Anyone switch from psych to medical early in their career?
This is sorta long so pls find tldr at the bottom if ur not tryna read all this lol
hiii so I passed my NCLEX in November 2025 and started working on an adult/geriatric inpatient psych unit in December. I had about 2/3ish months of orientation but honestly it never felt like a real orientation especially in that last month. Like one day it was just… over no one asked if I felt ready to be on my own and definitely no competency check. The very next week that I made 3 months working there I was given 12 patients on day shift. When I told my DON that I didn’t feel comfortable taking that many patients yet she pretty much gave me a vague response (non uncommon with her) & proceeded to pass meds for two of my patients and ofc then went on to disappear for the rest of the shift. Since then I’ve been averaging around 13 patients, and that’s just become the norm at this point.
The lack of support has been the hardest part though honestly cos when I ask questions or ask for much needed help, I usually get half assed answers or I’m made to feel like I should already know. Nevermind, scratch that lmao the worst part is that we’re chronically understaffed. Thats the main thing making me want to leave. I was recently sick and was basically told I had to come in when I was calling out because they needed me. Yesterday my manager accidentally left me off the schedule but still expected me to come in even though I had no idea I was supposed to work because it wasn’t on the schedule I was given.
Another thing that surprised me is that they’ve already had me precepting new hires twice without ever asking if I was comfortable doing it. I’ve only been off orientation for a few months myself.
I genuinely love psychiatric nursing. Like seriously the whole reason I even decided to go to nursing school was because I was a psych major and wanted to be more hands on. I don’t regret choosing psych because I enjoy working with this population. The problem is that I don’t feel like I’m developing as a nurse much here. Most days it feels like I’m passing meds, charting, going to meetings, de-escalating situations, and supervising patients. I rarely get to do RN lead groups because we dont have time and thats a part of the job I enjoy. Since we have a lot of geriatric patients, we also deal with plenty of medical issues but when emergencies happen I usually feel unprepared because I don’t think I was trained adequately. Sometimes even the more experienced nurses seem like they don't know what to do so patients end up getting sent out.
Lately I’ve been thinking about applying for a different position perhaps med surg or idk there's hospice and mother baby positions available near me. I want to build a stronger medical foundation and become more confident with all the skills I feel like I’m missing that a nurse should have. There’s actually a hospital closer to my house than my current job, so it would work out well if I got hired. My plan is to hopefully stay PRN at my psych job for extra income if possible but I worry about working here.
My biggest question though is would a medical unit still train me like a newer nurse even though I’ve already been working as an RN for about 6-7 months? I honestly still feel like a new grad because I don’t think I’ve had the support or training I needed. I’m worried managers will see my 7 months RN experience and assume I don’t need much orientation when in reality I feel like I have a lottttt to learn.
Has anyone made the switch from psych to Med-Surg early in their career? if so please let me know if it was worth it, and did your new hospital give you a proper orientation?
TL;DR: New grad psych nurse with about 7 months of experience. I love psych, but my orientation was minimal, I don’t feel supported, we’re constantly understaffed, and I don’t feel like I’m building enough medical skills. Thinking about switching to med surg (or another medical specialty) but wondering if hospitals will still give me a proper newgrad style orientation, or if they’ll expect me to already know everything because I have 7 months of RN experience. Anyone made this switch?