eforest

As a medical student, the first time I had a nurse tell me that she "couldn't do such and such" because it was out of her scope (well not in those exact words, but the same idea) I was frustrated and didn't understand. Then I learned that even though a nurse, other staff member, might be ABLE to do something, and even willing to do so, it is in fact basically ILLEGAL to carry out certain duties (ie pushing certain drugs on a particular floor, etc). I think that sometimes there is conflict because those on the doctor side don't really know or understand that when they pressure a nurse to do something and she or he refuses on the grounds that whatever is being asked is out of the scope of practice/not permitted on certain floors/ that the doctor cannot override the law. THey don't understand that certain regulations cannot be overridden, and if they are, it is the nurse's a**. It is entirely inappropriate for the OP to be fired for standing his/her ground! I am sure those that are pressuring you into going outside your scope, would sell you up the river in a sec if something went wrong. I am sorry that this happened to you! You were just being honses

Hi- I actually have Bipolar II, that's the form of the disorder that is accompanied by less dramatic "hypomanias" rather than the all out manias. Still, this has wreaked havoc on my life- I took time off from college, and I've been to the hospital before. Now I've managed to pull it all together and have a psychiatrist and am on a stable regimen. I'm actually more than half way through medical school right now (I was lucky- I never did anything that ended up on my permanent record). I'm nearly 30, so sometimes it takes a while to really get it together when you have an illness like this. And it's the earlier years that are the most difficult. Your daughter will most likely not be like this forever! Also, a psychiatrist that you can go to regularly is key!! Not everyone is so lucky, in many cases they don't take insurance, nobody's taking new patients, insurance doesn't cover it... My main psychiatrist does not take insurance but has lowered her fee for me given my financial situation. A must read- The Unquiet Mind by Kay Jamison- this is the author's own memoir about struggling with her diagnosis, whether or not to take meds.