RandomPsychNurse

I have had maybe six shifts of orientation so far. The last time I was there a nurse called out so I was paired with a nurse in a building, so technically they never replaced the call out because I was there. I do feel some red flags- some of them have said " you should be good" without asking me what my comfort level is. I am not the type to feel comfortable with anything until it has been at least six months to a year somewhere new.

Thank you for looking out. I changed my account name to something less identifiable.

Hello everyone! I am looking for 100% real advice and insight into my situation. To start I have been a nurse for 3 years but I have worked at a psychiatric facility for most of that time with one company. I recently accepted a job at a recovery center for detoxing patients and residential. The staff is very friendly, so there are no issues there. Is it chaotic and disorganized? Yes, but that is almost every detox or psychiatric facility so I can manage that. My issue with this is that I have been hearing that nurses have been left by themselves on the overnight shift with 18 or more patients that may be actively detoxing. They use recovery coaches (RCs) and sometimes an RN will have one RC or none at all on nights. There is no security and it was a female RN left alone in a building with 18 male patients. To me, this is concerning because I am going to be working nights and I was not told that I may be alone on a night shift during my interview. Is this typically the standard? Am I being paranoid about the situation? I am just picturing a medical or behavioral emergency happening on the shift being by myself or with an RC ( they are not medically trained ). I am still on orientation (week 2) and by looking at my schedule, it looks like my orientation is ending next week. I have pondered on the thought of not continuing here based on this. When I work in psychiatric units the patient was more of a handful, but I was never alone with that many patients and I always had back up during code grays. Can I please have some guidance here?

I hear you. I think you have a good point.

Yes, I do have GAD and MDD. It’s not that I am unhappy with behavioral health though, I just think I would be able to build more confidence if i was exposed to more medical situations. I am going to look into med surg/ Something slower paced so I can build up skills. I guess the ED would be too much for me right now.