macfar28

macfar28

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All Content by macfar28

  1. Racial Refusals In Nursing

    macfar28 replied to TheCommuter's topic in Patient, Colleague Relations

    We have this happen all the time on my unit - free standing inpatient adult psych. Our management and many of my fellow staff members bend over backwards to accommodate these requests. Yes, sometimes...

  2. safety on free-standing IP psych unit

    macfar28 replied to malepsychRN's topic in Psychiatric

    Yes OP, we have a completely open nurses' station - unless you consider half doors and counters closed. lol. We too have one male staff on weekend nights when I work, however he is slight of frame....

  3. 1st time dui... Any advice will help..

    macfar28 replied to Jonnnn's topic in Licensure: Criminal History

    You will have to self report and they will most likely put probations on your license. However the fact that your employer is willing to work with you is a great thing. From what I know protect...

  4. Pressing charges

    macfar28 replied to alb402's topic in Psychiatric

    We had a supervisor badly assaulted a few years ago by a patient who was frankly just plain mean. She played psychotic but was very aware of what she was doing. Leadership discouraged my coworker from...

  5. safety on free-standing IP psych unit

    macfar28 replied to malepsychRN's topic in Psychiatric

    I am in a free standing IP psych facility as well. We have mostly female staff on night shift and it does make many of us feel somewhat vulnerable. Recently we had a patient get up in the wee hours...

  6. psych nursing while pregnant/adult vs adolescent

    macfar28 replied to KBRN2013's topic in Psychiatric

    I would definitely ask to shadow in both areas. As far as safety, patient assaults against staff happen in all areas of nursing. When I was pregnant, my coworkers were extra protective of me on the...

  7. New grad friendly parts of NC?

    macfar28 replied to CP2013's topic in North Carolina Nursing

    Avoid Cone Health at all

  8. experienced psych nurse please chime in

    macfar28 replied to Isitpossible's topic in Psychiatric

    In my state and hopefully others, it is a restraint anytime hands are placed on the patient in a way other than to assist stablizing for the procedure, in other words, without their consent. By your...

  9. Red Flags for a Psych Facility

    macfar28 replied to DemosthenesRN's topic in Psychiatric

    My advice to go along with those above is to trust your gut feeling when you're there. I interviewed at a place, had a funny feeling but took the prn position anyway. Then on my first day the Asst DON...

  10. Best practice ideas for handling delusions...?

    macfar28 replied to WannaBeNrse's topic in Psychiatric

    The approach I have tried is to gently say "do you think it's possible the chemicals in your brain aren't working right?" Or something to that effect. But that's only if I feel like there is some part...

  11. How is your staffing ratio

    macfar28 replied to ToothFairy(5)'s topic in Psychiatric

    That seems unsafe to me. Tonight I'm carrying 8 + an admit which was overwhelming with 1

  12. What do you use for personal alarms on psych units

    macfar28 replied to joel leong's topic in Psychiatric

    I'm in NC and we use nothing which bothers us greatly. It's too costly they say however over at the med/surg floors not only do they have panic alarms they also where tracers that show which patient...

  13. New Grad offered Pediatric Psych Position

    macfar28 replied to StellaLunaRN's topic in Psychiatric

    Two weeks is inadequate in my opinion to orient to a facility, especially for a new grad and one who will work alone. This sounds very unsafe to me. You did indicate it's a residential facility so I...

  14. Just a vent... medical vs psych

    macfar28 replied to Mandychelle79's topic in Psychiatric

    Yeah we have a med-psych unit. It's honestly a dumping ground. Baffling to

  15. Making sure a patient is medically cleared

    macfar28 replied to Umberlee's topic in Psychiatric

    We have an assessment dept within our free standing center (staffed with a nurse or a counselor) that receives calls about admits and also an ACT counselor in the ED (just within our health system...

  16. Just a vent... medical vs psych

    macfar28 replied to Mandychelle79's topic in Psychiatric

    Mandychelle: My first reaction? Preach on! After giving it some thought though I do believe there is a huge lack of knowledge, at least where I work. We are a free standing behavioral health...

  17. Soon to be BSN graduate...and frustrated

    macfar28 replied to Paige2014's topic in Psychiatric

    I understand your question. Size doesn't matter . (I worked at my present facility on our most acute hall at 9 months of pregnancy.) We have had patients here who are set off by a staff member's name,...

  18. Time frame for documentation of safety checks

    macfar28 replied to superpsychnurse's topic in Psychiatric

    I'm on a 50 bed unit with 3 hallways. We have one tech assigned to each hallway who is responsible for doing the 15 min checks as well as vital signs, assisting patients with hygeine, therapeutic...

  19. Is this true?

    macfar28 replied to Isitpossible's topic in Psychiatric

    I am in NC and we also can and do force meds if two MD opinions are on the chart. Good for you for standing up for your patient and your

  20. Psych question

    macfar28 replied to lynds80's topic in Psychiatric

    After receiving a BA in psychology and realizing that wasn't going to pay the rent, I went back and got my BSN so that I could practice in the psych field (grad school was an option but at that time...

  21. Safe staffing levels

    macfar28 replied to chelleanne's topic in Psychiatric

    Congrats! My advice to you was going to be if it feels unsafe, get out of there! I think it is hard to compare across the board state to state and hospital to hospital however your gut knows when...

  22. Interview for Acute Behavioral Health Unit - What questions would you be sure to ask?

    macfar28 replied to Trueblood83's topic in Psychiatric

    I would definitely ask what their nurse to patient ratio and what their mental health assistant to patient ratio is. I would examine the set up of the unit. I interviewed at a hospital that had 5...

  23. Why should I become a Psych RN?

    macfar28 replied to bellabarbiegirl's topic in Psychiatric

    If psych is your calling, do it. I did psych straight out of school (15 years ago) and while I do sometimes feel at a disadvantage having not done med/surg first, there are always nurses at my...

  24. Do psych nurses really just hand out medication?

    macfar28 replied to Trinklee's topic in Psychiatric

    I work in an 80 bed free standing acute care behavioral hospital. Our average length of stay is 5-7 days. I'm based on our adult unit which has 50 beds and I do pass meds often but there is much more...

  25. What do you have to do to become a psych nurse? What's it like

    macfar28 replied to Rachelmargaret's topic in Psychiatric

    Great info above and I agree. I went to nursing school to become a psych nurse. I obtained a BA in psychology but at the time (19 yrs ago), it was very difficult to get into PhD programs (it may...