Hi everyone, :)
First a disclaimer: I'm just a volunteer (& nursing student) - not yet a nurse. And I don't mean "delusional" in a rude way - just in a clincal way.
As a volunteer in the ED, I dealt with a pt who was delusional (I was later told that was the nurses impression). When I first went to help her, I didn't know this (thought she just had a typical injury & was in normal frame of mind). I quickly found that something was not "quite right." I made the mistake of acting overly friendly and caring and then by the time I figured out what was up I just decided to stick with that attitude/approach. I noticed that the nurses had a very matter of fact, no-nonsense approach to dealing with the pt. After a while the pt started to get very angry & upset w/ me (glaring at me w/ scary look in her eye, swearing & muttering hateful things etc.) but left the nurses alone. This really worried me cause I have a thin skin for this sort of thing lol - as I have never dealt with psych. patients yet and am only a volunteer (yes I'm serious newbie lol). I'm thinking I left my self open to this by acting overly cheery, helpful, & friendly (since I'm super enthusiastic to have a chance to interact with patients). I was just wondering if anyone has any advice for developing a thicker skin to this sort of thing and any tips for dealing with patients like this. As a (hopefully) future ED nurse I know I need to get better at handling these situations. Thanks all :)