Would being a psych Nurse 1st. deter future positions as a med surg nurse ?

elkpark · May 22, 2005

I'm always amazed at how many nursing faculty people tell students such discouraging things about psych nursing.

The short answer to your question is NO!

Now, that doesn't mean that, if it were you (straight into psych from school, with no previous med-surg experience) vs. an experienced med-surg nurse competing for the same med-surg job, the experienced M-S nurse wouldn't have the advantage! That would be true in any situation like that (e.g., a peds nurse vs. an ICU nurse vying for one ICU position ... KWIM?)

But it is certainly not true that no one would ever hire you for other positions outside of psych.

Having said that, I feel compelled to add that I'm one of those old fogey psych nurses who thinks its a really good idea to work med-surg for a while before going into psych ...

Congrats on finishing school and best wishes --

Morgan314 · May 24, 2005

Would being a psych Nurse 1st. deter future positions as a med surg nurse ?
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I was told by one of the Nursing teachers that if a graduate nurse (RN), starts Psych Nursing as her / his first position, the RN would never be hired any where else.
I assume she meant that because of lack of nursing skill experience, e.g. respitory, or wound care skills etc...
Is this True?
Does any have info they can share ?
I'am 3 weeks from graduation and need to make a decision soon regarding a nursing position.
Terriwas

It may be difficult to get a postion in Mental Health Nursing without a med/surg background, but if you like psych nursing and find a good job, you may never need to worry about being hired any where else. I've been in psych nursing since 1988 and cannot imagine transferring to any other area of nursing.

spiri1, ADN, RN · May 27, 2005

:) :) Thank you all for the feed back regarding Psych Nursing.

Terriwas :)

Whispera, MSN, RN · Jul 18, 2005

My experience is that if you work psych nursing for awhile after graduation, your med surg skills dwindle. However, you can get them back if you get a med surg job. I worked psych for many years, but my psych unit closed. So, I went to med surg. I found no difficulty getting a job, considering there's a huge nursing shortage. I was given ample orientation too, in the med surg job. I believe the biggest drawback to going to psych right after graduation is that your med surg skills aren't totally embedded.

I teach psych nursing. I'd still recommend getting a year of med surg after graduation unless you're totally sure psych is your first love. Med surg will serve you well no matter what you do. By the way, depending on where you work, there can be lots of med surg on psych units. I've done IVs, complicated dressing changes, catheterization, and even peritoneal dialysis in my psych work.

Good luck with your future!

spiri1, ADN, RN · Jul 18, 2005

My experience is that if you work psych nursing for awhile after graduation, your med surg skills dwindle. However, you can get them back if you get a med surg job. I worked psych for many years, but my psych unit closed. So, I went to med surg. I found no difficulty getting a job, considering there's a huge nursing shortage. I was given ample orientation too, in the med surg job. I believe the biggest drawback to going to psych right after graduation is that your med surg skills aren't totally embedded.
I teach psych nursing. I'd still recommend getting a year of med surg after graduation unless you're totally sure psych is your first love. Med surg will serve you well no matter what you do. By the way, depending on where you work, there can be lots of med surg on psych units. I've done IVs, complicated dressing changes, catheterization, and even peritoneal dialysis in my psych work.
Good luck with your future!

Thank you for respone / info Whispera,

Terri :)

TitaniaSidhe · Jul 18, 2005

no, most especially in the current time & state of affairs in nursing. Sometimes I think you could be crippled, blind & crazy & if you have RN after your name they will hire you. Some places are just that desperate for staff. On a more serious note, nursing is becoming so specialized that any area you go into will require adjustment if you decide to change later down the line. You will need to orient & refresh your skills. Yeah you may lose some med surg skills going into psych nursing but think of all the new & useful skills you will be learning? You know the ones that most, notice I said most not all, med surg nurses lack like interpersonal skills, communication & even assessment.