walterrn

Okay, I get it..........Hi Ann..........had to have help to figure out who this was. Walter the Nurse

I was a house painter for 15 years. I hate painting, but can make a piece of wood look like a piece of glass. Had my own business, set my own hours, hired who I wanted and paid what I wanted (well, I might add). But I wasn't happy in what I did. I was introduced to nursing by taking a part time job as a psych tech at an adolescent facility while convalescing from a seizure (paint fumes). I looked at what the nurses were doing and thought, "I do everything they do, except pass a pill now and again, and they make three times the money? Something aint right." So I went to nursing school and receinved my diploma at the young age of 39. I've been in nursing now for ten years and have never looked back. The pay is good (speciality pays more), the work environment is pleasant (psych nurse - don't have to deal with yucky blood and pus..........unless someone slits their wrists), I enjoy my peers company and actually believe that I'm doing something useful and needed. If in doubt, go take an A&P class at your local college or university. If having your hands in a dead body doesn't gross you out, you may be on your way. Walter the nurse

CD=chemical dependency Yes lol, you can get bit, scratched, spit on (my breaking point), kicked, hit, kneed in the groin...............I've had to go to occupational health 3x in the 15 yrs of psych/CD nursing, due to breaks in skin barrier. All of those were done by adults. You wanna work with adolescents..............I can pretty much guarantee all of the above happening from teens. Oh well. Psych hospitals are not gonna throw you onto their floor without a little self defense training. After my first encounter with a remorseful etohic, where he tackled me, and choked me with one hand and pummled me with the other, I became very proficient in self defense. I now hold instructor certification in MAB (management of aggresive bx), PMAB (prevention and management of aggresive bx) and CPI (crisis prevention institute). Plus, you're not going to defend against a crazed individual one-to-one (like me and that drunk). It will be a team of 4 or 5 staff to the individual. Psych nursing is not for the faint of heart. You have to be mentally tough. I think a State hospital would be an excellent place to begin your psych resume. And there's alot to be said about noc nursing. You do have less staff (yikes), but, most of your clients are sleeping, more mental less physical, more money (with noc diffs), no administration (buttheads), no doctors (bigger buttheads). I've been doing noc's for the last 5 yrs and it works great for me. There are just some tricks you'll have to learn to be able to sleep when the sun is up. Hope this answers and doesnt pose too many questions. If you'd like, you can personally e-mail me with any thoughts, questions, whatever at [email protected] Walter the nurse

Good morning, Why do they have chemical dependency in psychiatric hospitals? Cause people like me are CRAZY. Throwing away life, love, income, friends, God for anothr drink/drug is nothing but insanity. Every discipline out there is hurting for nurses. Just go up to the recruiter for a psych department, tell them your desire, and I'll bet they hire you. The strictly drug/etoh ward is pretty much a thing of the past. With managed care out there, very few places will house a client for a month of recovery training. Now it's, get them detoxed, give them some coping skills, point them in the right direction and cut them loose. Although it can be amazing and highly rewarding when you use your people skills to reach an ex-addict and he/she sees the light and heads off to soberland. I am a CD nurse (although dont have much use for it where I work) and if you use a little psychology and a lot of people skills/or life history examples you can reach alot of potential recovering etohics/addicts. Psychiatric nursing is 95% mental and 5% medical. Good luck in your pursuits................Walter the nurse

Good morning, I started my nursing career working as a psych tech for an adolescent psychiatric hospital. After noticing that I did everything the nurses did (so I thought) and received a third of the monies that they did, that prompted me to go to school for my RN. I worked at noc (still do), went to school during the day and slept in the afternoon. Raised 5 kids.......what choice did I have? Now I'm planning to go after my MSN, so back to the grind for me. Fortunately, my kids are all self sufficient now and have a "domestic goddess" wife that takes care of all the in-home stuff. Walter the Nurse

Good morning, I started my nursing career working as a psych tech for an adolescent psychiatric hospital. After noticing that I did everything the nurses did (so I thought) and received a third of the monies that they did, that prompted me to go to school for my RN. I worked at noc (still do), went to school during the day and slept in the afternoon. Raised 5 kids.......what choice did I have? Now I'm planning to go after my MSN, so back to the grind for me. Fortunately, my kids are all self sufficient now and have a "domestic goddess" wife that takes care of all the in-home stuff. Walter the Nurse

Specialization comes with time and a feel for your dicipline. The first thing about specialties, is that you have to enjoy what you do. It has to be more than just a job. Once you decide where your nursing career is taking you, then you become more adept at what you do by classes, seminars, national certifications. I chose psych nursing, do to the round peg/round hole theory. I fit well into this line of nursing. Not only have I done those things mentioned above, but I'm also a survivor of depression and a recovering addict/ETOHic with 17+ years c/s. Not that that is a qualification for psych nursing, but for me, it's worked out rather well. Easier to walk in their shoes when I've walked in their shoes. Walter the Nurse

Hope that doesnt happen to me...................I work at a jail. Walter the Nurse

Ms Candy, I dont know rate per hr, but lets pretend its the $17.00 you were quoted. If you're a BSN, you are immedeatly (spelling) a "CAP 1" giving you an additional $1.50 /hr. If you are certified in your dicipline, you become a CAP 2 for another $1.00/hr. Then all you need is an additional 30 points, which can be done by taking free telemetry classes and picking up your ACLS and/or PALS, which adds an additional $2.50/hr at "CAP 3". Charge position will grant you $2.00/hr diff and weekend noc will grant you an extra $4.25/hr. That being said, your original $17.00/hr is now worth $25.25 /hr. Most states make more as an RN than NM.....................being #2 in the nation for poverty does that. Cost of living is low. Current gallon of gas is $1.70. Multiple fun things to do on your time off.................great city noc life, winter ski/snow boarding, summer ski/fishing...............now I'm starting to sound like the chamber of commerce...................I love NM. Walter the Nurse

I believe that I have developed a "Morton's Neuroma" (self diagnosed) and am having trouble with my regular shoes (Rebok) due to the pain. Any recommendations for a good pair of walking shoes? (the last time I went to the doc for a little pain in my legs, he took out a disc.........a little wary of docs right now) Walter the Nurse

For those of you that are going to slam me for bringing this up, let me just say that I'm tossing out one of many alternatives to chronic pain. "Methadone". Many people enjoy life, free of pain with this med. There is a slight problem though. It is highly addicting and like all opiates, has no ceiling. Which means, that although it will work for awhile, tolerance sets in and you end up needing more medication to get the same relief. And since there is really no ceiling (a maximum amount of drug to take before respiratory depression or cardiac arrest sets in), you could end up taking large quantities daily. I've seen clients on 250mg QD walking around stating, "Oh my aching back." And methadone is a real fun drug to detox off of. I've heard it described as taking little vises, putting them on every bone in your body, and tightening to the point of excruciating pain. That little scenario gets to last from 1-3 weeks, followed by 2-3 months of intense psychological w/d. The warnings stated, I can say that it helps many people with chronic pain. The doctor will start you out with a 10mg dose QD. After about 3-4 weeks, it'll have to be increased to get the same relief (tolerance sets in quick with methadone). Once you hit 100mg QD (8-12 months later), find a nice little detox center for a methadone takedown, get back down to zero (going through the pain of the paragragh above) and start the process all over again. Walter the Nurse

Here's a thought. Go to the university, get your BSN, join the military for six years and they'll pick up that school tab.

I started my nursing career as a psych tech with two yrs clean and sober. I've always found my life hx to be an advantage when dealing with clients, not a hinderance. But, if you don't want anyone to know, how are they going to find out? No school that I ever heard of does a background check. The BON frowns on felonies, but schools just want your money.

Melatonin does nothing for me. Herbal remedies seem to work well for many people, but doesn't touch me. I have my bedroom designed for day sleep. I first have a thick, black curtain on my window that shuts out all light. I have velcro attached to the curtain (really a roll) and to the sides of the window. When it's down, it's night-time. Then, when it's not needed, it rolls up to the top of the window and secured there (black garbage bags work well too). Next, I have my ceiling fan, which I use as my "white noise" maker. I'm a firm believer in white noise. Some stores like "Bed Bath and Beyond" have white noise machines that generate multiple sounds. Waterfalls, raindrops, birds chirping, etc. No caffeine after 0600. Sometimes, when my brain is clocking at 1000 miles per hour, it's very difficult to get to sleep, even with my room set up. At those time, I usually put on something like the "Golf Channel". Peaceful vistas with the announcers talking in hushed tones; or easy rock on the radio. And sometimes, nothing seems to work. Fortunately, I have a running script for Flexeril after having an L5 partial discectomy. Ten hours later, I awake with no after-effects such as you get from anti-histamines. I use this very sparingly due to tolerance build-up with daily use.

Wow. A very good discussion folks. Guess I'll toss my two cents in as well. I believe that God, in His infinate wisdom, figured that us humans could not and would not agree on anything. What color is the grass? Blue-green, lime-green, forest-green, etc. So, in His infinate wisdom He made many manisfestations of Himself. Jesus, Muhammid, Bhudda..................live a life with love and tolerance of others. Do good works. Believe in any manisfestation that you want, He's all the same Guy. If I lead a good life, have love and tolerance for others, why believe in anything..................why indeed if the conclusion of His plan is for us to do just that. I consider myself a Christian and believe in Jesus Christ. But I also believe that God wants all to love him and each other, so, I guess I'm not a Christian. I figure God knows my reasoning, and unless you're God, you have no say in my belief. ____________________________________________________________ Religion is man made, spirituality is God given. Religion is for those people afraid to go to hell, spirituality is for those of us who've been there.

Good morning. UNM does have a few perks. Unfortunately, they begin your pay grade dependent upon yrs exp. They do have a clinical ladder which you can end up with an additional $5 Qhr (and fairly easy to accomplish); their diffs are 15% of your base on evening/noc and 25% of base on weekends. They will also pay 100% of any undergraduate work at UNM, so if you're an ADN and want your BSN, they pay tuition you pay books. A nurse friend of mine hired in Oct. 03 received $5000 sign on bonus (that probably still exists). Gawd, I should work for HR. Presbyterian has a good benefit program, but I've found their in-house political structure a little too back stabbing for me. Lovelace is probably still in transition since merging with St joseph, but that merge brought them the largest client group in NM. All three use outside agency, but all three also have inside casual pools. Hope this helps.

While in nursing school, I had to take care of an end stage AIDS client. The staff had me gown, glove and mask, which turned out to be a good thing, since this gentlemen spewed projectile bloody vomit on me from head to toe.

I have found that the #1 symptom of BP is: "What can I do to sabotage my treatment?" Sometimes being a friend can be taxing on the soul. First and foremost, I need to take care of me. I ask myself the following question whenever I have a dilemma, "What am I doing or not doing physically, emotionally and spiritually to increase my well-being?" Sounds to me that you've explained things to your friend and the ball is in her court. Walter the Nurse

Are you crazy? Cause if you're not, you'll have a tough time in the psych field.................take it from someone who is ; ) Walter the Nurse

JCHAO standards states "Face up". Many adolescents have sexual abuse issues. Also, easier to assess ABCs. A little spit? I hate spitters, but I've had projectile bloody vomit spewed on me by an end stage AIDS client. A little spit (although disgusting) never hurt anyone. Walter the Nurse

Now the fun (does nursing school allow sleep?) really starts. Hang in there, it's well worth it. Walter the Nurse

I wouldn't do any other shift. I get a $6.00/hr diff for noc; no doctors, no administration, minimal client care (although that can change real fast). It took a little while to adjust my internal clock to nights, but what I do now is work and sleep on my days on, and when I go into my days off (4 tens on, 3 days off), I sleep for about three hours, get up, and am able to spend quality time with the Mrs and kids. Then on my return day, I sleep for about 4-5 hrs before going to work and I'm set for another week. Hope this helps. Walter the Nurse

Hahahahahahahahaha........thats a pretty funny statement you wrote there. Unfortunately, this is not "Nursing Humor" Walter the Nurse

Are psych nurses like other nurses? Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha You have to be a little bent to work psych.........I'm the perfect example. Walter the Nurse

Managed Care - we find more psych with medical issues and more medical with psych issues. Nature of the beast. Walter the Nurse QUOTE=ferfer]I need quick replies as I need to write a position paper on this but haven't picked a side yet. The real question is do you agree or disagree with the statement "mental health nursing require many skills and interventions that are also required by other areas of nursing (ie. peds, med-surg)"