Nurses' Role in Outpatient Psychiatric Clinic

[Sari Rahmawati]

Hi! I am a nurse in a outpatient psychiatric clinic in a hospital in Indonesia. I'd like to know, is there someone that can help me to give an idea/opinion/description/book to read about the ideal role of nurse in outpatient ward? Because I only have an experience in inpatient ward when I was in nursing school

[Davey Do]

As a outpatient psych nurse working in a community health clinic, my roles were vast. Basically, my job description said that I assisted the psychiatrist in meeting the needs of the client. This entailed a basic assessments, ordering meds, and attending staffings, etc. I carried a caseload of over 100 clients.

My role expanded considerably over the four years I worked in this position, from 1998 to 2002. I'll try to recall the roles to the best of my ability:

I sat up and supervised sample and patient assistance medication programs. For the southern half of the county, I acted as the mandated follow up agent for patients discharged from the state facility and the preadmission screening agent for psychiatric patients to be admitted into a LTC facility. I gave lectures twice a week for two hours to clients mandated by the court to attend drug treatment, focusing on the effects of alcohol and other drugs on the body. I assisted in the crisis stabilization program, taking VS, drawing labs, eg for lithium levels, and I initiated and ran a morning meeting based on the 12 step Emotions Anonymous program.

I think that was everything. Oh yeah- "other duties as assigned".

Good luck, Sari Rahmawati!

[FolksBtrippin, BSN, RN]

Read up on the long acting injectable antipsychotic medications; Invega Sustenna, Abilify Maintena, Haldol decaonate, etc.

Also read up on potential adverse effects of psych meds: tardive dyskinesia, parkinsonism, serotonin syndrome, and the very rare but deadly neuroletpic malignant syndrome.

Learn signs and symptoms of Lithium toxicity.

Educate your patients on heat sensitivity and photosensitivity because many psych meds cause this.

You will see a lot of diabetes and hypertension. Educate.

A lot of psych nursing is education.

Also learning when to challenge a patient to do better and when to coax and soothe.

Identifying barriers to med adherence is a big thing, and learning to identify a patient who is hallucinating as they almost never admit to it.

PM me anytime.