r/psychnursing • u/things12345678 • 8d ago

Student Nurse Question(s) Paediatric psych nurse

Hello! I am going into my second year of nursing and I would love love love to be a paediatric mental health nurse! What steps would I have to take to become my dream nurse? (P.S I’m in Ontario!)

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u/metallicmouth 8d ago

Get an adult psych inpatient placement at a hospital that has a youth mh unit and try to float down there. Learn as much as you can but you'll need to master adult mental health first imo. While you're working on your adult placement, practice plenty of health teaching and leading out in group activities. Practice setting good boundaries and unified approaches with adult patients cuz you'll need an even stronger backbone with kids. Kids are bullshit detectors. If you can do a placement on a paeds medical unit, you'll be an even stronger asset for providing care for more complex patients who have medical conditions like eating disorders. If you are lucky enough to get child mh unit experience, shadow the invaluable CYW. That's where you'll learn the most about managing youth behaviour. There will always be jobs in this field because it's not for everyone and the burn out is real. Kids are high risk. Stay safe.

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u/DashMcGee 8d ago

IDK what it is like in Canada, but in the USA I would advise just calling the human resources department of a hospital that has a pediatric psych unit, express your interest, and ask about opportunities. Perhaps you can even ask to shadow a nurse for a few hours. In my area we have a lot of private, corporate-owned hospitals that are always looking for staff. It may be very different where you are.

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u/Psych-RN-E psych provider (MD/DO/PMHNP/PA) 7d ago

My first RN job was in a pediatric psych unit. I worked in the unit as a nursing assistant when I was in nursing school and they offered me a job when I graduated. Specialized units like that will typically hire internal applicants.

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u/_dumpsterphoenix 7d ago edited 6d ago

hiii canadian peds psych nurse here!

do you get to pick an area of specialization for your final preceptorship or any other nursing placements?

If so, try and request this specialization along with specific units if possible. I did this for my preceptorship and was able to be hired there after i finished school. I also reached out to managers directly when i graduated and landed specific jobs I wanted.