ccoombs replied to QTNurseBSN's topic in Psychiatric
I am an RN with an assertive community TX team. Much of my job is home visits. I do med management, lots of injections, assessments, individual and family education, and informal counseling. It's rare that I feel unsafe and even then it is usually du...
I work as an Assertive Community Treatment nurse 1: All of our nurses are BSN but that is not a specific requirement, excepting the team lead who has to be a BSN 2: My pay as a relatively new nurse is slightly better than that of my classmates who wo...
ccoombs replied to TerpGal02's topic in Psychiatric
I'm a relatively new RN working with a very busy ACT team (rapidly approaching 70 patients) in south Georgia. I worked inpatient for a about 6 months prior. Having done both as a new nurse I will say that the best way to describe ACT is career broade...
ccoombs replied to mangopeach's topic in Psychiatric
I wouldn't sweat it. It is important to understand principles of therapeutic communication but in practice patients differ dramatically based on a multitude of factors, so these techniques are rarely applied in a textbook way. Additionally deescalati...
ccoombs replied to beachhorizon's topic in Psychiatric
at my hospital the RN rarely does med pass, thats more of an LPN function. The RN does do a good bit of charting and paperwork. Initial assessments and discharges are RN jobs as well. I actually spend most of my time talking to my patients, trying to...
ccoombs replied to PsychRN29's topic in Psychiatric
EPS refers to a broader range of symptoms such as dystonia, akathisia, and pseudoparkinsonism. Tardive Dyskinesia is a more specific, often irreversible disorder that causes bizarre facial grimacing, involuntary tongue rolling, lip smacking, and pill...
ccoombs replied to linacaro's topic in NP Students
I'm a new grad working in a state hospital in GA, and while it's certainly not med-surg patients can have any number of medical issues. Additionally many state hospitals have infirmaries or med-psych units. If you are planning on returning to school ...
ccoombs replied to carolmaccas66's topic in Psychiatric
I have a previous degree in Anthropology so I have an interest in cultural and supernatural explanations for mental illness. I work in southwest georgia and it is not uncommon to hear schizophrenic patients say that a "root" has been put on them. For...
The unit I work typically has 1 rn, 1 lpn, and 3-5 techs. Our census runs anywhere between 10-30. We've had a couple of quiet weeks but I'm sure it will be wild again pretty soon. My unit is an acute male unit, most individuals are actively psychotic...
Maybe. It depends on where you go next, and how you sell yourself. Being comfortable with psychiatric patients is a definite plus, also health promotion is a big part of psychiatric nursing (ideally) so you get a lot of patient education experience. ...
I work on the acute male admission unit at a state hospital, and on a typical day we have a census in the teens, but I have seen it creep into the twenties, and have one RN, one LPN, and 4 or 5 Techs, depending on the census and levels of observation...
ccoombs replied to HelpMeNewGradRN's topic in Psychiatric
I honestly think if you know what you want to do, then do it. If you have the desire to stay current on medical issues then you will and psychiatric patients have a lot of medical problems anyhow. Also skills are skills, if you learned them once you ...
ccoombs replied to HelpMeNewGradRN's topic in Psychiatric
I'm a new grad who is currently working at a state hospital in GA. I'm sure things vary greatly from state to state but state hospitals are great places to cut your teeth. I have been orienting on the acute male admission unit and typically the pati...
ccoombs replied to myoglobin's topic in Psychiatric
If you hate your current job that bad then I say just go for it. I'm a new nurse but I knew for a while that psych was my thing. As a specialty it is incredibly rewarding and there is never a dull moment, if things are quiet or the census is low the...