HealSpec

Latest Activity

1. Should I Stay or Should I Go?

   HealSpec replied to HealSpec's topic in Psychiatric

   I can post mine if anyone's interested, they're pretty generalized and I'd have to check and make sure it's okay with the board rules. But if it can help someone with psych then I'd be happy to.

2. Should I Stay or Should I Go?

   HealSpec replied to HealSpec's topic in Psychiatric

   A brain is a sheet that you use to guide your shift, like a more dynamic to-do list. They're used in cardio, ICU and stuff like that, but I haven't found one for psych. I had to make one, and it's helpful when I remember to use it! But that's not alw...

3. Should I Stay or Should I Go?

   HealSpec replied to HealSpec's topic in Psychiatric

   Thank you so much for the reply. I feel like we have a lot in common! I haven't tried different meds and so that is possible, although I'd still be anxious about starting them and then coming in to work. As far as staying organized, I'm trying to st...

4. Should I Stay or Should I Go?

   HealSpec replied to HealSpec's topic in Psychiatric

   Thanks for the advice. I did want to clarify that I'm not floating to med surg, just to a different psych unit. We are standalone, but there's one unit in particular that is really challenging and I really hate it. However, since my home unit is RTC,...

5. Should I Stay or Should I Go?

   HealSpec replied to HealSpec's topic in Psychiatric

   I don't, but I'm afraid to do so because I remember trying meds when I was a kid. They turned me into a zombie. I felt like my brain was moving through cold mud and couldn't think at all, and while obviously not everyone has that response to meds, I ...

6. Should I Stay or Should I Go?

   HealSpec replied to HealSpec's topic in Psychiatric

   Thanks for your post. I appreciate the advice, and your response made me realize that I probably should have been more detailed about my rationale. Here are some of my reasons for potentially doing better out of psych: Longer orientation. I didn't ge...

7. You Know You're a Psych Nurse When . . . .

   HealSpec replied to motor_mouth's topic in Psychiatric

   When you finish every patient's med pass by checking for cheeked meds. I'm probably going to wreck some poor hospital's Press Ganey scores by turning to a non-psych pt someday and going "Okay, now open your mouth. Let me see! Aaaah!"

8. Should I Stay or Should I Go?

   HealSpec posted a topic in Psychiatric

   So, as the title says, I'm having issues with whether to stay in psych. I went straight into it after school and I've loved it from day one, it's fascinating and I really love my current position. But lately, my job and me just aren't getting along. ...

9. Whatever happened to going to school to be a nurse?

   HealSpec replied to indish's topic in General Nursing

   Maybe I'm just one of those spoiled rotten new grads, but I can easily see the other side of this. I refuse to be a floor nurse. Not because there is anything wrong with the profession, but because I've been working for my RNFA since high school, and...

10. Nursing is Just a Job - Common Myths in Nursing

    HealSpec replied to The_Optimist's topic in General Nursing

    ETA, meant this as a reply to Ruby Vee but musty have missed a click Regarding spiritual distress: yes, it is real and I use the stuff we learned about it frequently (because I work acute psych), but in our classes I often saw psychosocial stuff stre...

11. Nursing is Just a Job - Common Myths in Nursing

    HealSpec replied to The_Optimist's topic in General Nursing

    I'd like to chime in from the perspective of a new nurse, who never felt "called" to nursing (I'll tell anyone who asks that I actually wanted to go to med school... I just didn't want to take calculus). We got drilled on psychosocial stuff and got a...

12. Is this ethical?

    HealSpec replied to pumpkinspice's topic in General Nursing

    In my so far limited experience, this looks like an environment problem. Where is this patient? Is it a hospice or LTC where she's basically in her "home" and the POA has turned into a PITA? Or is this a psych setting, where therapeutic milieu is s...

13. Only Crusty Old Bats will remember..

    HealSpec replied to Pepper The Cat's topic in General Nursing

    If you miss paper charts and MARS, counting scheduled meds, kardex being king and using crank beds, just go work in psych. I love my job, but those are daily realities--we even reconcile our MARs by hand every week, checking back and forth with the c...

14. Job seeking before giving notice?

    HealSpec replied to HealSpec's topic in Job Hunt

    It's not so much that I think it would be bad, as that I'm about halfway through working there (I started in late July and plan to leave in mid January). I can't really put it into words, but it feels weird to me to tell them this far in advance, not...

15. Job seeking before giving notice?

    HealSpec posted a topic in Job Hunt

    Hi, I'm hoping you guys can help me with a bit of a catch-22. I'm a new grad RN and I love my job, but unfortunately I'm moving in a few months. I'll be too far away to commute and will need to resign. I'm excited for the move but I'm running into pr...