[Ltv2988]

I've heard that male nurses are frequently assigned in the psych ward? Is this true . I'm thinking of nursing as a second career and already have a degree in psychology. What type of nursing would I be doing? What are the profiles of the clients? I assume alot of schizophrenia and severe depression. Any advice.

[SoldierNurse]

Originally Posted by Ltv2988

I've heard that male nurses are frequently assigned in the psych ward? Is this true . I'm thinking of nursing as a second career and already have a degree in psychology. What type of nursing would I be doing? What are the profiles of the clients? I assume alot of schizophrenia and severe depression. Any advice.

First, civilian nurses are not assigned to a Unit, or Ward. Upon successful completion of an accredited nursing program & NCLEX you can apply to work in a nursing specialty of your choosing. Now, sometimes a nurse can float from their regular unit to another Unit [Floor]. However, Psych Nursing is very specialized and nurses generally do not float from another Unit to a Psych Ward. Besides, most Psych Facilities are stand alone facilities.

I don't have any experience in psych nursing, other than nursing school. I do remember one of my nursing instructors specialized in Psych. Maybe you could check your local college for some info.

Good luck!

[bassinRN]

I agree with the above response. I am a male Psych nurse and have cross trained to med-surg as well. Go into the area you feel most comfortable in. Don't let others decide that for you. Best of luck!

[HDMotorcop]

Originally Posted by Ltv2988

I've heard that male nurses are frequently assigned in the psych ward? Is this true . I'm thinking of nursing as a second career and already have a degree in psychology. What type of nursing would I be doing? What are the profiles of the clients? I assume alot of schizophrenia and severe depression. Any advice.

LT,
I responded to you in the other thread also.

Before becoming an LEO one of my nursing jobs was in psych. As has been said, they are often stand alone facilities and even if not, you generally don't "float" into/out of a psych unit. In the psych hospital I worked in we had the whole gammut of psychiatric disorders; depression, eating disorders, schizophrenia, bipolar, etc, etc, etc........plus we had a lot of dual diagnosis substance patients. Being an LPN, my main responsibilties were of the medical nature: meds, patient physical needs, assesments, nutrition etc, but was unquestionably part of the entire "treatment team" Hey I even worked on the ECT team. If psych is what you're interested in, your previous degree and experience would certainly be a benefit.

As far as being male and being sent to psych.......... well if that is where you apply, yup.
If you apply for med/surg...then you'll work there as well as any other "specialty" depending facilty policies.

[Ricu]

Hi all,

In my thirty years of healthcare experience, I have not seen men especially relegated into the more physical healthcare "arenas." As would be expected, men or other physically able patient care providers have when necessary, been called upon to aid in lifting the heavier patients but in all other areas, men and women have been considered essentially equal.

R

[Marcados]

Psych RN here, wouldn't do anything else. Have yet to do a bed bath. I think that psych is generally less stressful on a static basis, but can have episodes of stress with acutely ill patients. Completely subjective though...

To reitierate the prior point, if a field interests you above all else, do not feel the need to subject yourself to the "med-surg" floor. Psych is a completely different skill set, and they generally come to the unit medically cleared.

[GregRN2004]

I'm interested in the discussion on psych as I just accepted a position today on a child/adolescent inpatient psych unit. I have been a tele/med-surg nurse for almost 3 years but have always wanted to work with children. So far, I've read everything from "extremely rewarding" to "burnout city"... I suspect the bell curve will land me somewhere in the middle. Either way, I can't wait to get started!

[NavyJim58]

I worked Psych both full and part time in my nursing career and really liked it, however, there came a time when I had to make a decision as to wether I wanted to retain my nursing skills or go strictly Psych. For example, one day in the Psych facility a medical patient needed a IV catheter inserted for IV drugs. No one in the facility knew how to do that except me because they had all been doing Psych so long they had "lost" their medical skills. They were having trouble even figuring out what equipment they needed to do such a "huge" task.

I am not putting down Psych nurses as I sometimes wish I had stayed in Psych nursing and have a friend who has done nothing but Psych for 25 years. The point is as has been pointed out by several other responders that Psych Nursing is a specialty and its hard to do several specialities well. Sometimes you have to make a choice.

[CaseyLynn.ER.RN]

It seems with your background in Psych that you could easily find a job as a nurse in a psych unit. Assuming you got accepted and completed a nursing school. You still have to go through all of the required courses, even knowing that you do not want to practice med/surg type nursing. I am confident that you already know that, however.
In my experience with psych nursing (adolescent, adult, and geri), it is very rewarding. In my psych days, I was young female. It was always comforting to have a male there to help with the more violent patients. I have since moved on to Emergency Nursing. I still get my fair share of psych cases...good luck and do what feels right to you!