Orca ADN, ASN, RN

Hospice, corrections, psychiatry, rehab, LTC

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All Content by Orca

  1. Orca

    Insomnia meds for psych patients?

    Orca replied to medsurgrnco's topic in Psychiatric

    I worked with one psychiatrist who was in love with chloral hydrate for sleep. Others used
  2. Orca

    Did anyone consider becoming a psychologist first?

    Orca replied to darthbreezy's topic in Psychiatric

    I looked into it long before I went to nursing school. The problem was, at the time I was an undergraduate the odds of getting into a clinical psychology program were worse than getting into medical...
  3. Orca

    Feel very disrespected by Administrator

    Orca replied to Lacie's topic in Nurse Management

    It is obvious that you don't have the support of your administrator - in fact your administrator is working against you in many respects. You did the right thing by leaving. You are in an impossible...
  4. Orca

    Male RN help

    Orca replied to Kjbwu98's topic in Nursing Educators, Faculty

    I don't have specific resources, but this is an area in which common sense can keep you out of trouble. I never go into a female patient's room without a female staff member present. The stakes are...
  5. Orca

    Group activities

    Orca replied to fsaav's topic in Psychiatric

    Part of it depends upon the age of your patients. Older patients like reminiscence groups. I have done current events groups that have gone well, getting news stories out of the newspaper or off...
  6. Orca

    Advice on Choosing a Job - MUCH shorter version!

    Orca replied to ivyleaf's topic in Psychiatric

    I would be all over Job A. Job B sounds a little hectic, and it would get monotonous after a while going over the same material repeatedly with different
  7. Orca

    Starting out in Psych

    Orca replied to Stacy2009's topic in Psychiatric

    I can only speak from personal experience. My luck being what it is, there was a nursing surplus when I graduated, so I hired on with a new hospital mental health unit (I admitted the first patient...
  8. Orca

    do the correctionals hire new grads?

    Orca replied to spongebob6286's topic in Correctional

    Nevada doesn't. Our positions require a year of experience. It would be better for you to get a year of hospital experience before venturing into corrections. Correctional nursing requires a level of...
  9. Orca

    What Is Your Opinion?

    Orca replied to tishirajan's topic in General Nursing

    I began my career at 40. I haven't noticed any issues. Two of my classmates were well into their fifties when we finished
  10. Orca

    pros/cons of psych nursing?

    Orca replied to Ilya's topic in Psychiatric

    This works both ways. Some male patients won't take any direction from a female. Others see anything a male tells them to do as a challenge to their manhood and they will resist it, but a female has a...
  11. Orca

    Intake Coordinator

    Orca replied to Leahr's topic in Psychiatric

    Excellent point. When I worked on a hospital-based unit, we had a patient sent to us from the tele floor where he had been running all over the unit. They sent him to our unit in a wheelchair, and...
  12. Orca

    pros/cons of psych nursing?

    Orca replied to Ilya's topic in Psychiatric

    You're absolutely dead on about this. There are mental health nurses who perpetuate the stereotypes that are unfairly applied to many of us. When I began working in the prison system, the infirmary...
  13. Orca

    Too nice to be a supervisor?

    Orca replied to Onthegonurse's topic in LTC: Directors, Assistant

    I have seen this happen more times than I can count, and in many different job settings. I have worked under leaders who had the "don't let the door hit you in the *ss when you leave" attitude about...
  14. Orca

    Too nice to be a supervisor?

    Orca replied to Onthegonurse's topic in LTC: Directors, Assistant

    Some people are under the misconception that you must be a dictator to be a leader. This could not be more wrong. I am of the opinion that if your authority is always on display, you aren't using it...
  15. Orca

    I must be an idiot.

    Orca replied to eriksoln's topic in Psychiatric

    The craziest case I have seen regarding floor nurses with no mental health training involved a patient on my hospital's telemetry unit. I was the swing shift charge nurse on the adult psych/chemical...
  16. Orca

    Intake Coordinator

    Orca replied to Leahr's topic in Psychiatric

    Part of that depends upon whether you are going to be at a freestanding mental health facility or a unit in a general hospital. If the facility is freestanding, be sure that the people you admit are...
  17. Orca

    Psychiatric Nursing Questions

    Orca replied to jujucna's topic in Psychiatric

    Check your visitor messages in your
  18. Orca

    Psychiatric Nursing Questions

    Orca replied to jujucna's topic in Psychiatric

    There is a lot here to digest. I will try to answer your questions as best as I can. If you work in a general hospital, there will be those who tell you that you are not a “real” nurse. You...
  19. Orca

    Am I in trouble?

    Orca replied to johnsavv's topic in Psychiatric

    If the boards of nursing took away the licenses of everyone who has made a medication error, there wouldn't be any of us
  20. Orca

    Clozaril

    Orca replied to Jules A's topic in Psychiatric

    In the prison system in which I work, inmates on Clozaril have to have blood work done every 14 days. It is used only as a last resort, because of the potential side effects. Some patients do well on...
  21. Orca

    A little freaked out. Need advice.

    Orca replied to phinur's topic in Psychiatric

    In psychiatry you will always be dealing with people with altered perception and poor coping skills. Patients like these can interpret just about anything as a personal affront or romantic interest,...
  22. Orca

    Violent Borderlines

    Orca replied to Leahr's topic in Psychiatric

    A calm demeanor often works wonders. These patients often escalate in reaction to the responses of others, who sometimes escalate right along with them. Listening can also be very helpful. With some...
  23. Orca

    Overweight nurse unable to physically manage her responsibilties

    Orca replied to Nascar nurse's topic in LTC: Directors, Assistant

    The bottom line is that you have to do what is best for your unit, and the delivery of care to your patients. It sounds like this nurse has pretty much become dead weight (no pun intended), and if she...
  24. Orca

    Applied for ADON and DON is a new nurse

    Orca replied to BoomerRN's topic in LTC: Directors, Assistant

    The fact that an inexperienced nurse is DON says a lot about this employer. Either they don't pay their staff enough to attract or retain anyone qualified, or the working conditions are so bad that...
  25. Orca

    Too nice to be a supervisor?

    Orca replied to Onthegonurse's topic in LTC: Directors, Assistant

    The best DON I ever worked under mastered a technique I call the "velvet hammer". She had the knack of setting someone straight about something they did incorrectly and left them feeling good about...