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I prefer adult over child/addy. Working with minors can be very challenging because not only are they psych patients, they're also minors going through all of the growing pains that minors do. Also, I get frustrated with dealing with the minors' families. Some of the families are so messed up that half the time I think the kid is fine and it's the parents who really need to check in.
If I have to split hairs, I'll take children over adolescents. I remember what I was like when I was a teenager, and it wasn't pretty :)
Have not worked with adolescents, but I'd probably not really enjoy working with them. Currently work in a teaching hospital in Toronto with a large population of homeless and underhoused populations. No pediatrics in this facility beside LnD.
Love working with adults, and particularly the population that I work with being in the inner city. It's incredibly rewarding and humbling. I'd imagine that I would have WAY too much counter-transference with the adolescents and there would be MANY instances of eating disorders/adjustment disorder/Axis 2/Cluster B traits on an adolescent unit. Thank goodness the DSM V is removing age restrictions on personality disorders!
I am a child/adolescent psych CNS, and really prefer working with the younger folks. I'm working with adults now, but it's not my thing. However, child psych is not for everyone -- my own observation, having done both, is that the "highs" are higher and the "lows" are lower than in adult psych. You see a lot of really gut-wrenching situations. I have talked to a lot of students who think they would like child psych "because I really love children," but I always tell them it takes a lot more than just that -- in fact, IMO, "really loving children" can be a handicap to success (too easy to get too emotionally involved).
I do like C&A and I never thought I would. What I like about the kids is that they tend to respond a lot better to non pharmacological techniques than adults do. For instance, I got a very panicky 10 y/o his first night in the hospital to sleep in 15 mins using guided imagery. That usually would not work on an adult, especially a chronic adult.
Flipping the coin though, I LOVE the chronic schizophrenics. I loved em when I worked in the community and love em now. They are such a hoot and so interesting to get to know.
which aspect of psych nursing do you like and why? Child psych/adolescent psych/ or adult?
One of the qualities of what I consider to be an interesting thread is when the questions are as interesing as the posts. Often, interesting question are often ones that I haven't previously considered.
It would seem that my choice of patient age corresponds with my own: I worked with troubled teenage boys when I was 22 years old as a House Parent/EMT. As a young man and adult, I worked primarily with an adult psychiatric patient population. Currently, I work primarily with an older adult psychiatric population; a population where I meet the age criteria.
Thanks for asking, RN315!
Dave
RN315
57 Posts
Hi everyone just wanted to know which aspect of psych nursing do you like and why? Child psych/adolescent psych/ or adult?