Crazed

As a professional psych nurse sometimes we use colorful language to meet our patients where they are in order to form a relationship that allows them to trust. If a few four letter words is the difference between calm and agreeing to take a PO or re...

We don't have those parameters, I just do it because I'm not a fan of piling meds. Controlled not unconscious is what I aim for.

Psych ED - there is no typical day. You can go from everyone is quiet to 2 in restraints and 2 in seclusion because they've been set off by the two in restraints quickly. The medical side of the ED feels anyone is okay to be there including patients ...

We do a good deal of zyprexa/Ativan in medically stable patients. I like to lead with zyprexa and see if they calm down and then follow with Ativan.

I went to school wanting to be a psych nurse. Then I graduated and landed an ED job. Then I decided that it wasn't for me and landed a psych ED job. Couldn't be happier now. The only constant about nursing is change.

For the very obese it is also important to remember that there is also a psychological component involved. It is theorized that creating the physical barrier of obesity is a way to ensure others stay away for emotional protection. Now while this is n...

This made me think of a time when I met someone who is now my friend. She's a model (like seriously) and when I first met her I had this thought that she was one of "those" women. You know the type that had everything handed to her because she was be...

People can learn a lot from drag queens. "What other people think of you is none of your business." RuPaul

It takes 18 months in any job to begin to feel competent.

Funny you should mention this - as a fatty and a nurse I always hard a hard time when someone who was very thin was telling me they "understood" how hard it was to lose weight. You should always trust fat people regarding diet because we've spent cou...

98 percent passed with 75 questions in under an hour.

I hope you're right. Last night I was snapping the necks of rats but they didn't die and instead ran sideways across the floor.

For all of my time in nursing school I believed that I was somehow broken. You know those students who walk into tests with that annoying, "What will be will be," attitude? Yup that was me. When I failed a test I wasn't even upset. I just saw it as s...

I've been told like elevendy billion times that while I am most certainly either a psych nurse or an ED nurse that if I begin my career in psych it will be difficult for me to do anything else. Is this a true statement in your opinion? Ultimately I...

One of the best nursing instructors I had used her experience and teaching to learning into a game. She had a game she called "Name that Assessment" and would say things like, "A 20 year old, sexually active woman presents to the ED with complaints o...

My hand? All the blame? Live without love? A hello kitty sticker? A funny hat and a wig?

May grad. I'm not sure if they know what they're unleashing but I'm sure it will be fine.

What is it that's causing you issues? In the NCLEX world of psych nursing you can eliminate therapeutic answers that say why and what. Example Pt says to nurse, "I want to kill myself," the nurse shouldn't say, "Why do you want to kill yourself?" If ...

As a student leader at my school the best piece of advice I can give you is this - it's not your job to fix it. Trust me, that department knows there is an issue and it's up to the administrator in charge to implement changes. You can encourage stud...

Psych or ED. Sometimes it's pretty much the same thing.

I have a 3.2 GPA. I'm graduating soon but somehow have never cath'ed a live person. I once bumped into a patient's leg three days post-op a TKR. (To their credit they were very gracious about it) I frequently say things like, "I have no idea but I c...

As a soon to be associate grad - get the BSN.

I'm so poor after all these years of nursing school that I am going to frame my first paycheck stub. Every morning when I pass this stub it will be a reminder to me as to how much I sacrificed to be able to earn it. I might even take a few "selfies" ...

I always tell the newbies that I mentor this, "You're going to make mistakes and that's okay. You need to take your job seriously and yourself lightly." In any job it takes an average of 18 months to start to feel secure in your skills. The problem ...

Yes and here's why - I am supposed to be a nurse. I'd go to a different program and a different school but if that's what it took that is what I would do. Nothing else I've done has satisfied me in the way caring for people has. Sappy I know.