Orlette

Sorry, I really need to know this, and this was the best section to post it in, though I know it doesn't match Perfectly.. So basically.. it's about psychiatrist\patient, though I am a student nurse but in that contest I was an outaptient for anxiety adhd (mild) What happens if you complain about a doctor in psychiatry (psychiatric hospital, but outpatient, just for ADHD) and you only ever exchanged texts and emails though they were not about work, saying that he was leading you on (because he promised to call and was putting it off (I know sounds very silly)) And then cancel it the next day, do they still investigate? And does it matter that it was an outpatient or the hospital has the same basic rules for all patients and their doctors. What do you think would be the most likely outcome in this scenario? I guess it's not a boundary violation just a crossing, plus if complaint was cancelled by patient, would there be any penalties on psychiatrist? And btw this is taking place in Canada (took place)

I want to mention something I have been saying in the INTJ personality thread (which I am), because I think it is relevant to the "thrapeutic communication" topic: I believe that logically,the best thing a nurse can say to facilitate the sharing of information by the client is this: "It is in your best interest to tell me all about your symptoms, as withholding the information may lead to wrong diagnosis, which will in turn lead to adverse effects by and/or the delay of effective treatment, resulting in potentially severe complications and possible [slow and painful, (ok doesn't have to be)] death". Pretty logical, truthfull.. and I'm sure more effective than all the therapeutic communication techniques put together;) . As for trusting relationships for performing procedures.. the wording can be pretty much the same: "I hope you are aware that not letting me perform the procedure means you are not receiving proper treatment which may result in the onset of potentially severe complications and possible death from the condition.." I know doesn't sound nice and fluffy, but less time consuming (meaning you can dedicate this time to actually doing the procedures, and to patients who actually need it), more effective, and in the end for your client's own good..

Yes, but the question is, is it worth doing fake things, throughout your whole program, or is it better to find a place where the real things you do will be appreciated..Because if I have to capitalize on my weaknesses and fake things for this program to fit this program, which is created to ultimately make you fit the job, does it mean that on the job too I will have to constantly use my weak sides without a chance to ever show and use my strong areas?

My new post maybe a bit pfftopic, but I am getting more and more dissapointed in.. I don't know nursing or my instructor.. (the one I was talking about) I just received feedback on my presentation. My topic was prevention of depression. I went out of my way, talked to my psychologist, used the site that she (the psychologist) is using, used the book that was recommended to me by psychiatrist.. as a result, I came to the conclusion (well it wasn't my idea, but from the information that I read) that the best way to prevent depression was to be able to identify errors in your own thinking. This helped me so much, when I was depressed it is not that complicated either (the book for instance is written for general public, not experts), there are about 8 of them (catastrophizing, black-and -white thinking, etc.)And all the most effective therapies are based on this idea of thinking errors. So I decided to teach them about those errors, give them a handout, a make a little quiz (we were going to do a quiz anyway so I would just incorporate those q's.). I was pretty excied about it actually. So I submit this info to the instructor, and she says I should change it, that the residents will not understand, they will not be interested, that I should just talk about general things like excercise, nutrition, socializing .. I'm so dissapointed and super frustrated now, what does she know about prevention of depression? excercise is secondary in this case, I had depression myself I have been to CBT, I have talked to psychiatrist, and the area of psychology, mental health has been my area of pretty intense interest for a long time now! I bought and borrowed and read books from the library on mental illness and psychology, and now she is telling me that the information I know to be the most useful in prevention of depression to be inappropriate and irrelevant!! (like who is she to tell me that, she might be a nursing instructor but it doesn't mean she knows more in all areas of study!) and that I should change it completely pretty much and that I should focus on "prevention instead" (like what is prevention in her opinion? smiling all the time? it's a mental illness not a physical illness you can prevent by dressing appropriately for the wether and eating the right foods). From her feedback, it is clear she is pretty clueless about depression. At first she didn't want our group to do depression at all, saying it was not interractive, (it was me who wanted to do it) but when she talked to the head nurse of that facility, it turned out that most patients wanted to hear specifically about depression. So she had to let us do it. So I did all this research and came up with really useful info, whereas other people in my group just took stuff from the first site that came up on the internet on symptoms and definition etc. And she ended up approving their part, and has issues with mine.. And so in general it looks like the things which I am really interested in and willing to put all my effprt into (and so I do really well in them) are not being appreciated or approved of in this program, but the things that I am not too good at and frankly don't consider to be important , turn ou to be the most important things... I don't feel any appreciation at all, all my efforts and grades in other courses are diregarded (because those courses (research, psychology, health-care consumer) are considered secondary courses.. Maybe nursing is not for me? The coordinator said "why didn't you go into something like science instead" during our meeting with her over the contract, maybe she was right?

I sort of asked that when my instructor was tellig me that i suck at communication:) She just said "we learned it in level 1 why don't you take a book and read the chapter on communication"... Ok, it tells you a bunch of technical ways to build a converation like "touch, gestures, sounds, personal space, also different types of responses and different types of patients... But once you approach a resident sitting in a chair and resting, not in particular need for something..then.. what do you talk about really.. and WHY? The purpose of the communication techniques listed in the book are to obtain information and make an ill person feel comfortable. But those people do not need any sort of treatment (or they are already receiving it).. Like what's the point.. being approached by an unfamiliar nursing student who will ask about their personal life, I don't think all of them are going to enjoy it.. and.. how do I even start "Hi I am a nursing student, wanna talk?" In other words the whole situation feels pretty fake, tense, and pointless really.. ALSO this makes me wonder about the role of a nurse in general.. (I am just actually wondering, never asked that question of anyone or even myself before). Doctors observe symptoms, diagnose and decide on the treatment, Personal Support Workers do the basic care (taking them to the washroom etc), cooks and nutritional experts are responsible for cooking, etc.. Where does nursing fit in this system?

First of all I apologize for the long post!! So I passed my first semester with good grades. (mostly A's with B being the lowest) The clinical teacher in our first semester said my skills are better than most people's, I just lack self-confidence, that I am going to be a good nurse. It is now second semester and we are doing our clinical at retirement residence. I participate in group discussions, and for our presentation to the residents, I spent the greatest amount of time and took the biggest part of it (I was actually interested in the topic and wanted to give residents the most useful and interesting information). My marks in other subjects are also very good. Yesturday I learned that our coordinator of the program wants to talk to me. I had no idea what it would be about, and so i was slightly nervous. It turned out I was nervous for a reason. The coordinator said that the clinical instructructor is very concerned with the way I act in clinical, and that at the moment I am failing it. Her reasons are that I do not "mingle" with residents, for instance I do not talk to them in the mourning and afternoon. That she constantly has to encourage me to talk to residents (I remember she mentioned it once, in a matter of fact way, and I asked her what I should talk to them about), ..That I do not know how to talk to people at all (instructor told my coordinator that "I actually once asked her if I should invite the patient to get his blood pressure taken when we were doing the blood pressure clinic!"). I do realise that the two things that I said were kind of silly, but I did not realise that that would put me on a contract, and would mean that nursing is not for me (the coordinator said that), since the clinical instructor never showed any signs of being upset and never told me anything about .. well.. anything.. Whenever she talked to me she was always smiling, not a hint that there was anything wrong. And now the coordinator telling me that I should probably switch from nursing, that she is questioning if nursing is for me, that I am on the point of failing, and if I don't change a 100% i will fail. I also mentioned something about psychiatric nursing, and she said I won't be able to do that since I don't know how to talk to people. It is true that I am a bit shy, and unless a conversation has purpose and direction to it it is hard for me to know what to say.. (to make a small talk about nothing in particular in other words).. But is being outgoing really the most important thing in nursing? I am polite, and sensitive to other people, as well I have great interest and knowledge in the areas of nursing i am interested in which I am willing to apply to help patients.. And as i said I do not have a problem obtaining specific information, if the conversation has some sort of purpose.. The instructor said however that no patient will let me do a procedure or give me any information unless I first build a "trusting relationship" with him/her. So my question is--Is small talk essnetial for nursing?? ( i mean, I always introduce myself, I am always polite and I always ask patients how they are and all that, I just find it kind of awkward and even sometimes inappropriate (just for myself) to ask them questions about their life, their family, their health, if there is no specific reason for asking such questions.. Efficiency, rationality, reasonability, logic and relevancy are all the core aspects of my personality which will be hard to change. So to sum this up--I am bad at small talk, and at converations without purpose and/or specific direction, should I be a nurse, or is my coordinator right?

hi! i am 20 years old and study in the first semester pn program. at first, i loved the program. i loved the classes, i loved doing homework, i felt smart, i got above average grades. for instance the overwhelming majority of the students hated and did not understand the abstract theoretical and philosophical courses, (especially the roy adaptation model that we study). i, on the other hand, understand it easily and pretty much enjoy it. so i was sure i was in the right program...until the clinical had begun. in clinical i do not understand what i am supposed to do, do everything awkwardly, slowly etc. finally the teacher said my performance in clinical is unsatisfactory, that i appear distracted and not paying attention (which is not the case) also that "my communication patterns with clients are vague" and placed me on a contract (which basically means that from now on, if i mess up on any little thing i am out of the program). soon i was placed on a contract in my lab class as well. but i continue to do great in the theory courses! (psychology, health-care consumer, anatomy and physiology, nursing theory) i am not trying to sound snobbish or anything, but where i can compare my written work (such as posts and threads on our discussion board for marks for psychology for instance) to the threads of most other people, their posts look elementary school level compared to mine. my marks are in the range from a to a+ in these kinds of tasks too. the other day i looked at the thread on pavlovian conditioning posted by my lab partner who the lab and the clinical teachers like and say she is doing a great job, and her thread was so short and primitive and did not even fully fit the concept! and yet she is doing good, and i am already on two contracts, and yes when it comes to lab, she does everything so easily, quickly and effortlessly... compared with her performance, my clumsy and awkward performance looks even more pathetic... during clinical too it is like my brain freezes, and i either feel hopelessly lost or dreadfully bored. actually i am lost, very nervous and bored all at the same time.. i also have considerable level of performance anxiety. when somebody watches me (which they always do in clinical) i cannot do anything right. they now watch me very closely in lab too, and yesterday i actually started crying when i was trying to do the lab practice and had to leave to calm down for 15 mins, because the teacher was only watching me, she pretty much did not watch other students, and asked me to repeat the same simple procedures like 3 times in a row until the class ended. and the "procedures" were like to practice changing incontinent pads, brushing teeth, washing face and basic stuff like that... i hate clinicals and i hate lab. we have clinicals on monday and tuesdays, and after that, even though i have 2-3 theory classes on each remaining weekday, on tuesday evenings it feels like the weekend has begun! (...with another 2 hours of lab torture on thursday nights) so there are three points of view on this. my psychologist says i should continue no matter what, cause what is undermining my performance is social and performance anxiety and running away from it is the worst thing i can do, it will reinforce it, so i should continue with the program. my mom says it will get better, that i am only in my first semester and we are only doing the basic stuff now, and later things will get more interesting and i will get used to it too (she is a doctor, she says their first practice days were like that too)+ i will not have to do the practical stuff for the rest of my life, i can be a nurse and do research and pretty much never deal with patients. my academic advisor, who is a pn, and one of my instructors as well, after a long conversation when i shared all of my feelings and concerns about the situation, says that it looks very much like this job is not for me, that i am clearly more into theory, and if i do not like being watched during my work nursing again is not for me, since my client at least will always be watching what i do. and that it does not get better, nursing is pretty much just this (well, maybe some more complicated procedures will be added later but still) and it does not matter if i am an rn or rpn, or even nurse practitioner it is still work with patients primarily.. she said she is sure most students in the program look forward to clinicals where they can apply themselves and it is theory that is a "burden" to them, and that there will be less and less theory and more and more practice in the following semesters and the fact that i am hating clinicals is a sign nursing is not my thing.. so what do you think? does it look like nursing is not for me? or could it be just the anxiety that ruins everything? did/do you enjoy clinicals? or at least did/do you enjoy clinicals and lab more than theory is it true?