What kind of tasks do Psychiatric Nurses perform?

elkpark · Jul 13, 2005

Welcome to allnurses! There are multiple older threads here that discuss your questions; you could search and review them, and find out a lot of information.

Nurse Ratched, RN · Jul 13, 2005

I'm not sure about the role of CNS's except as regards staff education. The thing with psych nursing is it's harder to quantify what we do. There aren't as many "tasks" such as sticking IV's, inserting catheters, dressing changes (at least in a strictly psych environment.) We pass meds, interact with patients, and above all keep them safe from harm to self or others.

deelace · Jul 13, 2005

welcome to allnurses! there are multiple older threads here that discuss your questions; you could search and review them, and find out a lot of information.

you're right - and i tried that route. got all the way up to page 10 in that particular forum. up to that point i had not found out what i needed to know.

unfortunately i currently reside in a third world country and we have so many power outages that it's hard to remain on line for any significant amount of time. also, many of the threads were from a couple of years back and i am looking to hear about something recent. and too, i'm surfing at work during breaks (which aren't that many) since we don't have internet service in our residences. as such, i was hoping that someone would be kind enough to provide the requested information if it's not too much trouble. i know that nurses are extremely busy people but a paragraph or two would be sufficient.

deelace · Jul 13, 2005

i'm not sure about the role of cns's except as regards staff education. the thing with psych nursing is it's harder to quantify what we do. there aren't as many "tasks" such as sticking iv's, inserting catheters, dressing changes (at least in a strictly psych environment.) we pass meds, interact with patients, and above all keep them safe from harm to self or others.

adelle, thank you so very much for your response. this information is very helpful to me and is exactly what i was trying to find out. have a great day.

sgent · Jul 13, 2005

The work is very different than an LCSW, and espicially a clinical psychologist.

LCSW's are usually involved in direct patient care as therapists (individual or group), or as administrators. A lot of LCSW's work outpatient, so its a different field. In addition, since a inpatient therapist is not required (usually) to hold the LCSW credential, LCSW's take a paycut in many cases to work for a psych hospital.

Psychologists are a whole 'nother animal entirely. They work more like physicians in most facilities. Performing conuslts, doing testing, and working as director's or other personnel. In today's reimbursement environment, psychologists rarely do therapy of any sort on an inpatient basis. Many psychologists don't work in pateient care at all -- working in industry, doing research, etc.

In my controversial opinion, I can't see the purpose behind becoming a psychologist (and I am close friends with a lot of them) if you want to work in the healthcare field. Its harder to get into than med school, the training takes almost as long as that for a psychiatrist -- 5-6yrs vs 7yrs, and the pay is less than a third in most cases. Finally, a psychiatrist has a much broader scope of practice and can do anything (legally) that a psychologist can.

deelace · Jul 13, 2005

the work is very different than an lcsw, and espicially a clinical psychologist.
lcsw's are usually involved in direct patient care as therapists (individual or group), or as administrators. a lot of lcsw's work outpatient, so its a different field. in addition, since a inpatient therapist is not required (usually) to hold the lcsw credential, lcsw's take a paycut in many cases to work for a psych hospital.
psychologists are a whole 'nother animal entirely. they work more like physicians in most facilities. performing conuslts, doing testing, and working as director's or other personnel. in today's reimbursement environment, psychologists rarely do therapy of any sort on an inpatient basis. many psychologists don't work in pateient care at all -- working in industry, doing research, etc.
in my controversial opinion, i can't see the purpose behind becoming a psychologist (and i am close friends with a lot of them) if you want to work in the healthcare field. its harder to get into than med school, the training takes almost as long as that for a psychiatrist -- 5-6yrs vs 7yrs, and the pay is less than a third in most cases. finally, a psychiatrist has a much broader scope of practice and can do anything (legally) that a psychologist can.

i know!! that's why i was wondering about the difference. thanks for clearing it up for me. in your last sentence, did you mean to say psychiatrist or did you mean that a psychiatric nurse can do the same things as a psychologist? i looked into numerous doctorate psychology programs and msw programs as well and i was surprised, first to find out how long the doctorate programs take to complete and second to find out what the starting salaries are for both clinical psychologists and clinical social workers. psychiatric nursing seemed to me the most attractive option. i'm hoping to get into one of the direct graduate entry programs leading to specialization in a few years (3) when i retire from the military.

sgent · Jul 14, 2005

i know!! that's why i was wondering about the difference. thanks for clearing it up for me. in your last sentence, did you mean to say psychiatrist or did you mean that a psychiatric nurse can do the same things as a psychologist? i looked into numerous doctorate psychology programs and msw programs as well and i was surprised, first to find out how long the doctorate programs take to complete and second to find out what the starting salaries are for both clinical psychologists and clinical social workers. psychiatric nursing seemed to me the most attractive option. i'm hoping to get into one of the direct graduate entry programs leading to specialization in a few years (3) when i retire from the military.

i meant psychiatrist....

apa approved ph.d. pschology programs require 4-6 years (depending on student) after getting a bachelor degree, and are harder to get into than almost all med schools. then a good portion of them fail to get an internship (required for license) even after getting a ph.d., if they do get one, it's 1 yr at 10-20k for the year. total is 5-7 years post-bac, with earning potential in the last totaling 20k or so.

psychiatrist's training is a bachelor, plus 4 med school, plus 3 residency. residency is remibursed at 20-40k. so total of 7 yr post bac.

clinical psychologists do a subset of what psychiatrists are licensed to do (although they usually don't do it, they can). for this, they get a third or less the pay.

nursing does a lot of education, monitoring of patients, help with social interaction, med pass, etc. it is very different in most cases from the lcsw/ph.d./md options. in terms of salary, a psychiatric rn earns about as much as an lcsw does in a hospital setting (at least in my area), although hours are better or worse depending on your view. in my area, rn~45-55k, lcsw~50k, ph.d.~70-90k, md~200k.