DesertKat

DesertKat

psychiatric, rehab

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All Content by DesertKat

  1. Sick and exhausted

    DesertKat posted a topic in General Nursing

    So in January I was promoted to nurse manager so all sorts if long hours and steep learning curves insued- which I expected. What I did not expect was that once I became salaried, I also became the...

  2. Sick and exhausted

    DesertKat replied to DesertKat's topic in General Nursing

    No, nothing legal. I wouldn't have a leg to stand on even if I did want to sue. I guess I just want them to recognize exactly how tenuous their position was and how easily it could have lead to a...

  3. Sick and exhausted

    DesertKat replied to DesertKat's topic in General Nursing

    Oh, I am looking and trying to maintain my professionalism. My staff and the doctors I work with are being very supportive, which is a huge blessing. I was relieved to walk away from the management...

  4. Sick and exhausted

    DesertKat replied to DesertKat's topic in General Nursing

    Forgot the part where I couldn't reach my husband because he is Air Force and they were in the middle of an exercise. Time management has nothing to do with being assigned every shift that another...

  5. orientation

    DesertKat replied to Squeaky44's topic in Psychiatric

    I was just out of school. The orientation I got was one day of orientation to the facility itself and then the one week following other rns. There was little rhyme or reason to it and then I was...

  6. orientation

    DesertKat replied to Squeaky44's topic in Psychiatric

    Depends on the facility. I was a new grad and got one week and then became charge nurse, so there you go. The main difference is that I have found that nurses new to the psych field tend to forget...

  7. Do psych nurses actually make a difference?

    DesertKat replied to Lola77's topic in Psychiatric

    Yes. And no. There were days when I really helped people and there were days when all I did was be a glorified unit secretary. There are so many elements to the psych setting that, frankly, you...

  8. nursing students and behavioral health units

    DesertKat replied to inthesky's topic in Psychiatric

    Yeah well, remember the phrase "nurses eat their young"? Sadly its often true. I can't advise you more then saying that you are going to have to be your own best advocate. Unfortunately in nursing...

  9. Whew!

    DesertKat posted a topic in Psychiatric

    Well, I am done. I handed in my resignation and notice this morning. I am just tired of the yelling, irrational accusations, abuse and knee-jerk irrational over-reacting. And for anyone thinking I...

  10. Dogs and Nurses

    DesertKat replied to Jayhawk4Life's topic in General Nursing

    I crate trained a puppy while in school and then adopted another dog that was about 2 years old who also happened to have a lovely case of giardia when I got him. I managed to get through both...

  11. nursing students and behavioral health units

    DesertKat replied to inthesky's topic in Psychiatric

    It isn't the object of his psychosis that matters, its the result. There are plenty of people who are delusional, actively hallucinating or are extremely paranoid that still function relatively well....

  12. nursing students and behavioral health units

    DesertKat replied to inthesky's topic in Psychiatric

    In short, he doesn't. But he does have to engage himself. A man living on his own and not interacting with the world looses out, but that in and of itself does not need intervention. If he is so...

  13. adolescent psychiatry

    DesertKat replied to wanna_be_brave_nurse's topic in Psychiatric

    I don't think one population is really better or worse then the other. Speaking as someone who used to be a high school teacher, its all about controlling yourself, picking your battles and learning...

  14. nursing students and behavioral health units

    DesertKat replied to inthesky's topic in Psychiatric

    ----Off topic rant---- The anthropologist in me shudders each time nurses talk about culture because, frankly, few have a real clue. Few nurses have the training and the experience to step out of...

  15. Can mental illness be cured?

    DesertKat replied to Meraki's topic in Psychiatric

    Why would one not say that some mental illness is, indeed, incurable? Are there not plenty of physical ailments which are incurable? Therefore, why would we expect any less from mental illness,...

  16. slow med pass? am I really being unreasonable?

    DesertKat replied to inthesky's topic in Psychiatric

    The only problem that might really arise is being out of compliance for med times. Something that is, frankly, a bit of a reality for psychiatric nursing at times. But if you are consistently out of...

  17. APNA Conference

    DesertKat posted a topic in Psychiatric

    Ok, new nurse and interested in expanding my knowledge of psych nursing and am interested in the American Psychiatric Nurse's Association and the summer conference. If I am careful, I can swing the...

  18. Relocating to Austin, need advice when to apply

    DesertKat replied to Lilichk's topic in Texas Nursing

    Austin can be a difficult market for nurses- with a major university there and it being a popular city in Texas, there is a lot of competition. One thing you might look at is the surrounding...

  19. Nurses, physicians weigh in on new doctoral nurse degree

    DesertKat replied to Brian's topic in Doctoral Nursing Degrees

    I am not sure what post no 15's point is. A Doctor of Nursing Practice isn't a Doctor of Philosphy, it's true. It also isn't a Doctor of Medicine or a Doctor of Education. It is, however, a...

  20. Prune Juice and Psych Patients???

    DesertKat replied to IamRN08's topic in Psychiatric

    Sometimes an object or "privilege" just becomes a hot commodity among patients. We have a facility that also medically detoxes dual diagnosis patients and we stock Gatorade for those patients. But...

  21. Nurses, physicians weigh in on new doctoral nurse degree

    DesertKat replied to Brian's topic in Doctoral Nursing Degrees

    What a crock. Some one needs to explain to the docs that the only reason they are called Drs is that they have a doctoral degree in medical science. Doctoral degrees have been around far longer and...

  22. One more staffing question...

    DesertKat replied to DesertKat's topic in Psychiatric

    Sounds like we are getting the short end of the stick- though to be fair the facility is trying to hire on. Just not a lot of nurses really seem interested in going into psych. At least not in this...

  23. One more staffing question...

    DesertKat posted a topic in Psychiatric

    I am very new to psych nursing and nursing in general (grad in May), so I just wanted to know if I was being fed a bunch of bull. I work at a 60 bed facility (30 adults, 30 adol and children) that has...

  24. UT Austin SON

    DesertKat replied to daisyfleur70's topic in Texas Nursing

    I looked into going to Austin, but the fact that they make you apply for UT for a year and then MIGHT accept you into the SON was a major turn off. I would suggest looking into the UT Health Sciences...

  25. 1st time RN licensed , but the license expires toooo SOON

    DesertKat replied to H2H_RN's topic in Texas Nursing

    Yep. I just renewed mine and got in back in June. All you have to do is go online and cough up the money. No CEs, no