Any LPN'S who work on psych units?

Fiona59 · Aug 14, 2005

You live in Ontario, right? It's the only province where you are a RPN, the rest of the country call us LPN's. In Western Canada, a RPN is a Registered Psychiatric Nurse.

Yes, LPN's in Alberta work in Psych. in acute care hospitals and in mental health facilities.

BigB · Aug 18, 2005

You live in Ontario, right? It's the only province where you are a RPN, the rest of the country call us LPN's. In Western Canada, a RPN is a Registered Psychiatric Nurse.
Yes, LPN's in Alberta work in Psych. in acute care hospitals and in mental health facilities.

In california and texas we are LVN's heheh

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Jun 29, 2007

I am aware this thread is a little old, but I worked as a PRN medication nurse at a small community psychiatric hospital. My primary responsibility was passing meds to adults in the inpatient chemical dependency unit and crisis stabilization unit. I also worked the faith-based unit for a short time. I was not expected to chart, participate in the admission process, or do rounds, because the RNs and mental health technicians did those things. I was basically limited to passing meds, obtaining blood glucose levels from the occasional diabetic patient, and providing support.

CincyNurse, BSN, RN · Jul 1, 2007

I am an LPN, and I am the Unit Manager of a Psych unit. My nurses are responsible for giving medications, providing care, taking off orders, and working with the Dr.'s and Psycologists.

BigB · Jul 1, 2007

I currently work in a psych unit inside a prison. It is never a dull moment and I happen to really like the job.

JoAnnS · Jul 3, 2007

hi

Can you give us a typical day in the prison?

I'm curious. I'm sure the benefits are great. But wondering how you do it mentally. Is it depressing? Do you also have a Christian background? Just thinking out loud as it might be helpful in this field?

Thanks for your reply

BigB · Jul 3, 2007

hi
Can you give us a typical day in the prison?
I'm curious. I'm sure the benefits are great. But wondering how you do it mentally. Is it depressing? Do you also have a Christian background? Just thinking out loud as it might be helpful in this field?
Thanks for your reply

Ahhh a typical day. Let me see. I work the graveyard shift usually which is generally pretty calm. A lot of people prefer this shift as they have minimal contact with the inmates, less people around etc. I get to work and the first thing I do is count narcotics and handcuffs with the outgoing MTA/LVN. MTA's are peace officer's and nurses working for the Dept. of Mental health in the great state of California. The rest of the night is spent charting, filling paperwork, and doing safety rounds to ensure the inmates aren't trying to hang themselfs **bad inmate!!**

The way I am able to do this mentally is easy. Most of these inmates do not have a psych issue but a behavioral one. Not enough hugs growing up, agressive personalities, idiots etc are behavioral issues but make up the majority of inmates we see here. The Dr's discharge them yet they keep coming back because they either say the magic words "i'm suicidal" or the main line prisons can't deal with them. Why would inmates "fake a mental illness?" Allow me to answer that. 1. If deamed mentally ill they can collect SSI money after they get out of prison (they won't need to work) 2. The psych unit has air conditioning due to the meds we give needing to remain stable. The main line does NOT have AC. It's 100 degree outside, 85 inside the prison main line, and a cool 72 at the psych unit. Do the math. 3. The psych unit is single cell...the main line is not. Psych unit has three hot meal delivered to them... can you say room service. Not so on the main line. 4. Inmates come to the psych unit when they get into trouble, usually drug debt, gambling debt, or drop out of gangs for protection.

A small part of the inmates are really sick and in the right place. It is not depressing at all. LTC was depressing to me with people checking out of life. I have a christian background and it helps here.

BigB · Jul 3, 2007

cont'.

This is a sample of a paper I did for a college class recently regarding my job.

Entry 3

The first day into my civic project was an evening I will not soon forget. As I start on my safety rounds I notice a foul smell that seemed to permeate the hallway. The closer to the end of the hallway I walked, the stronger the odor became. As I reached the location of the odor I heard giggling. I looked up to see a tall man without a shirt on “flashing his breasts” at me. I knew right then and there that this would be a long night. Inmate C was then told to cover up. Fellow staff members then asked inmate C why he smeared feces all over his cell to which he replied, “I don’t know.” Shortly after this event we passed out dinner trays to the inmates on the unit. When we got to inmate C cell he giggled and said, “You might not want to open the food port-slot, it’s full of crap.” Disgusted and frustrated we moved on to the next cells and finished up with dinner. About one hour later I notice water gushing forth from under inmate C’s door. He had clogged his toilet and was flooding the entire tier. Once the staff had managed to turn off the water to his cell, the insults began. He screamed at the top of his lungs that he would “rape” the female staff members that were present. We were bombarded by insults as we cleaned up the mess he created. Staff maintained their professional demeanor during this whole incident only commenting that such behavior “wasn’t very lady-like.” Inmate C, being a transsexual who arrived in the unit for trying to castrate himself, demanded from day one that staff refer to him as a woman. With the first day out of the way, I plan to continue addressing the goals during this civil project.

Entry 4

With one week in the books I plan to build on the past week as I continue with this civil project. I remain vigilant on my safety rounds, as well during inmate escorts and cell searches. My goals are the focus of my work environment. I am determined to prevent suicide, staff assaults, as well as spending time to counsel and decrease the negative behavior seen on the unit. This week started off with a bang. The entire evening shift responds to an alarm were inmate H was looking for a fight. He was yelling at staff from inside his cell to “come and get me, I dare you!” He dared us and taunted staff with insults. Shortly after, inmate H agreed to cuff up and come out and talk with a certain staff member. As we escorted him down the hallway he attempted to head butt a staff member. We immediately pushed him to the wall and took him to the floor. After he was controlled on the floor a coworker injected him with a sedative medication. While we were bringing inmate H back to his cell, inmate C was screaming “police brutality” and “excessive force.” This action seemed to get the entire tier in an uproar. After inmate H was returned to his cell, the tier quieted down. I am proud that the staff worked as a team and nobody was injured in the incident. As week four comes to a close, I have yet to interact like I want to (to help change negative behavior). This is mainly because I have been placed in one of the busier units. I plan to focus in on this goal in the coming weeks. Thus far, my goals of preventing suicide and staff assaults have been maintained and achieved. I move onward to week five.

Entry 5

Week 5 was mild compared to the previous ones. Safety rounds are being performed vigilantly, and I am taking extra precautions to prevent staff assaults. My two main goals remain to prevent suicide and staff assaults in the unit at all costs. Diffusing hostile situations remains my third objective. This third objective remains a difficult one to accomplish due to factors out of my control. I have been placed on the busiest unit which doesn’t allow for much time other than the basics. This week I was able to take a stab at this particular goal. The following will delve into this, as well as reflect on my commitment as a peace officer and nurse. We have a policy in the Department of Mental Health that bans an inmate from covering their window with any material or substance that could impede vision into the cell. The reason for this policy was that an inmate had covered his window with feces and then hung himself later that day. The new policy states that if the inmate covers his window, an alarm will be sounded with backup arrive within 30 seconds.

I have seen, heard, and participated in responses to window covering but I had never discovered one while performing safety rounds, that all changed the other day. Inmate J was escorted out of his cell to use the telephone. While he was using the phone his cell was searched and an extra blanket confiscated. Inmate J returned to his cell and discovered the unauthorized item was no longer in his cell. Then he through a temper tantrum and started banging his hand against the wall. He was demanding that his blanket be returned. When I explained to him that he only had an order for two blankets, not the three he had in his cell, he bombarded me with insults. I decided to let him cool off and walked away. He started to bang his fist against the wall. I returned to his cell after about five minutes to see him in the process of covering his window with toilet paper. I began communicating with him to prevent staff from having to respond. He was asked to “take down the toilet paper.” He refused this order but after about 10 minutes I was able to get him to take it down from the window. He eventually calmed down and I was able to accomplish my goal of diffusing a hostile, or potential hostile, situation. I say this because at times we are required to suit up and go get these guys from there cell if they act up badly enough.

Entry 6

One of my goals was crushed this week but it was out of my control. No suicide occurred but a staff member was assaulted on another shift. Apparently, she went to talk to an inmate and ask him a few questions so she could complete a weekly summary of his behavior. As she opened his food port slot and bent down to talk to him she was greeted with a cup of feces to her face. This civic report has resulted in me taking a deep look at what I do for a living. The pay is really good, the retirement the best in the nation, but I wonder if it is worth it to deal with the animals I do day in and day out. I don’t believe the term animal is too harsh as they have to be kept in cages to prevent them from killing people, but I digress. My mood towards this civic project has changed after this incident. I don’t have the foolish belief that I can change all of these inmates. I will strive to prevent them from killing themselves, as I am entrusted to do that. With that said my desire to go the extra mile and out of my way to help them has dropped significantly. As bad as this entry may sound, I still love my job and look forward to coming to work every day. I think my duties at work may change the outcome of some people’s lives. This extends from the inmate about to parole to me co-workers who expect me to have their back in an emergency. The rest of the week was calm in comparison. Safety rounds are still being performed vigilantly and safety precautions followed while escorting inmates. I am sure my mood will pick up in the coming days and it will be business as usual.

Entry 7

It’s amazing what four days off can do to ones spirit. I came back to work energized and ready to attack this civic project with the vigor I had earlier. Although the staff assault is still on my mind, it has been put behind me so I can move on. Earlier this week I was able to diffuse a potentially dangerous situation on the unit. An inmate had been making threats to other inmates and staff throughout the day. Our shift lead, who hadn’t heard of the threats, wanted to bring this particular inmate out for a group activity. I advised her about what I had heard the inmate say earlier and the decision was too keep the inmate in his cell. I wondered what would have happened if this inmate was making these public threats to other inmates and a staff member didn’t hear and report it. Fights during the activity programs happen from time to time, but there occurrence is generally rare. I’ll now reflect on my goals for a second. No inmates have committed suicide under my watch and I have been able to diffuse potential dangerous situations. The other goal of preventing staff assaults has also been preserved since the assault that did occur was not on my shift. During this civic project I reflect on the various reading assignments throughout the class. When it comes to individual freedoms as such I think of what Locke had written about. Working in this environment really makes me appreciate the freedom that I do have. No matter how bad my day is, I can go home at the end of it. I can’t say the same for the inmates here. Some will parole but a good portion of them are in for life sentences. I don’t know what I would do under similar circumstances.

These are the WORST situations I have seen. These events all happened on the PM shift They are very rare..... but in times like this, if I didn't earn the big bucks and amazing benes and retirment, I wouldn't do the job. But when people question why I make as much as RN's, I tend to share what duties and situations we as MTA's have to deal with. Again, the above situations are the worst that has happened to me in the last 5 months.

BigB

BigB · Jul 5, 2007

I am an LPN, and I am the Unit Manager of a Psych unit. My nurses are responsible for giving medications, providing care, taking off orders, and working with the Dr.'s and Psycologists.

UM as a LVN... thats nice.

antidote · Jul 6, 2007

I highly appreciate any nurse (either an RN, LPN/LVN or RPN) that withs in psych units! Just reading the little "essays" you have written somewhat gave me a creeps and had me looking out in my hall to see if a psych pt was standing there. :uhoh21:

Personally, I don't think I could ever work in psych just for that reason.

BigB · Jul 7, 2007

I highly appreciate any nurse (either an RN, LPN/LVN or RPN) that withs in psych units! Just reading the little "essays" you have written somewhat gave me a creeps and had me looking out in my hall to see if a psych pt was standing there. :uhoh21:
Personally, I don't think I could ever work in psych just for that reason.

The stories I posted were the worst case serierios. Usually.. psych is no big deal.