Congratulations to Nicole who graduated from the Psychiatric Nursing Program! We thank her for her hard work on the blog and wish her the best of luck in her new career. Questions and comments will now be disabled. Please watch out for a new Psychiatric Nursing Student Blogger in the near future!
Hi Everyone,
My cohort is moving right along through semester 4, and the finish line for our 2 year program is in our sights! We have learned so much in just over a year, and not all of what we are learning pertains to Psychiatry. The Okanagan cohort is currently in our medical/surgical clinical, where we are implementing our skills with orthopedic and neurosurgery patients. For those of us who are so passionate about Psychiatry, it has definitely been a challenge to shut down that part of our brains for this clinical! We are performing dressing changes and nursing assessments, removing surgical staples and IVs, as well as learning about many different surgeries. Patients who visit this particular ward have had hip and knee replacements, laminectomies (surgery removing a part of the vertebral bone), craniotomies, and more! It is interesting to learn how to assess patients after they have had surgery and note their subsequent progression or deterioration. I have enjoyed learning these new skills that were not pertinent in my previous clinical experience in Acute Psych. I may have chosen to become a Psychiatric Nurse, and med/surg is not my niche per se, but it is definitely very interesting. And as future nurses, it is important for us to be familiar with the medical and surgical aspects of nursing.
I really do believe that Psychiatric Nurses are Jack’s or Jill’s of all trades, simply because we have a wide knowledge base involving both Psychiatry and medicine. Having an understanding of medical sciences is important in being able to provide quality patient care, whether or not in a psychiatric setting. This clinical experience so far has taught me many new and exciting things, but most of all, it has helped me to further appreciate my passion for Psychiatric Nursing. While I enjoy working with post-op patients, I have realized how much I am truly meant to work as a Psychiatric Nurse. I so enjoy the “talk therapy” aspect of Psychiatric Nursing, knowing that my communication skillset alone can make a difference to someone struggling with their mental health.
While we are in clinical, we have 4 online courses: Intro to Counselling, First Nations Health, Nursing Research, and Med/surg Theory. As usual, all of our work keeps us busy! Midterm time for this semester has come up quickly, and soon enough we will be heading into semester 5. In less than a year I will be finished the program… and I can call myself a RPN! As the saying goes, time flies!
The great thing about nursing is that there are so many different avenues you can take until you find where you are meant to be. It is an important career that will always be changing and growing…and, of course, exciting! Many different avenues you can take until you find where you are meant to be. It is an important career that will always be changing and growing…and, of course, exciting!
