Where Do I Want to Work?

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I have always thought that I wanted to work CCU and go onto be a CRNA - I am in my 3rd semester of school and we just had out psych clinical. I really enjoyed them and was able to make a big impression in a patient's life, although I'm not sure that I am emotionally "tough" enough to handle that everyday it was a great feeling. When and how did you decide where you wanted to start as a new grad?

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Specializes in MICU, Burn ICU.

I haven't graduated yet but am nearing the end just like you. I loved my ICU rotation but want to specifically work on a burn unit. After my psych rotation just recently, I felt that connecting with patients on an emotional level was what really brought me to want to do nursing in the first place, not just being able to do cool skills like understanding drips, intubation, IVs, or other details. Psych isn't necessarily what many students want to do. I think most people find it scary. For me personally if I can manage my time well if I were to pursue a career in psych, I'd be able to make more of an impact for an undeserved/highly stigmatized population versus working on medical floors (which EVERYONE does already).

I'm still unsure because I love ICU 1:2 1:1 care and all the details involved with knowing that patient! Burns is ideal because it's acute care, wound and has psych as well (though psych is everywhere).. But I also love human behavior, being able to interact with my patients and understand their underlying causes to what brought them to their current state in the first place. For me, I'm going to try my best to work on a medical floor (hopefully ICU) and part-time/per-diem on psych to see what fits best.

I don't think you really have a clue of what you want to do when you "grow up" until you try it! :) Sorry this wasn't much of help; I'm curious to know how the experienced RNs decided where to start and if they stayed in that specialty or moved to other ones finding their true calling along the way.

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Thank you for responding ! This is my first post so I wasn't sure if anyone would respond at all lol... I haven't done ICU clinical yet but I've always felt it was where wanted to be ... well until I had psych clinical that is. Thank you so much for your input. I agree a burn unit would really Be an opportunity to connect with patients on an emotional level!

Good luck to you :-)

I haven't graduated yet but am nearing the end just like you. I loved my ICU rotation but want to specifically work on a burn unit. After my psych rotation just recently, I felt that connecting with patients on an emotional level was what really brought me to want to do nursing in the first place, not just being able to do cool skills like understanding drips, intubation, IVs, or other details. Psych isn't necessarily what many students want to do. I think most people find it scary. For me personally if I can manage my time well if I were to pursue a career in psych, I'd be able to make more of an impact for an undeserved/highly stigmatized population versus working on medical floors (which EVERYONE does already).

I'm still unsure because I love ICU 1:2 1:1 care and all the details involved with knowing that patient! Burns is ideal because it's acute care, wound and has psych as well (though psych is everywhere).. But I also love human behavior, being able to interact with my patients and understand their underlying causes to what brought them to their current state in the first place. For me, I'm going to try my best to work on a medical floor (hopefully ICU) and part-time/per-diem on psych to see what fits best.

I don't think you really have a clue of what you want to do when you "grow up" until you try it! :) Sorry this wasn't much of help; I'm curious to know how the experienced RNs decided where to start and if they stayed in that specialty or moved to other ones finding their true calling along the way.

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Psych is cool because I got to poke the brains out of mentally unstable people. I figuired at the end of the day, I would soon get bored of that and couldn't see myself working there.

Not to mention, every nurse at my Psych ward looked like a zombie that hated their job. I'm learning too much in nursing school to just sit and talk with a patient all day is how I see it.

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edite

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some are mentally unstable, some are just people who are in a bad spot in their lives. I appreciate your opinion, but to me, I went into nursing to help people, whether it be talking to them all day, changing a dressing or hanging meds.

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Specializes in MICU, Burn ICU.
some are mentally unstable, some are just people who are in a bad spot in their lives. I appreciate your opinion, but to me, I went into nursing to help people, whether it be talking to them all day, changing a dressing or hanging meds.

:) This.

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Specializes in psych.

I fell in love with psych during school and I applied for a job on the emergency psych floor before I graduated. Loved it and I haven't looked back. It's a hard job, but at the end of the day it is what I want to be doing. If you like it, then go for it.

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what types of things do you see on an emergency psych floor?

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After my psych rotation just recently, I felt that connecting with patients on an emotional level was what really brought me to want to do nursing in the first place, not just being able to do cool skills like understanding drips, intubation, IVs, or other details. Psych isn't necessarily what many students want to do. I think most people find it scary. For me personally if I can manage my time well if I were to pursue a career in psych, I'd be able to make more of an impact for an undeserved/highly stigmatized population versus working on medical floors (which EVERYONE does already).

One thing I'd recommend though, is if you want to go into psych, set up opportunities to shadow nurses at the type of facility you want to work at. Really see it from their perspective. A psych unit at a hospital is very different from a dementia unit at a nursing home. And both of those are a cake walk compared to forensic and TDO patients in a state psych hospital. And in all 3, you're an entirely different nurse. An example is that connection: In dementia, it can be very hard to maintain. In drug rehab it can make a huge difference for the patient. In forensic and TDO it can be deadly.

I don't want to discourage anyone from psych, but it's not a decision you should take lightly. Make sure it's truly what you want to do long-term. Deciding against it later isn't going to stop you from switching over to medical care, but it does mean having to train new staff, which can cause hell on a unit, especially in drug rehab, where manipulation is common, and these people are not stupid.

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Specializes in psych.
what types of things do you see on an emergency psych floor?

We see a bit of everything. We see all stages of life since we have both pediatric and adults. We see everything from people who made vague suicidal statements to unmedicated psychosis. I've worked closely with CPS, the police and the jail. We are in close contact with all the homeless shelters and soup kitchens around.

We are kind of a staging area for people waiting to see the psychiatrist. Once they have seen them, we funnel them to the next steps, sometimes it D/C, sometimes to a psych inpt floor, sometimes back to the med ED for more testing, and sometime we transfer people to other hospitals that are closer to their home area. It is very fast past and you never know what kind of pt you are getting until they walk on the unit.

It can be very physical at times. Your heart breaks for really sad cases. We don't often know what happens to our pts when they leave us. Once in a great while we get word about regulars who have commited suicide or are in jail. Those days are hard, but you do the best you can while they are in your care.

If you really want to go into psych, go shadow and see what all the different floors look like. Our inpt units are much different than where I am. There are general adult units, med/psych units, gero units, even have kids units. We also house a special short term smaller unit that helps with med adjustments and a small break from their stressors.

I'm glad I went right into it. I love it and wouldn't have it any other way! Good luck!

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thank you so much :)

We see a bit of everything. We see all stages of life since we have both pediatric and adults. We see everything from people who made vague suicidal statements to unmedicated psychosis. I've worked closely with CPS, the police and the jail. We are in close contact with all the homeless shelters and soup kitchens around.

We are kind of a staging area for people waiting to see the psychiatrist. Once they have seen them, we funnel them to the next steps, sometimes it D/C, sometimes to a psych inpt floor, sometimes back to the med ED for more testing, and sometime we transfer people to other hospitals that are closer to their home area. It is very fast past and you never know what kind of pt you are getting until they walk on the unit.

It can be very physical at times. Your heart breaks for really sad cases. We don't often know what happens to our pts when they leave us. Once in a great while we get word about regulars who have commited suicide or are in jail. Those days are hard, but you do the best you can while they are in your care.

If you really want to go into psych, go shadow and see what all the different floors look like. Our inpt units are much different than where I am. There are general adult units, med/psych units, gero units, even have kids units. We also house a special short term smaller unit that helps with med adjustments and a small break from their stressors.

I'm glad I went right into it. I love it and wouldn't have it any other way! Good luck!

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