thrilled that I had that experience. I’ve heard them say that they wished they had it. When a patient says they want to hurt themselves, they freeze.

Hate psych all you want. We are the ones running in the rooms when everyone is or wants to run out of them. A behavioral code, if you will ...

[OUxPhys, BSN, RN]

Meh, dont let it bother you. It seems like every area of nursing correlates to people's personality. ICU seems to be for people who have horrible people skills and generally not pleasant to be around (most, not all), MS/Stepdown for people who are more personable (they have their bitter people too) etc. Just keep doing what makes you happy.

[PollywogNP, ADN, BSN, MSN, LPN, NP]

Whenever you can get training in another area at The employers expense go for it, learn all you can. You never know when it will help you land a future job. My current job is due to having help open school based health center about 10 years ago. I applied to FQHC primary clinic. However that spot I applied for was filled, the phone call that followed I was asked what if anything I knew about SBHC! I worked 3 years at inpatient acute psychiatric facility doing medical admissions H&Ps. Psych nurses rock! Made me wish I had worked psych before becoming a FNP.

[klone, MSN, RN]

5 hours ago, OUxPhys said:

Meh, dont let it bother you. It seems like every area of nursing correlates to people's personality. ICU seems to be for people who have horrible people skills and generally not pleasant to be around (most, not all), MS/Stepdown for people who are more personable (they have their bitter people too) etc. Just keep doing what makes you happy.

Um, no.

[OUxPhys, BSN, RN]

6 minutes ago, klone said:

Um, no.

Care to elaborate? I'm just going off my personal experience.

[klone, MSN, RN]

That was just a very broad sweeping generalization to say that the ICU is for people who have horrible people skills and are generally not pleasant to be around.

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

Nobody is "hating" on psych nurses. Nurses in other areas simply do not know what the specialty requires.

What you can do is... explain to them what knowledge the area requires and why it is important for patient health and well being.

[Nurse Magnolia, BSN, RN]

I was a psych nurse for the last 10 months and it is true that other units have no idea what we do and don't hold us in much esteem.....until they are calling crisis responses for little old ladies who are trying to go home and they don't know how to deal with them at all. THEN they need us. They have no idea that we still do meds, wound dressing changes, IV's, or feeding tubes...on people who think you are trying to kill them. Or that we deal with patients in acute withdrawal that end up having seizures. They think we are all sitting in group all day with our blankets. I learned to ignore others perceptions...including my nursing school friends who thought I was crazy for going into psych because I graduated with highest honors. I was "wasting" my time.

Fast forward now almost a year and I'm getting out of psych. Not because of any reason other than I want to do something with more nursing skills (psych has some - but not as much as other specialties) - and because someone in psychosis tried to attack me and stated he was trying to kill me. I just didn't always feel safe. So, I'm moving on - but I have the utmost respect for psych nurses and feel such empathy for the patients. Even the guy that tried to kill me was horrified by it when he came out of his psychotic episode.

Each specialty has it's niche of people and it's own personality. I just interviewed for dialysis and OR positions and the OR interview basically spend the whole interview telling me that OR nurses are not generally "caring and empathetic nurses" and that if I'm too sensitive I won't do well because, basically, surgeons are jerks. And my dialysis interview focused on interpersonal skills, therapeutic communication since the patients are under the unique stress of being chronically ill and nursing skills. Dialysis seems the right fit for this heart on her sleeve nurse - and yet people STILL are telling me I should have taken the OR job because it SEEMS more prestigious. I'm 48. Nursing is a second career. I'm not looking for prestige. I'm looking for happy. If you find that - do not think one second about what anyone else thinks.