penelopelp

penelopelp

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About penelopelp

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  1. Anyone NEVER been hit/hurt working psych?

    We have our own training. It’s similar to CPI which I did at a previous facility. The biggest issue is that they keep sending was assaultive patients to a unit that is already hot. We are already staffed up because of this, but they really need to st...
  2. Anyone NEVER been hit/hurt working psych?

    I may have just been extra sensitive. I’m not used to being questioned by management like that—it felt like an interrogation. Staff were assaulted that day by another patient, and I probably was just feeling very stressed from the whole event. It’s h...
  3. Anyone NEVER been hit/hurt working psych?

    We are having more and more nurses assaulted at my hospital and it is really making me anxious. I haven’t been seriously assaulted as a nurse—some light punches, a kick, spit on. However, there are people at my workplace ending up with broken bones a...
  4. Are certain days busier than others??

    Both Mondays and Fridays are busy in the facilities where I have worked because that’s when there are the most discharges and admissions.
  5. If you call the doctor and they say give 500 oral or 500 I'm, then that’s what you have to do. I wouldn’t give the lower dose without the doctor’s approval.
  6. Looking into psychiatric nursing

    Psych nursing is in general easier on the physical body, but stressful to the mind. There is a risk of getting hurt by a patient. Sometimes we have to run and have to duck or twist away from a patient. I’ve known some psych nurses who have had some p...
  7. COVID19 Screening

    My facility doesn’t screen staff. Our patients just get a basic screening of if they are having symptoms. Our census is low—probably because everyone is staying away from hospitals.
  8. Psych nursing under Covid-19

    I’m curious what everyone’s psych units are looking like right now. Are you seeing fewer or more patients? Are your patients social distancing while on the unit? Are your patients still sharing rooms? Are any staff wearing masks? We are told that our...
  9. Immediately medicate patients around the clock or redirect?

    It depends on the situation. If a patient is starting to get agitated and they have a history of violence, I usually try to medicate early before there is an emergency. You wouldn’t withhold pain meds from someone who just had surgery or antibiotics ...
  10. Why did you choose psych nursing?

    My mom has severe mental illness. I’ve had my own challenges with depression/anxiety, and I’ve had friends with various mental illnesses. I don’t necessarily believe that there are “bad” people—in general. I mean, Jeffrey Dahmer was very evil. Howeve...
  11. New grad - best place to start?

    I’ve only had experience in a couple of states so I can only speak to what I’ve seen. Of course substance abuse and psychiatric illnesses goes hand in hand. We have a lot of patients with substance abuse disorders. We’re just not considered a detox u...
  12. New grad - best place to start?

    Detox units are different because of the medical treatment. I work on an inpatient psych unit and we don’t have detox patients. Yea, we have patients who could be having withdrawals and they are on COWS or CIWA protocol. However, for medical detox, t...
  13. Are there less dangerous areas of Psych Nursing than Inpatient Psych?

    I was moved from my inpatient unit to outpatient clinic for about 6 weeks. That was very safe. I found it boring. I was doing med refills, calling back patients who had questions/concerns for the doctors, and checking on lab results. The days were re...
  14. New grad - best place to start?

    I’m glad to hear it is a good RTC. Congrats on the interview. That’s exciting!!
  15. Non advanced practice MSN as a psych nurse?

    I have an MSN in nursing education. My employer paid for it 100%. I might not have gotten it if I had to pay full tuition. I don’t know how much it has helped me. I recently moved to a new state and I got lots of interviews. I don’t know if the MSN h...