What do graduate nurses know about Psychiatric Nursing?

[Lovelite66]

I have been a Psych nurse since 1979, from my first job until the present. Even nurse's in hospitals, do not know that job of psychiatric nursing. They wonder how we do what we do, feel they can't do it, and are so grateful we are around. Some think all we do is talk to patients to calm them down. But the world of psych nursing is so much more than any book or any one psychiatric unit can tell a new nurse. I wonder, if any new graduate has thought about this for his/her career choice and had no one to speak to about what it is like to be a psychiatric nurse, the different venues open to us, and what to expect? Get back to me with quesitons if interested.

Thanks,

Lovelite66

[Plain Vanilla]

I'm so glad I found your post! I'm a relatively new nurse thinking about working in a psych unit. What is your day to day routine like, if there is such a thing? Compared to other areas like med surg, are there less meds (this is what I've only heard)?

[glittergirlRN]

Well I've been an RN since 2004 and thought the whole time I would NEVER do psych. I thought it was boring and slow paced compared to working in ER and surgery like I've done since I became a nurse. I just started working at a state mental health hospital about 6 months ago and I absolutely love it-sadly it wasn't til I started here 6 months ago that i was told that psych was the "best kept secret in nursing"--wish I would've known... I wouldn't have tried so hard to avoid it

[Plain Vanilla]

sadly it wasn't til I started here 6 months ago that i was told that psych was the "best kept secret in nursing"

This seems to be the case with my buddy. She started out in med surg and is now working in psych and loves it more than she did med surg.

[Whispera, MSN, RN]

It's a common misconception that there are fewer medications in psych than in med surg. Remember, psych patients can have other illnesses too. They need meds for those illnesses as well as for their psych illnesses. I've had patients who, back in the day when we had paper MARs, had 4 pages of medication, and this wasn't uncommon!