78diho

With personality disorders, I ignored it. I learned that if I responded, that I was feeding into it. It took a bit to stifle myself and bite my tongue. In such situations, its attention seeking in a very bad way. Responding to it in anyway, therapeutic or not, is giving that person a response/attention. And that's their goal. Hand her the meds with a blank expression on your face. Grit your teeth and move on. This is setting limits. Try not to let yourself feel guilty over this because she is manipulating you....and it sucks to be manipulated.

I worked on the floor as a psych nurse for enough years to become a pretty effective psych nurse. Then I decided I wanted to give telehealth a go. I don't know what the hellO I'm doing. So I call people up if I see a response from their machine that seems a little worrisome and do further assessment. Ok. Not too different from inpatient. Most of the time, the patient just wants to talk. Ok. That's also what I'm there for. Therapeutic listening and support. I work from home. I'm a single mom and the kids being able to spend more time with mom has been clearly beneficial. AND I have time to take them to their activities. I get to do more things with the kids.......Sweet deal is it? I feel like this is the most unfulfilling job ever. The Telehealth program is not supposed to be a lifelong thing. We are supposed to educate. The ultimate goal is to condition the patient. This is so hard to do. I am supposed to reinforce their coping skills. I'm supposed to knowledgeable about their illness. These patients have their own multidisciplinary team. They have a PCP, SW, MH provider, primary RN, and then me as a "supplement". So I know their progress depends on the effectiveness of their team and me. But I feel like I do nothing to improve their life other than listen to them and act as a liaison if their primary nurse is too busy (I don't envy them). I sit at a desk. I alert the provider via documentation, not phone call or page, if something needs to be addressed and hope that that provider cares enough to address a concern. Many people think this job is a sweet deal. Sit at a desk. Minimal stress for some people. Work from home. But I feel like I do nothing to help my patient's in the long run. I love that I am so fortunate to be able to spend more time with my kids, especially since they have a single parent. But at the same time I feel like I am unable to be an effective nurse to make a long term difference in someone's life. I remind myself that I am a "supplement" to their care. But I still want to be able to make some difference. Yet, I feel that I do have a "sweet deal" with regards to it balancing work and family. ] To be honest, I don't see telehealth as an effective program at all. My saying this is like saying that it's "quiet tonight". But I truly feel it is a really pointless program. I would totally go back to inpatient psych if there was an opening but at the same time this would take away time from my kids. What can I do to be more effective? What would you do?