pleasantly mad

On a psych ward I once read notes of a collegue stating; Patient challanged me to game of chess, I accepted and beat him. Patient stated this was first time he'd ever been beat. PLAN: encourage patient to play more chess as part of rehab. Couldn't stop laughing at this Although not written a collegue of mine has often described a patient as 'Mad as a box of frogs' durign handover.... God I love psychiatry.

Over the past few years I have worked in every imaginable area of nursing as both a Student and as a Healthcare Assistant. The problem I find now, as an RMN in Mental Health, that my day to day life seems to be consumed by paperwork, never ending , exceedingly tedious and in many cases there seems to be paperwork to back up paperwork. I find some days stretched to the point of breaking , staying after my shift is done to ensure I get to speak with my patients. I feel at times that I have to do things myself, save handing them over, for fear it will be forgotten or completed wrongly, leaving me the primary nurse to redo it. Most days I do not take a break and am glad to finally be on nights to catch up on everything. Although I truly love my job and wouldn't change it I sometimes think back to my student days when it was all about the patient and wish I could just stop time, finish all the mindless administration work that needs done and spend some quality time working with my patients. All I keep thinking is, if the amount of paperwork we do now has increased so much since the commencement of my post what will it be like in years to come? Does anyone ever feel the same?

First of all good on ya for having the initiative and ability to care about the patients' need. At the end of the day there are many in psychiatric who attribute 'no hope' to a patient, I dont like this and don't think I ever will. Although I have only been in psych 2 years post reg I am by no means niave and have always though that even in the most (seemingly) hopeless cases there is always a chance for recovery, even if it is slim. There is a reason the word unwell can have many meanings in psych, A patient who still hallucinates can be very well due to his/her reactions to the situation. Some may look on an individual who still hallucinates as unwell, but if they are happy, of no harm to themselves or others and functioning I cannot see what the problem is. All in all I like to believe there is hope. In further note a perceptor is only a guide, having someone who laughs at an idea like yours did should be a guide into not doing as they do. Be your own nurse not follow in the short sightedness of others, learn from others mistakes and use it to your advandage, believe me even when others put you down, if you can fight for yourself and your decisions, it will make you a stronger individual and a better nurse. Even if your collegues don't appreciate you, your patients will.

First of all DON'T PANIC if you possess the qualities you have mentioned you will be great at the job and don't worry to much about the math you can improve, nursing is all about learning and improving your skills. I was originally in Adult Nursing but after having my mental health placement and realising I loved it I was able to transfer. Mental health nursing can cover learning disability, I had many a class learning about L.D. and had a placement in Brain injury which provided care for learning disability too. On my part I love mental health, it is exceptionally rewarding, the work is tough like all nursing is, and you often get people admitted who waste your time but for the individuals who are genuine it is amazing working with them you would never get bored in the job, every presentation is different. Why don't you see about speaking with different learning disability and mental health nurses to get a gist of the work and what you can expect. Hope all goes well