How does a psych RN spend her time?

aloevera · Oct 3, 2008

Close......we as RN's don't give meds, the LPN's do......

spend 70% time with pts. either to assess, admit, discharge, attend their tx.plan meetings, de-escalate, lead groups, clinical (blood draws,EKG's, wound care, etc.---remaining 30% charting, paperwork

that is my day.....

laketrash · Oct 4, 2008

Well..... In our facility, we RNS do give meds, and many other things as well such as : doing group, admissions, discharges, going to the ER anytime a behavioral pt comes in assessing them, then precerting their insurance if they are to be admitted, calling the doc for orders, putting the chart together, and helping the tech with whatever, whenever.:typing Its a very interesting busy job thats hard to break down into time slots, sorry but hope that answers your question a little. :specs:

WillyNilly · Oct 5, 2008

On a 7-3 shift here is my day

7 am get report

730 sign tx books

8a pass meds

830a work on charting/admissions/discharges

12p pass meds then go to lunch

Chart some more

3p give report and go home.

RNs and LPNs split the med pass and charting, the CNAs diffuse situations, there is a recreation therapist to do groups.

aloevera · Oct 5, 2008

On a 7-3 shift here is my day
7 am get report
730 sign tx books
8a pass meds
830a work on charting/admissions/discharges
12p pass meds then go to lunch
Chart some more
3p give report and go home.
RNs and LPNs split the med pass and charting, the CNAs diffuse situations, there is a recreation therapist to do groups.

just curious, what is your pt. load? It takes our med nurse over three hrs. to pull up and pass meds....usually about 30-34 pts. she does that and also takes off the dr. orders....

and you get lunch????? :bow: I want your job !!!!

WillyNilly · Oct 5, 2008

Its a small unit-14 patients so the most I pass to is 7. Its easy to get comfy in the unit and there is a reason the turnover is so low lol.

medsurgrnco, BSN, RN · Oct 8, 2008

During a typical shift, how much time does a psych RN devote to each task? I am guessing that they talk to patients 50% of the shift, document 40% of the shift, and medicate patients 10% of the shift. Am I right?

If you find a job with these percentages, please let me know!!!!!!!!!!!

Day shift:

Med nurse does meds

9-10 hours - meetings, chasing around the docs trying to catch them between meetings and talk to them about an issue or grab the charts they like in their possession all day, helping docs & CM & other staff do their jobs, answering staff questions, dealing with MHW problems, documentation often done in 1-2 minute time periods due to repeated interruptions

2-3 hours - Nurses group, talking with patients, assessments

Lunch taken while working on my schedule, checking company email, etc.

(I watch the docs talk with patients during meetings, and usually join in a bit but I don't consider this talking with the patients.)

Night shift:

Nurses do both meds and assessments for assigned patients

7 hours - chart checks, documentation, preparing paperwork for day shift, doing stuff left over by day shift, addressing errors from other staff

(done at relaxed pace while talking with coworkers)

1.5-2 hours - pulling meds, drawing labs

1-2 hours - talking with patients while giving meds & doing assessments

Lunch is usually an hour, while reading the paper :wink2:

Limited time with patients as they hopefully go to sleep. If they sleep, great - they won't be another night. If patients are awake &/or agitated, the time with the patients increases. Sometime dealing with agitated, restless, fall risk patients can take up 20-30% of my shift.

One occasional nights, I've had up to 4 hours of extra time with patients sleeping - time to surf the web, read email, whatever

I may be a bit off, feeling sarcastic, need to go to bed, so didn't recheck my math (sorry!). This was based on the last few weeks, when patients were calm but staff needed a lot of assistance. And believe me, I'm trying to reduce the chaos at work!

Hey, Aloevera, this time I'm envying you!

medsurgrnco, BSN, RN · Oct 12, 2008

the CNAs diffuse situations

So your facility has CNAs that are able to recognize and diffuse situations? Do you know anything about the facility's interviewing and training of these staff? I'm envious!

aloevera · Oct 12, 2008

So your facility has CNAs that are able to recognize and diffuse situations? Do you know anything about the facility's interviewing and training of these staff? I'm envious!

I am envious, too.....we are grateful when our MHT's get all their vitals completed, charted, and get all pts. to their groups and cafeteria...

We are Real grateful when we don't have to go searching for them when they are "MIA" once in a while !!!! At the first hint of a pt. escalating, our MHT's call for the nurse !!!

Cree8ive1 · Oct 12, 2008

Hi, everyone!

Great discussion. I'm a student in my last year of nursing school and I am heavily leaning toward going right into psych nursing, so I'm loving reading this little thread. We just finished a clinical rotation at a 600+ bed psych facility and barely saw the nurse there, as she stood in a bulletproof clinical for the majority of her shift and doled out meds and charted! I'm definitely interested in working in a setting where there's more patient contact.

ANYway...the psych facilities I've found in my area (Philly/southern NJ) seem to only offer eight hour shifts, five days a week. One of the many things I love about nursing is the 12-hour a day/3 days a week schedule.

Do any of you know of psychiatric facilities (wherever) that run on a 3-36 hour or 4-10 hour shift schedule? I'd be really interested in hearing about this; it just seems that the norm around here is 8-hour shifts for mental health nurses.

Thanks!

aloevera · Oct 12, 2008

Our hospital staffs 12 hr. shifts.....but we are a long way from you...

Southeast US........Yes, I do love the schedule.......we are a private psych hospital....

medsurgrnco, BSN, RN · Oct 13, 2008

I am envious, too.....we are grateful when our MHT's get all their vitals completed, charted, and get all pts. to their groups and cafeteria...
We are Real grateful when we don't have to go searching for them when they are "MIA" once in a while !!!! At the first hint of a pt. escalating, our MHT's call for the nurse !!!

Hey, Aloevera, I'm envious again. Our MHW do not chart the VS, and I am grateful when they actually get them done timely, somehow not a high priority. And I'm REALLY grateful when I work with a MHW that has been at the job long enough and is responsible enough to inform a nurse that a pt is escalatiing, instead of missing clues or thinking they can handle it themselves.