jimkusters

jimkusters has 5 years experience and specializes in Psychiatric.

Latest Activity

1. Changing Careers to Nursing as 35 year old man

   jimkusters replied to DB7721's topic in Men

   I've been an LVN working in Psych for over 6 years. I actually became a nurse at 35 years old. It's been my experience that most men tend to gravitate towards Psych or Emergency. You can find male nurses in almost every specialty, though. There a...

2. I hate ignorant people...

   jimkusters replied to sarah620's topic in General Nursing

   Along those same lines, a couple days ago I found out just what Mgt at my facility thinks about nurses. I work in a Psych facility. Our cilinical director left and they are hiring for a new one. They told our DON that he could not apply because th...

3. Is there a nurse on the plane?

   jimkusters replied to Brian's topic in General Nursing

   I don't know if this was posted before in this thread, but when flight stewardesses started (that's what they were originally called) they were actually required to be registered nurses. Obviously, this changed over time, but they did start out as R...

4. What should I do about the patient from hell?

   jimkusters replied to mountain_biker_88's topic in Relations

   My advice would be to check her chart and find out why this patient is seeing a Psych NP. That would be a good start on finding why this lady acts the way she does. I've been a Psych nurse for over 5 years and routinely get yelled at and insulted b...

5. What was the lowest diastolic bp you have seen?

   jimkusters replied to Florence NightinFAIL's topic in General Nursing

   The lowest dbp I ever saw was not even while I was working. It was when my wife was giving birth to our youngest son. The doctor giving her an epidural inserted it right before she went into active childbirth, so he had to administer the medication...

6. "I didn't want to go into nursing because I didn't want to be labled gay"

   jimkusters replied to NurseLoveJoy88's topic in Men

   I've been a nurse now for about 5 and a half years. Before that, I was a Marine. There is no medical professions in the Marine Corps (the Navy takes care of that for Marines), but I still chose nursing after I got out. I DID worry a little about t...

7. Newbie psych nurse seeking feedback (long)

   jimkusters replied to elizabethgrad09's topic in Psychiatric

   I'm sorry, maybe I phrased it poorly. I'm just saying that some psych clients, because of either being disorganized, delusional, and/or paranoid, what we say to some clients can be interpreted by the client as something very different from what you ...

8. Newbie psych nurse seeking feedback (long)

   jimkusters replied to elizabethgrad09's topic in Psychiatric

   First of all, remember, Psych nursing is unlike any other kind of nursing. What seems like a simple, logical request to us, can sound like you just asked the patient to jump off a bridge. I often find myself trying to step back and think about wha...

9. new lpn salary

   jimkusters replied to blondie218's topic in LPN/LVN

   I live in California, close to San Francisco. LVN's here can start at about $20-22 per hour or more, depending on where you work.

10. Calling residents affectionate names?

    jimkusters replied to LPNweezy's topic in General Nursing

    I work in a long term mental health facility. When I accept a new admission, the first thing I try to do is ask the new patient what he/she would like to be called. Most of our patients prefer to be called by their given first names, and some like ...

11. HIPAA privacy question

    jimkusters replied to nurseandre34's topic in HIPAA

    Working in an adult psych setting, I may have to treat HIPPA even more carefully than some others here. We have patients ranging in age from 18 to 65. Sometimes, we have young patients (18-25) that tell us very clearly, DO NOT talk to mom, dad, or ...

12. Did you get their bath done? Seriously?

    jimkusters replied to Bezoars's topic in General Nursing

    When I was in nursing school a "few" years ago, my first clinical instructor told all of us the importance of changing sheets and bathing patients. As we all know, hospitals are probably the most infectious place you could possibly be. Bathing a pa...

13. I Didn't Know I Couldn't do it, So I did

    jimkusters replied to Lunah's topic in Government

    Good for you, Lunah. I served for 6 years in the Marines. Now, I know there's no medical staff in the Corps, but serving your country is serving your country. The Navy nurses I did see were all professionals and very skilled. Good luck in your ad...

14. What is the best unit to work in and why?

    jimkusters replied to wnb4's topic in General Nursing

    In my humble opinion, Psych is by far the best unit to work in. New challenges every day. No two days are alike. I get to wear normal clothes, not pajamas (scrubs). Wearing jeans is not only allowed, it's encouraged. And, of course, my co-worker...

15. What are the top 5 medications YOU administer daily?

    jimkusters replied to northmississippi's topic in Medications

    Like all the other Psych nurses out there, my top 5 would have to be. Ativan, Zyprexa, Risperdal, Klonopin, and Depakote. Although we give more common drugs too, like Novolog Insulin, Metformin, ASA, Propranolol....