Why did you become a Psych Nurse?

Mandychelle79, ASN, RN · Aug 14, 2013

Just like I never intended to be nurse when I grew up, I surely didnt intend to be a psych nurse.

While I was in school I worked on a Geri-psych unit as a CNA. I was there because I had applied to a L&D position and it was filled and this one was open. I had worked in a LTC facility so Geri was where I was comfortable. Once I graduated I applied EVERYWHERE. I think since I had psych experience ( or it could have been that no one else applied, cause it was not often that the hospital hires into psych without any nursing) they interviewed me and hired me.

I went into the job saying I can do anything for a year. Its been two. I love my patients. I found my niche. I love how I can be me. I dont feel like I have to edit who I am. When my patients ask why I work with them I honestly reply... my mouth would get my fired elsewhere. My boss says I have a unique way of empathizing with patients, and gain their trust. It just comes naturally. I can see minor changes and usually can defuse things before they happen. I dont make mountains out of mole hills.

And most of all... SO many staff claim to hate psych ( even if they have never worked there) that I feel that these patients deserve someone who enjoys working with them. So why would I go elsewhere.

adnrnstudent, ASN, RN · Aug 14, 2013

I was interested in Psych because I'm a Psych patient. (ADHD with personality quirks.) Nothing my patients do can shock me or weird me out. I totally understand their behaviors.

Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN · Aug 15, 2013

It was between psych and a PCU...and psych had hours that worked better with a 4 year old in the equation. I ended up falling in love in the speciality. From time to time, I do get itchy to try different areas...but I'll more than likely stay in psych and go into nursing education. Or PMHNP. It changes daily.

sharpeimom · Aug 15, 2013

My first job out of college was in orthopedics and I absolutely HATED it! I was advised to stick it out for at least six moths before quitting or switching departments, so I did, but on six months and one day, I applied for the first available job I saw posted in the same hospital.

It was on a general psych floor and I was soon hired. It was like beginning all over again, but I had good mentors and I stuck with it and learned a lot plus I read everything I could get my hands on. I soon realized that as whiny and obnoxious as some patients could be, they were that way largely because of their illnesses and that made me much more patient with them.

Umberlee · Aug 15, 2013

I'm new to acute psych, but I've worked in psych-heavy settings in the past (group homes first for brain-injured adults and next for developmentally disabled adults). I really wanted to get more medical experience but due to some issues with bridges burned professionally, I have not been able to get my foot in the door at those places. I originally wanted to do wound care and seek out wound certifications and possibly even FNP managing wounds. Doesn't look like it's in the stars for me, though. My psych hospital DON wasn't fazed in the slightest by my negative work history and hired me on so I figure I will just roll with this career path and stick with psych long-term.

TerpGal02, ASN · Aug 22, 2013

I am a psych pt. I have bipolar disorder. It was the nurses that I worked with when I have been hospitalized that made le want to be a psych nurse too. Even in clinical, I felt like a deer in headlights and found myself interested in the more psychosocial and therapeutic communication interventions. I always got the assignments that had psych d/x on top of whatever medical issue they had. One of them was an ETOHer in full blown DTs. When I got to psych clinical it was like a duck to water. I felt calm, confident and in control. I tried to get a med/surg job out of school but that wasn't in the cards for me. I started in psych and I have no regrets.

twinkerrs · Aug 23, 2013

I grew up with two parents who were both very sick r/t severe depression. My moms first suicide attempt was when I was about 9. I remember her talking about the wonderful nurses and psychiatrists she had while she was in the hospital and I wanted to be one of those people. If they could help my mom I wanted to do the same thing for them. I went a different direction on my first attempt at college. Fast forward to being in my thirties and having my twins diagnosed with severe autism and aspbergers. And not long after that my 8 year old daughter diagnosed with rapid cycling early onset bipolar. Through this journey I met the most wonderful PMHNP who encouraged me like no one else had to go to nursing school. And to follow my dreams. I graduated with an asn in 2009 bsn in 2010 and will have my MSN/PMHNP in may 2014. My mentor passed away last march so I don't get to finish this journey with her by my side but I know I will make a difference in the lives of as many people as she did. I really want to work with MI children with a developmental disability as well. I know this is too specialized at this point but I will do this.

ToothFairy(5) · Aug 29, 2013

I was needing a change and had no idea what I wanted to try. So I thought back to my clinicals and I had loved my psych rotation. A friend of mine who did prn at the hospital said she did prn at a psych facility and that it was a good place to work. I applied and the rest is history. I fell in love with psych nursing.

LisaNICUrn, BSN · Aug 29, 2013

Man, I got goose bumps reading this. I've been working at an acute men's facility for about 7 months, my 1st job since graduating. I started nursing school wanting psych, did my preceptor on the women's unit and loved every minute of it. I'm a strong believer that just b/c you work on a psych floor, it doesn't make you a psych nurse. I am the only one here that wanted psych, everyone else took the job b/c of the money or b/c it's all they could get at the time.. And boy does it show.

I too, believe the patients deserve someone who enjoys this line of work. We don't work at a main hospital where you pass meds, do admits/discharges, check on orders, and just sit in the nursing station. We don't have all the other nursing duties like NG tubes, suctioning patients, having to deal with IV's, things at a normal hospital, we are more listening and talking to our patients. But our nurses do nothing but pass meds and sit in the nursing station. I sit out with the patients, interact with them, talk to him, about anything and everything, about life, and you can tell, listening to them talk to other patients, they can tell who likes their job and who doesn't.

NurseSheGirl · Aug 29, 2013

I love being a psych nurse. I was one of those students that changed her career goal every semester because everything was so exciting to me. I tried to get into the med/surg thing after graduation, but many of our local hospitals were on a hiring freeze. So, with a little luck, I landed a job through an agency and fell into psych nursing. What little med/surg and IMC experience I got during that time, I absolutely hated. it wasn't for me. I have so much that I can relate to with psych nursing because of my personal background and family struggles. It's made me compassionate and strong and I've been told that I bring a calming factor to my patients. I get just enough of the medical side of nursing to educate and care for, I get to exercise the what-if-I-became-a-lawyer side by explaining to patients and families about legal implications of psych holds and court petitions, and finally I get to exercise the science nerd side by reading up on latest treatments, coping strategies, and therapies. :)

batgirl23 · Aug 30, 2013

I have been a psych nurse for over 25 years with absolutely no regrets. I went into psych straight out of school. In fact I finished my senior preceptorship on Thursday and started full-time on that unit the following Tuesday.

I personally found med-surg nursing very frustrating. I wanted to talk to patients, to spend time with them. There just wasn't the time in med-surg to nurse the way I wanted to. I remember getting my knuckles rapped by my Instructor during a student surgery rotation because I spent 15 minutes talking to a pre-op patient about her fears and anxieties. The Instructor felt I should have just given her an Ativan and moved on. I think my approach was better and the patient appreciated it. :-) In psych, I found my niche. There are enough physical-medical things to appeal to the side of me that wanted the "task-y" stuff, but I also had time - in fact it is my job - to talk to people!

As for doing med-surg first - you will hear this a lot! Don't do it if you feel psych is where you need to be. My faculty advisor (who was not a psych nurse btw) told me in my final year that the technical skills / technology can be learned or re-learned at any time - the skills you learn in psych nursing are invaluable and will always be relevant wherever you go in nursing or in life. I have never forgotten that and I have found it to be true. I started on Geriatric psychiatry and Neuropsychiatry units where there was a fair amount of basic physical care required. I got to hone my assessment skills and practice good basic nursing care. At the same time I was starting to develop my psych nursing skills - communication techniques, crisis intervention skills, therapeutic use of self, etc. Over the years I have changed specialty areas frequently (always in psych, though). I have worked in forensics, mood disorders, schizophrenia, both with inpatients and outpatients. I also worked as a study co-ordinator for drug study research. I currently work as a nurse educator doing staff development. (Teaching is my other passion, so I am incredibly lucky!)

Good luck to you!