I Acted terribly unprofessional today...

[NurseLoveJoy88]

What I did today was just terrible, inconsiderate, and unprofessional. I did not think about the patient,nurses, or any other colleagues. Today I was assigned to work as a sitter ( which I don't like at all). The only thing I love about sitting is the fact that I'm able to take care of the patient. However, I go through so much as a sitter. Sitters are not treated with respect we are the at the very bottom of the health care team and treated as such. As a new grad, I'm so eager to do more... however I know thats not possible until I get licensed. Anyway, I go through alot emotionally just to sit. Sitters have to sit with the patient 12 hours and thats it. If the patient is busy then I love it, but when the patient is calm thats when it gets really boring. I'm a busy body and for me sit for 12 hours is just torture.

Anyway, today I was called to sit 7a-7p. I walk in the staffing office receive my assignment and walk out. When I walk out, I realize that I'm to sit with a pysch patient. All of a sudden, I can feel the blood rushing to my head and I felt whoozy. Psych is just not for me. I've worked as a sitter with a psych patient before and it really affected me pyschologically. So instead of just walking back into the staffing office and requesting another patient, I just ran out the hospital and broke down in my car. :bluecry1:A few minutes later I called my agency to let them know the horrible thing I did, and I also notified the staffing office.

I feel very bad and I even questioned if nursing was for me. I never thought I would do something so bad and unprofessional. I believe they were able to find coverage for the patient, but I still feel terrible.

Maybe nursing isn't for me....

[madnurse2b]

Okay - this is a wake up call. If you are still in school - most schools actually have free counseling available on campus. Get it. You can't be an effective nurse unless you take care of yourself first.

[coffee4metech]

I hate to say this but yes it was completely unprofessional , being sensitive towards patients like that can land you in hot water . In life you have to deal with some unpleasant situations but that comes with this profession. This I can tell you won't be your last psych patient so deal with it nowso it will not happen again.

[netglow, ASN, RN]

OP, you mentioned you are a new grad hired, but awaiting boards right?

Well along with what everyone else has said. I really do feel you went thru a terrible shock when you were just a girl. Being so young and made to spend long periods with psychotics etc. is not something that someone should be expected to get over easily. A girl develops a lot of her sense of self at that age. I do think you might really benefit from some counseling on this!!! I would freak too if I had to stay 12 hours in a situation like that if I had your previous experiences.

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{ 19 }}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

But, now you are in the cold cruel working world with something that keeps getting in the way. Don't let it. Get some help. Check your employee manual and see if they have counseling services. Or tap that new insurance and get some help. You will notice that although we all help here, the world around you keeps moving. Unfortunately co-workers don't stop and consider what burdens you might be carrying these days. You need to fix the part of you that is broken. It will be expected of you.

Start by saying to yourself... "I'm not gonna let this thing that happened so long ago, Eff my future!"

[PhoenixTech, LPN]

the fact that you posted about this shows that it's eating you up and i'm sorry for that. you already know that you're response wasn't ideal, but i think you're brave to share your trials, and your compassion still shows through. :icon_hug:

i agree with the suggestions to confront & obtain help for yourself. the good thing is that you have another chance to put your best foot forward because as previously stated, psych pts will come across your path in this career over and over again. :)

good luck to you.

virgorn

omg :redpinkhe

thank you for sharing such an intimate piece of yourself. it was simply beautiful :flwrhrts:

[SlightlyMental_RN]

Do you think that you will try to work through this issue with a counselor? Do you have access to someone? I hope so, as I think that it is essential in order for you to be successful as a nurse. Psych patients are everywhere...... Good luck!

[Scrubby]

I agree that maybe some counselling is needed as it sounds like you have to deal with what happened when you were younger. You can't pick and choose your patients.

I must admit that I too find it challenging looking after patients with a psychiatric illness.

I don't know how it is in other countries, but In Australia I don't feel that we get enough training on how to work with psych patients. The university course that I did on mental illness was only 6 weeks, 1 day per week and only just covered the basics, we didn't do a placement in mental health. As more and more mental health facilities are downgraded there are more psychiatric patients in the wards with general nurses with no experience expected to be able to care for them. This needs to be rectified IMHO.

There was one time in my grad year where I was floated to another area and assigned a schizophrenic patient with history of physical assault on staff. He preferred his room to be completely dark. I was told by the charge nurse to go into this dark room to give him his meds, but be careful he doesn't like being woken up. No staff were available to escort me so I outright refused because of his violent history and filed an incident report, including being instructed by the charge to put my personal safety at risk.

Good luck with everything and don't beat yourself up over it.

[CathyLew]

love the great posts, lots of helpful info...but i do have one question for nursing student 19 you mention you let your anxiety get ahold of you. have you ever had issues like that, or experiences like that in the past? it may be something that you need to look at. if you have panic attacks, you need to address that. in this case, they were able to cover your assignment....but if this happens on the job in a case that staffing is short, it could be a serious issue. just a thought.

[ghillbert, MSN, NP]

Can I just say, there is not really any such thing as a "psych patient". People have all sorts of conditions - what if you were assigned to a post-surgical patient who happened to be psychotic? Or a "psych patient" who was depressed and a suicide risk? You really can't pick and choose.

It sounds like you have severe issues and I am sure you can't just "learn your lesson" and be fine - that is a pretty acute reaction to an assignment. Go and seek counselling.

[luvschoolnursing, LPN]

OK, I know you are compassionate from reading your posts in the School Nursing section for the last year. I know you are excited about starting your new career.

Don't let this one issue overwhelm you. If you need some counseling, get it. If the anxiety is overwhelming on different occasions, maybe you need some meds or if you are on meds, maybe they need adjusted. You have been through a lot lately with school, getting married, trying to make career decisions. Even good change is stressful.

I guess what I am saying is don't let this ruin your career and certainly don't let it ruin your life. "Psych" patients are everywhere, in ICU, on med-surg, in the public schools, living next door to you. "They" are just folks like "us" who need help differently than "we" do.

As a side note, I couldn't do 12 hour sitter shifts. I can't be still and in one place that long.

[Nonners]

I understand exactly how you feel. I'm also a nursing student and I work as a sitter at a large teaching hospital through the staffing office. On occasion, I am assigned to a tech position, but I usually sit because it affords me the opportunity to be with one patient for 12 to 16 hours, not to mention that I have plenty of time to study. (I'm 6.5 hours into a 16 hour shift as I am writing this). I am definitely not on the bottom of the care team food chain, and you shouldn't feel as though you are! I pretty much take over complete patient care to the extent that my scope of practice allows me (My job title is actually Nurse Extern). I do a focused assessment on the patient when I relieve the previous sitter, I talk to the nurse when she or he does their assessment, I ask a lot questions, and I do as much as I can to make the tech's job as easy as possible. I can't tell you how much I've learned in the few months I've been doing this, not to mention the connections I've made with nurses who will request me when they have a patient that needs a sitter. I will have many recommendations when I am ready to interview for a GN position when I graduate in December.

Most of the patients that require a sitter have psych issues and I've found that if I focus on the patient's needs above their behavior, the rough nights aren't so bad. I also use these opportunities to practice therapeutic communication and I've learned how to talk someone down that I might have just requested restraints for in the past.

If you aren't getting the support you need from the staff, you need to address it immediately with the charge nurse. If you don't get resolution from the charge, go the the unit director before you leave the floor at the end of the shift. You shouldn't have to feel like you are alone, the patient is still their nurse's responsibility, you are there to supplement the patient's care, keep the patient safe and make things easier for the rest of the staff.

Use this situation as a learning experience, carry it with you into your practice and you will be a better nurse for having been through it. Don't give in and don't give up! :heartbeat

[C-DIFF PHIL RN]

let me get this straight....you got a assignment that basically overwhelmed you..but took the assignment...went to your car and cried your eyes out by yourself away from your patient and everyone else. excuse me what so ******* unprofessional about that, is it the issue that you dislike psych patients or is it that you broke down that make you think you were unprofessional? i guess noone on this board has never gotten to the point of breaking down for what ever reason. i would not worry about it, try to confront your fears if that wont work try like fire to stay away from sitting with psych patients.

[NurseCard, ADN]

The OP's unprofessional behavior aside (which I understand completely, esp. after reading his/her 2nd post), I think the practice of making one staff member sit with a patient for 8-12 hours is downright brutal... though also unfortunately unavoidable in some cases.

I used to work at a state psychiatric hospital, where the different units were actually very well staffed, at least usually. Our 1:1's were assigned on an hourly basis, all staff would rotate between the 1:1 and doing the rounds on everyone else on the unit, going to lunch, doing paperwork, etc..