Joandarco

Joandarco has 23 years experience and specializes in Psychiatric, Forensic, MRDD, Home Health.

Latest Activity

1. New Grad in registry

   Joandarco replied to xoomper's topic in Psychiatric

   I think you will probably be okay if you are just doing it for a couple months and you will learn alot. The basic rules of nursing always apply, giving emergency meds when needed, talking to Pts and assessing problems, documenting your assessments. J...

2. I need your expert opinions on Rules and Restrictions on the Inpatient Psych Unit:

   Joandarco replied to Joandarco's topic in Psychiatric

   Although we are off the subject, I have to agree with Mr Ian. You are are a relatively inexperienced nurse and need an environment more conducive to being mentored by experienced nurses. It sounds like a dysfunctional environment at best, with a lot ...

3. I need your expert opinions on Rules and Restrictions on the Inpatient Psych Unit:

   Joandarco replied to Joandarco's topic in Psychiatric

   You said you have elderly patients. Do you have 85 - 90 year olds? I would say about a third of our patients at any time are in this category and are getting ECT treatments, which means a stay of 2-3 weeks. I don't think this group benefits from the ...

4. Psych patient on the acute care unit

   Joandarco replied to Virgo_RN's topic in Psychiatric

   You did great. You recognized that the patient wasn't in an any acute distress, despite her demands. A lot of psych patients want drama and attention, pulling you away from the patients that really need your attention. Point out the objective data, w...

5. I need your expert opinions on Rules and Restrictions on the Inpatient Psych Unit:

   Joandarco replied to Joandarco's topic in Psychiatric

   Thanks for your input. No, there weren't any severe consequences, no one OD'd or died. The patients that were involved were pretty quickly released, since they were obviously not invested in treatment. Actually, the mix of ages, disorders and ethnic ...

6. I need your expert opinions on Rules and Restrictions on the Inpatient Psych Unit:

   Joandarco replied to Joandarco's topic in Psychiatric

   To Whispera: Making exceptions does make things difficult. Of course it is the drug seeking patient who complains most about this. But given our diverse population, I feel we should have a more open policy, as we did in the not so distant past. We ha...

7. I need your expert opinions on Rules and Restrictions on the Inpatient Psych Unit:

   Joandarco posted a topic in Psychiatric

   I work on a 19 bed unit at a large hospital. There is another psych ward on the same floor with 20 beds. Both are locked, adult, inpatient units. Our patient population varies in age and disorders. For example, we may have an 18 y.o acting out Border...