Why did you choose psychiatric NURSING, rather than psychology/counseling?

Davey Do · Nov 27, 2017

I assume that for those of you who chose psychiatric nursing rather than another nursing speciality, you did so because you wanted to work in mental health and perhaps in a therapeutic way rather than doing strictly medical care (if that makes sense).

Nah- the medical end of things intrigued me- that's why I got into Nursing. Psych was just my destiny. The Fates led (or dragged) me to be a Nurse in Psych.

So in this way I guess I'm curious, what is it about psychiatric *nursing* rather than being a psychologist or a counselor that you prefer? I know the jobs are very different so I'm trying to get a good understanding.

I enjoy having been around the bend of getting a pretty good foundation in the medical arena and have ended up putting it to use in Geriatric Psych.

I feel that being a Counselor would be so limiting. As a Nurse, I feel involved in just about every aspect of the patient's treatment. Being involved, in that manner, keeps me interested and keeps me coming back.

Good luck to you in your endeavors, LilaDavis!

verene, MSN · Nov 27, 2017

I explored other mental health related fields when looking at transitioning careers and decided that nursing offered me more of what I liked and less of what I didn't. Biggest draws are the medical aspects (I love patho and pharm!), opportunities to care for physical in addition to emotional health, and how nurses have the opportunity to interface with so many other disciplines.

I came to nursing from an interest in mental health, and while I other areas of nursing do interest me, I just started my first nursing job in mental health and it so far seems to be a good fit for me. I figure if I burn out on mental health I can always explore another specialty later in life, but since this is the area that drew me to nursing this is the area I'll try to make my career in.

3peas · Nov 28, 2017

As a nurse who has tried other areas psych nursing is my area and these are my patients. My skill set fits best here. I'm a medical person, so I never considered becoming a counselor, but I've had another career and then switched to nursing. Maybe you feel more medical now-who knows? Just go with it. There are so many opportunities out there. Good luck!!!!

GeminiNurse29 · Dec 1, 2017

I've always been good at science and interested in health care. Plus, I get bored easily. There are so many areas to work in as a nurse. I took my current job out of curiosity and also the pay was pretty good. So far, it's been interesting. I wouldn't want to work in this particular job forever but I've learned a ton. I plan to go back to a more "medical" area of nursing eventually.

NICUMurse87, BSN, RN · Dec 1, 2017

It took me a Bachelors in Psychology and 3 years experience in a psychiatric hospital to realize that psych was NOT my thing, so I'm glad you've figured it out the other way.

FolksBtrippin, BSN, RN · Dec 1, 2017

I decided to become a psych nurse instead of a psychologist because it was faster, with far less financial investment and way more flexibility.

It also suits me in that I like to handle a wide variety of problems, look at the big picture, coordinate varied resources.

And I love that if I get sick of psych there are a lot of other ways to use my license. I'm the type to try many things.

allnurses Guide · Dec 10, 2017

I did not choose Psych nursing. Psych nursing choose me. Through a series of life events I landed in the arena of Psych nursing and found that I love it for reasons I both can and can not explain. I have been doing it the better part of my career and while I am slowly working toward an NP I will always love working with psych patients.

Hppy

FolksBtrippin, BSN, RN · Dec 21, 2017

Deleted because I somehow posted on the wrong ropic

oceanblue52 · Dec 28, 2017

I worked as a Tech in a Psych hospital for a few years and had to make a similar decision. Pharmacology has always fascinated me so that was one reason. Counseling as a field is also quite saturated (way worse than nursing) and the pay almost never commensurate with the education. It's also an arduous process to get licensed. Could argue the same about nursing, but saturation is typically less of an issue within the Psych specialty. Ultimately I feel like Psych nursing offers better pay and other opportunities if I grow tired of it.

Heylove, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Jan 2, 2018

I didn't specifically go into nursing to work psych, but it just happened. Looking back, and now knowing what I know, I actually believe that I do a lot of "counseling" type work, I just do it faster, with less questions and paperwork than a therapist, if that makes sense?

Orca, ADN, ASN, RN · Jan 4, 2018

When I completed my BA in psychology, my original plan was to go on to graduate school and get my Ph. D. The odds of getting in were worse than medical school. People with perfect GPAs (which I didn't have) were being turned away by many programs. It was apparent to me pretty quickly that this path wasn't going to happen.