disallusioned with nursing! psych new grad

Specialties Psychiatric

Published

I have just finished my 8 week new grad psych nursing orientation. I have been extremely lucky that my preceptor is an incredible nurse and human being. He is really the first mentor I have ever had.. and I've told him that he is stuck with me =P

I actually do enjoy working with psych patients and I am pretty good at it. buttttttt There has been some upheaval in the unit.. changes which are well..hostile to nurses..

Taking admissions is now the priority.. yes.. trumping care of the patients you already have!!! Admissions can come whenever they are ready.. med pass.. shift change..not done with your current admit..while your detoxers are moving towards DTs.. whenever..doesnt (&^(*) matter. And they call the (^()&% manager if you delay an admit even if you have a valid reason!!!!! Everyone is overworked.. irritable and stressed. More mistakes are being made. You can practically taste and feel the negativity!!

I recently had a shift where i worked for 13 hours with no breaks!! 10 patients..and two admits.. and i was still chewed out by the AM nurses for not doing enough!!!!! I came home and cried.

The unit was also really vulnerable.. i had 12 patients.. one patient had no admit paperwork completed from day shift (shift change admit), but slept my whole shift because she was combative and was given a ton of ativan (not on her med records btw). One patient was a regular admit.. ok.. my 12th patient rolled in the door at 6am..before shift change at 7am.. my preceptor's patient rolled in the door perfectly at 7am >_<. so day shift.. inherited my passed out patient without paperwork.. and the admit.. i stayed late to complete it was hell..and we would have all been screwed if a had acted or medical emergency. in fact.. think about it.. what sleeping woken out..when rolled in.. just be complicated when last ciwa of detoxer>

i like the theory of nursing.. this job sucks.

i feel ABUSED and EXPLOITED! and I feel like I am betraying my patients who trust me that they are safe and that their needs will be met.

is this what nursing is??? as much as I like caring for patients.. I refuse to be overworked to death.. i'm young and have a bachelor's degree. :banghead: thanks for listening!!!!!

ps.

(a joke that was in my mind)

I rate my day a 2/10. I am having active SI. I am having HI against you with a plan. I have voices in my head telling me to quit.. *$*&&( you! LOL

Specializes in behavioral health.

Rotary.. having 12 patients works fine if everyone is alright =P. If it is a 'needy' group and some act out.. it begins to fall like jenga. For a 24 bed unit, we have 3 behavioral health techs. Last night.. i had 11 patients and one admit.. it went by very smoothly.. as my patients all slept all night and my admit was quick.

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Specializes in behavioral health.
We are so understaffed, it is pitiful.....nurses are leaving all the time....I don't know if it is the salary or working conditions....We have had 8 nurses leave since Jan....we are working extra shifts, short-staffed, I don't know what is going to happen...It seems to be getting worse....A new co. took over and I would think the first thing they would look into is the staff/pt. ratio....instead, they are improving the cosmetics of the building...go figure...I would want to know we are losing so many good nurse....oh well, I am not in management....

aloevera,

how do you stay at your job? it sounds very stressful and unpleasant.

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Specializes in telemetry, med-surg, home health, psych.

It is very stressful......only psych hospital within distance for me....

everyone is complaining....we made a list of grievances and sent them to the head office so will wait and see if there is any response from them...

Yesterday I had 24 pts. and 2 admits with me, the med nurse and 2 techs.......it wasn't dull, that is for sure.....

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Specializes in telemetry, med-surg, home health, psych.

Oh, by the way, that was on my unit (adult mental health);

the other nurse on the dual diagnosis unit had 34 pts., 2 med nurses and 3 techs..how she charted on 34 pts. I will never know.......that ratio really seems unsafe to me...but she managed to finish charting !!!!! said she had to or the night nurse would fuss at her !!!!

I would rather spend my time with the pts. than worry about getting all the charting finished...

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Specializes in behavioral health.
Oh, by the way, that was on my unit (adult mental health);

the other nurse on the dual diagnosis unit had 34 pts., 2 med nurses and 3 techs..how she charted on 34 pts. I will never know.......that ratio really seems unsafe to me...but she managed to finish charting !!!!! said she had to or the night nurse would fuss at her !!!!

I would rather spend my time with the pts. than worry about getting all the charting finished...

wow.. charts!! i wonder if she got around to talking to all those patients >_<. i would personally run far and fast from that situation.. but do want to credit the huge service you for these patients who are not given resources they need.>

it sounds like the administration forgot that psych patients act out and medically crash.

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Specializes in critical care; community health; psych.

I wouldn't mind my patient load of 12-13 if all their issues were limited to psych. We have enough support staff in the milieu. It's all the med-surg issues the patients present with that put it over the top. Five patients on my team last night have IDDM requiring blood sugars 2x on my shift with regular and long acting isulin coverage. One required breathing treatments x2. Another had a post-op dressing change. Another was running IVF and was on fluid restriction. Yeah sure, I had time to monitor that! Two were incontinent and required skin checks and extra documentation. One nurse called off yesterday leaving only one nurse for daylight for 27 patients! I think I would have run out the door.

I think it's going to get worse instead of better.

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Specializes in Mental health.

I'm sure we have the best ratios in the world.

Our acute inpatient unit has 15 beds and 9 staff, hence very little violence.

The unit I work on has 8 beds and 2 staff, however ours is the end of the service where people are being transitioned back to the community. So all very stable.

We have a keyworker approach, so although we have 8 people I look after 2.

I can relate to your experience, general mental inpatient is hell. Spent a year in one of those hospitals, hwoever ratio was 1:6

Have a look at forensic nursing, ratios are much better.

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Specializes in oncology,med/surg,psych..

I Retired from the VA hospital last year after 34 years of service and find your psych unit to a dangerous place to staff and pts alike.

We as Nurses must push for better nurse to pt. ratio in State and Fed. goverment law changes.

The States boards of Nursing need to come to bats for all nurses and get laws passed that protect all parties both pts and hospital staff.

This short staffing issue has always been a huge problem causing many great Nurses to leave the field. :cry::(

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Specializes in behavioral health.

i've been feeling better about my job lately. I've been having a string of really good shifts.. the shifts where you are very busy..but have time to eat and talk to your patients.. and you leave feeling like..job well done... except for the whole controversy of the big psych manager coming in here and throwing out our water bottles, saying that we cannot have water!!!!!!!!!! what??? oh well right? i'll hide my water in a cabinet.

I am hoping that some of your work situations improve. I bet some of your situations actually break laws. Something that possibly your local NAMI could research. We are all good caring people and deserve to be treated as we treat others.

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Specializes in telemetry, med-surg, home health, psych.

What on earth is the rationality behind no water bottles?

We need to keep hydrated and that is better than having to leave to go to the drinking fountain all the time.....that does not make any sense to me.......like you said, keep it in a drawer....

We have never been told not to have a drink, we even eat our lunch at the desk sometimes....when the pts. are at the cafeteria....

oh well, who can figure management??

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Specializes in Behavioral Health, Show Biz.

:typing

GET OUT OF THERE, INTHESKY!!!

You deserve better

Look into other areas

in Psych Nursing

(i.e., Day Treatment programs, Methadone Clinics, etc)

:down:Don't listen to the

BULL about

WELCOME TO NURSING!!!

When you can look

elsewhere

to give the kind

of patient care

that's fulfilling and

rewarding.

YOUR JOB SUCKS---NOT YOU!!!

YOU CAN DO BETTER!!!

for yourself

AND FOR YOUR PATIENTS:nurse:

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Specializes in Psychiatric, Med Surg, Onco.
Where do you guys work with only 7 or 10 pts.?????? We usually have between 25 and 30....some of them are line of sights, too....Staff is usually 2 RN's (if no one calls out), the med nurse, and 2-3 techs.....

We generally work through breaks and eat a bite of lunch at our desks while we are working.....or do you do all the meds and tech work too??

I work at the same hospital you do! My unit is supposed to be "capped" at 24...but we nearly always have more...we have 4 admission units and 3 long-term units...the admission units can never refuse an admission...maintainence just brings up more beds from the basement and we start putting them in the group room, visitors rooms, day areas...you name it...in fact the other night we ran with one nurse and two techs for a doublewinged unit of 27 patients...morale is notoriously low and high stress is a give in...you just have to keep remembering why you are in this field, because it is hard as heck most times...and some people still have the audacity to question whether or not psych nurses are "real" nurses...I challenge any doubters to spend a shift in my shoes...

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