I think I remember hearing this when I was in nursing school. Is it true that psych nurses face more on the job injuries than other professions that seem to be more dangerous?

Yes psych nursing can be dangerous. I speak from experience because I am a psych nurse. The key to not getting hurt is being aware of your surroundings at all times.Cleint's have the tendency to try to attack you from the behind alot, or when you let your gaurd down. I agree with Cutty always have a client stand in front of you and don't let them invade your personal space. I've been in numerous situations where I could of been hurt, but using the techniques above, and knowing something about the client's behavior is very helpful. Eventhrough psych nursing is dangerous I really like it, but it is not for everyone.

Wow I would have never known thanks for the very important info.

I enjoyed my time in the psych hospital when doing my clinicals. I wasn't afraid even though the other nursing students were. Actually, I was commended by the chief of staff there who noticed my interaction with the patients for the 6 weeks of clinicals. People changed and he noticed. Everyone appeared calmer and there was a lot less screaming.

I must also add that I felt the nurses that worked at this hospital didn't do much but pass out meds. Don't these patients need more then medication? How about a little love and compassion instead of thinking they are coo coo birds. They sit in those rooms all day bored and staring into space...........how much fun is that? A little brain action goes a long way.

The patients wanted to do crafts, and I created crafts that were fun and safe for them. All participated! Another time we planted flowers and when I returned the next time they all came over to me to tell they remembered to water them as I asked. So cute.

Some patients were asking for music to dance to. I went home that night and burnt a CD for clinicals the next day.  We had fun, but the best part of that day was seeing a woman who never got out of her wheel chair in 5 months get up and do some dances with me. A man who they never heard speak, SANG Frank Sinatra with me after hearing me sing a song. This was the best.

Psych may be a dangerous place, but I feel if you show them fear they can sense that. 

Maybe I have a "calling" for psych. Who knows. I enjoyed them. It was a nice experience.

I really feel like my heart is being tugged into the mental health field. However whenever I tell family or friends that this is where I would like to be when I finish my RN degree I get..."Really?" and "I don't think you know what you're getting yourself into." Of course things can happen and not everyone is interested in mental health but also the stigma on mental health in general makes even just the words psych, mental health or even depression (and who isn't depressed these days...) makes people cringe and become afraid. But that's also why I think everyone should either visit a psych ward or watch a video of one...Including the people who run for mayor and president. There is so much work left undone in this field. And I understand why these people feel the way they do because it's hard to understand when you can't see it and you don't know what is really going on. Anyway, I know it has really opened my eyes. I try to spread the knowledge I have and that's all I can do. I love children and I loved seeing the children at the psych ward, I know that's where I want to work, no matter how hard it may be at times or how scary it may seem to other people. It's my responsibility therefore to reduce the stigma.

At least with psych nursing, you realize the potential for violence, and can take appropriate steps.  ER nursing is becoming more and more of a locked down ward, just because of the potential for walk-ins that can get out of hand, or the home-boy ambulance service throwing people out of the car in front of the ER entrance.  Families get irate, you don't know what kind of psych, or drug issues the bystanders have, let alone the patients.  It can be much of the same anywhere in a hospital setting with visitors.

I believe psychiatric nursing is the most rewarding!!  Please join us in the following seminar:

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The next nursing seminar will be held in November, 2008 “Nursing Care of Patients with Anxiety, Panic, and Anxiety Disorders” in Paris France.  Registered Nurses will receive ten (10) contact hours for their attendance of the seminar.  Interested nurses may visit at www.ceu411.com for details. Please share this information provided with your co-workers. 

Sincerely,

Sharon

You are so right. I tell eveyone that I am far safer in the jail and in the psych hospital than in an ER and people just do not understand it. I think those in the ER believe it.

I have done level I trauma er and it can be dangerous, but now working in a state mental facility I have a whole new appreciation for the psych nurse.  You are on units with murderers, rapist, arsonist for long confined periods of times up to 3-6mths because many of the jails dont want them.  I have been hit more in the psych area of nursing more than any area I have ever worked in.  The difference in us dealing with them v/s the jail is the jail never comes in direct contact with a patient alone plus the guards have guns.  We are locked in with them and and we have no protection other than CPI and thorizine!!!!! 

I really cant answer that I went into psych nursing right out of school and have been there since. I currently work at Vt state hospital and yep sometimes it gets a tad rowdy but for the most part its pretty quiet, oh i work nights sorry.but if you have a good crew they stop most violence before it happens. is dangerous sure but so is ED work, they normally get the pt before we do.

Ok, I'm trying this again!  I haven't worked psych..........but it does sound interesting.  I have spent a good deal of time in the ER.  You do run into things that are dangerous.  Beligerent family members of the patient being treated to the extent to where they are overheard trying to figure out what type of car you drove; some gang issues, family assault, 16 yr old cheerleader screaming with pain from kidneystones and me trying to start her int and her mom telling her if I hurt her she can kick me.  The all time best is 'altered mental status'...............there was an 88 yr old woman who presented in her own universe and other symptoms.............while trying to simply get vitals, she coldcocked me on my right temple..............I went down and remembering noticing I was lying in the floor in that sweet little confused woman's pee and poo.  Ah..............those were the days, kind of miss the adreneline rush, just not the wearing the pee and poo of others.

It's also a matter of  making sure the staff is watching each other's backs. And I, like other staff, HAVE filed charges on a patient. I am lucky to work in a facility that puts safety as priority one, and we are not discouraged from filing charges, if it is justified. It makes you heartsick to do it, and it is not an easily made decision, but neither is it rare. They have a fear of the juvenile justice system like no other.  But the kids tend to latch on to me more as a mother figure, and maintaining therapeutic boundaries is a bigger issue, and believe me, it isn't easy for me sometimes, because they can be endearing, and they can be so manipulative. So it's like CD said; I'm more afraid in a parking lot than the unit.

Yes, psych can be dangerous, but I agree that the ER is probably very much more dangerous and I might add, so can LTC be.  You don't have your guard up like you do in psych.  I think I've been assaulted more often by  cute little old sundowners than in Psych.  Psych: 1 choking, 1 pull to the floor, and a couple of hair pullings.  LTC: multiple kicks, punches, a couple of bites, things thrown at my head, a broken finger, and more hair pullings than psych...  It's all relative.

Psych is pretty safe by those standards.  It's interesting, it's rewarding and it's the stigma that's more dangerous.  So many nurses could be great psych nurses, but it's the fear that keeps them away.  Think about it.  We all do psych every day.