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Specialties Psychiatric

Published

I am an RN in med/once with 9 months of experience and I have been thinking about moving to psych soon as I have a BA in psych and have a real interest in the field. However, I really don't have any idea what it is like in a typical psych unit. For example, on the night shift, do you get new admits? I would think someone who has a change in LOC or attempteed suicide would be admited to a medical floor for testing first... so does the night shift ever have a new admission and if so, what might be a typical scenerio? Also, how much would really be expected of me to physically restrain people that are stronger than I am? I was sort of a gym class joke as a kid so how is that supposed to work?

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Geriatric, Behavioral Health.

You are not alone. Many members have asked similar questions and have received very good input on this one. Recommendation: do a search on this forum and/or scroll through the titles. You can also do a search using my PINK link below. You'll get input very soon.

And yes, psych units get admits on night shift.

Regarding seclusion and restraint, your facility will train you in this.

Wish you the best.

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Don't worry about the restraints. I'm 4-11, 98lbs and havent been injured in a take down yet. Not saying that injury is not a possibility, it always is and safety should always be on your mind. But you're never by yourself and would never be expected to restrain or seclude someone by yourself. Even if it's dealing with lil ol grandma (I worked in geri-psych and can tell you those are the toughest bunch of grandmas) staff should always be nearby in case you need help.

As far as admits on the night shift. Most of the hospitals I've worked at do admissions 24hrs. I am, however, working at state facility currently that only does admissions on days and they have someone take care of most of the paperwork before they get to the floor. So basically hospitals and units may vary when it comes to admissions but pretty much expect to get them. My first hospital had a psych ed and the pts were screened (medically cleared) before coming to the unit but of course we had a whole bunch of admissions- (getting meds and orders and the pt settled and of course the paperwork) type work to do on the floor as well.

Good luck and feel free to pm me if you have any more questions!

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