I was 27 when I started in psych and looked about 20. There were a few times it was an issue when a patient thought my age made me more manipulatable (my new word I created) and would test boundaries but I worked with a 23 year old speech therapist who looked 15 and she managed just fine although she had the same things happen at times. Mostly we both sometimes had patients not willing to accept that we were actually in charge. But honestly that happened the most to me in a normal but more dementia centered nursing home where I started out at 25. One lady on a dementia when I was 25 once told me "You are 12 and you may NOT tell me what to do!". I had to get my assistant to sit there and tell him what I needed her to do, then he'd have her do it, I'd make notes and move on to the next thing, over and over while he barely held off laughing. She was on of my favorite patients ever.

You definitely have the right goal and I think working with kids is great. I think they need more people who really want to work adolescent psych. Whenever I go for my appointments every month I get off the elevator and see into the peds waiting room and some of those kids look so miserable. In the adult waiting room people tend to try to pretend nothing is wrong and we aren't crammed into a tiny, cold room due to circumstances we don't like, but that child/adolescent room can seem sad. I hear the kids come into our waiting room to get weighed sometimes and again sometimes they just sound too sad. I remember being that age and wishing someone, anyone could help. I loved the bits of kindness that I received from some special adults.

I think you have a great idea. And you're a nurse so if you try it and hate it it's not like jobs are few and far between. (I always loved that about OT although when I was fired when unemployment in my state was well over 10% I did feel guilty knowing that I would have an easy time getting a job when so many others wouldn't.)