What does a Psych RN do exactly?

Specialties Psychiatric

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From what I have seen(little), all I really saw the RN do was pass meds and make small talk with patients.

I am sure this is not the case... So what exactly do you Psych RN's do?

Promote Psychological Comfort.

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Hello Everyone,

Just thought I'd add a little point, assessment skills as has been already mentioned are critical in psych work.... but the real skill is making that assessment look like a normal conversation.. while at the same time watching verbal and non-verbal ques.

I remember in my training as a RMN (Registered Mental Nurse UK) on one of my first placements, sat there wondering what RMN's did.. much as you did... I was having a conversation with a client all was going great I thought... then almost as one all the trained nurses got up and moved rapidly towards one area of the ward.... because they KNEW something was about to go off... it was'nt obvious to me at the time (it is now...lol). I was left sat with this client wondering what the hell was going on... so although it sometimes appears as though there is little going on... observation is clinical ALWAYS going on.

regards StuPer

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Well, FutureRNMichael. I don't know if you are yet, or soon will be an RN, but if you are interested in Psych nursing, then you will be good at it if that's what you want to do. I have worked as a Psych nurse for 12 years and became credentialed through the ANCC a few years ago. We do, during slow days, sit and make small talk with the patients and pass a few meds. Maybe you didn't get to see a busy day! It sounded to me like some of the responses you got were from nurses working in psych that don't enjoy what they do. You do have to be alert to a lot of body language and be able to difuse a pending crisis at a moments notice. You won't use all of your nursing skills like you would on a med surg floor. But if your heart is in it, a good psych nurse is worth a fortune to a suffering patient who just tried to commit suicide because she was gang raped at a graduation party.

Or to a child who has been so severely abused that he doesn't trust anyone to come near him because he still has the bruises and cigarette burns all over his body from the last episode.

Or to the schizophrenic patient who hears voices and needs someone who isn't judgemental that understands that to him, the voices are real.

It takes a special person to work in psych nursing. You may have seen a nurse having an easy shift, but there are a lot of things you have to live to experience.

Good luck!

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Heaven help us.

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Work under cover. (at least I do) to seperate the malingerers from the needy.

Next we promote psychological comfort throughout the unit. (yep, no gossip here)

Then we sit and chat and chart what went on and go home.

That is in adult inpatient care. Adolescent care is a sure place you will get hurt physically. :)

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There is a lot more to psych nursing than just sitting and having small talk. I have been in the field for many years.There has been many changes and the days of babysitting are over.Groups ,assessments ,treatment planning,documentation are all part of it besides just sitting and talking to the client,offering support as needed. If you like the field it's for you.The wages depend on where you are at and who you are working for as for every nursing job.

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I work at a non-profit school for children ages 5-18 with mostly behavior disorders, alot are also abused children. As soon as all 70 kids get to school my day consists of literally running around the school until 3pm or later if a kid can't go home on the bus and has to be placed in crisis stabilization. On a slow day I usually only get kicked a few times or spit on once or twice while I am trying to get an 8 year old escape artist papoosed. My pay is not very good but I really like my job especially when I know that the 8 hours the kids spend at school are probably the only stable thing they have in their lives.

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WOW! God Bless ya, Lucianne!

Keep up the incredible work :cool:

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I'm a second year nursing student in Canada and I've just found out that my clinical this semester (12 hrs a week for the next 14 weeks) is on the psych ward at our local hospital... I keep hearing that we're going to be pretty bored from people at school! I was ok with doing this rotation but now I'm worried, I have no idea what to expect and if my nursing skills will be practiced at all. Any advice/suggestions for a worried nursing student???

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bumping this up for the new members

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cleaning up urine when some idiot doc writes an order for a kid to have ativan (which disinhibits younger kids and they often wind up taking off all their clothes and peeing in corners).

luci

Same thing seems to happen with geriatric patients who are getting lorazepam ... I once had a 78 year old woman in the midst of a thyroid storm proposition me on the tele floor (i am a 34 year old man). ativan should not be used as a chemical restraint, it is pretty much worthless for that purpose (imho, ymmv, my $0.02, yada yada yada)

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I'm a second year nursing student in Canada and I've just found out that my clinical this semester (12 hrs a week for the next 14 weeks) is on the psych ward at our local hospital... I keep hearing that we're going to be pretty bored from people at school! I was ok with doing this rotation but now I'm worried, I have no idea what to expect and if my nursing skills will be practiced at all. Any advice/suggestions for a worried nursing student???

wow, i wish we in the US had that long of a rotation on psych ... we had one night a week for 4 weeks ... totally lame.

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