day in life of behavioral med. RN

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Hello,

I was hoping to hear from any RN's who currently work in a hospital behavioral medicine inpatient center.

Would you be so kind as to describe what your responsibilities are, i.e. what a typical day might look like for you?

THANKS!

Sue

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There is no typical day :eek:

Passing meds, drawing blood, EKGs, Accuchecks, admissions, restraining patients, running "Med ed" groups, and the main time taker, charting.

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Specializes in Psych, Stepdown, Research.

In addition to the above, a lot of time is spent "checking in" and talking with patients and families.

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My typical night shift: Listen to report, make rounds on patients. Give prns. Do some documenting in computer. Admit patient or patients from ER. Give prns. Sit at the computer to document the admission for at least an hour. Chart checks. Correct errors made by pharmacy, MD, previous shift. Give prns. Throughout the shift I am interacting with and assessing patients that are awake. Try to get the techs to do THEIR jobs. Handle crises as they occur ( acting out pts, takedowns , medical issues, falls, etc) document, document, document. Admit another patient from the ER. Give prn's, Do notes on all pts. Pass am meds. Sometimes I'm able to take a break and eat something. Give report. Do anything I wasn't able to get to due to interruptions. Even when most of the pts sleep all night, it can be very busy and unpredictable.

PS I like your username. Reminds me of one of my favorite church songs. :nurse:

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