dan_aus

im happy to help you out! shootm e the questions )

hi there, the best way of charting i have found is to do a mental state. a general guide line that i would use for this would be: appeareance: clothing, hygiene etc. you only need to comment on things of relevance. ie: clients experiencing mania could be wearing clothes inappropriate to the weather, alot of make-up etc. behaviour: how is the client interacting with others? psycho-motor agitation? intrusive? limit setting required? etc. mood: how does the client explain how they are feeling affect: objective description of clients mood speech: pressured? loud? thought form: flight of ideas? tangential? circumstantial? blocking? basically any abnormalities in thought processes. Thought content: delusional ideation? sucidial/self-harm ideation- included here you should discuss intention, discuss the means of suicide, action taken etc. percetion: discuss hallucinations i.e: auditory hallucinations- discuss what the voices are saying- distressing for the client? intenstity, frequency, is there anything that helps the client be distracted. insight/judgement and you know what, i have drawn a blank.... but thats the basic way i would document. hope this helps and please ask me any questions...

hi there, wow sounds stressful!!! i'm an aussie nurse and i have worked in an acute ward and community environment. self harm and suicidal ideation is always a tough one. there are objective measures you can use when assessing someone, you should look up some triage kind of information. I would reccommend getting in touch with Natisha Sands at University of Melbourne, she is fantastic! you are doing the right thing though by offering an environment for the client to vent and to feel supported. unfortunately in a community environment when you make an assessment that the situation is not critical and does not warrant an admission all you can do is orificere that they have a safe environment to go home to (not easy sometimes!). you could always ask the client to give you a buzz when you get home, ask them if they are going to be home alone- or if someone can be home with them for the night, give the number for the local triage team (thats what they are for!!!) and offer reassurance. assessing the intensity of the thoughts, the way in which they want to self harm or suicide will also arm you in assessing the urgency of the situation. and make sure you document as best as you can! we cannot control everything but my advice would be to be as cautious and as safe as you can. i hope this helps... this is a great topic and hopefully more people contribute. i dont have that much experience so i would also love to hear what people have to say. hope you are doing ok!!! dan

hey there, i have been a nurse for two years and remembering meds has always been my worst area... i hate it haha. i find that constant exposure to the medications is the only way. like when you have placement make sure you get to do the med round- it will make you remember and you will also find you will test yourself. and when giving out psych meds its really important to offer psycho-education and promote side effects awareness. to do this you need to know the meds. it takes time though and you are not going to know everything. i find it easier to remember by symptom profile- i find then i can match side-effects with meds and diagnosis. and make sure you ask!!!! dont let grouchy old nurses put you down if you don't remember or don't feel comfortable with something. we are always learning and it is so important to be supportive of your colleagues. i cannot stress that enough!!!! dan