lovelucklaughter76

Yes, 10 years of psych nursing experience and 10 years of psych social work prior to going back to school for nursing.

Hello all. I have just started a new position this week in our home care agency entitled "Behavioral Health Nurse Consultant". It is a brand new position that was developed after they eliminated our behavioral health team, so the actual job duties are ill-defined and are partly my responsibility to flesh out. I have always done patient care, so this side of nursing is new to me. My mentor, the person who created this position, also presents it to me as a "work in progress", and she has now been laid off and her last day is Friday! So I am now left to do this with little guidance. Does anyone have any experience in a support position like this? I have a skeleton idea of what this position may entail, including supporting the field staff by providing resources, teaching such things as relaxation methods to teach patients, safety in the home, tips for working with patients who have varying behavioral health issues, etc. I will be doing teaching moments in person and via memos, I believe. I may be doing facetime or phone visits with patients. I will not be doing face to face visits. Do any of you have any suggestions on what sort of support or education would be helpful for field staff and patients that can be provided from the office? Thank you all

I have been doing HHC for 1 yr now, previously an ED/ICU RN within the same health system I currently work for. I have the inner city route, and have been working in these communities in one capacity or another for over 10 years with no problems. About a month ago I was carjacked at gun point after seeing a patient. I went back to work a few days later, to get back in the swing of things, however I have been having a lot of trouble coping with it over the last 3 weeks. I don't have enough PTO saved up to take off for an extended period of time, and I'm not sure if it would be reasonable to request or expect that my place of employment provide me with paid time off at their expense at this point? Has anyone been assaulted to this degree while seeing patients, and if so, how did you and your work place handle it? Thank you.