ali9802

I know you cannot if the patient is oriented and lucid and refuses invasive treatments... and I have never even considered this issue until recently because I luckily have never had to deal with it. I had another nurse tell me that if a patient is cognitively impaired or drug/alcohol intoxicated that they cannot say no to any procedure and the nurse has every right to force protocol and doctors orders such as catheterization, IV, ngt, etc and be even be restrained during it if a doctor says ok. I have always been able to get my patients to verbalize to consent once I explain a procedure fully to them even when they are psychotic or intoxicated but some of them have hesitated and I'd have to wait a couple of hours or so and talk to them again. I don't know how this isn't violating someone's rights to force an invasive procedure on them just because they are not in the best state of mind. Can staff really do this with a patient? I always thought people had the right to refuse no matter what but maybe I am not fully understanding this.

Thank you for replying, that is true, I am always on time, don't call out and I am always taking extra shifts from the older nurses who can afford to take a shift off every week or two... I pick up the slack in that way. :) I am hoping two years as a nurse in general will be something strongly considered when I branch out in the future!

Hello all, my first post here! :) I have been thinking a lot about this lately and as I have an ADN as an RN, I decided to start school in May of next year (earliest I can get into the program) to obtain my BSN. By the time I acquire my BSN, I will have been in psych nursing a little over 2 years. Psych nursing at a hospital is the only nursing experience I've had (I'm a new grad) and I want to continue with it and get my BSN before I attempt to acquire med/surg experience for future opportunities... it'd be difficult now since I am a single mom with kids. The area I am in is extremely competitive for newer nurses with very limited experience and I am wondering how difficult you think it'd be to get a med/surg position when I have a BSN but only about two years experience as a psych nurse. Psych nursing is ok but I don't want to limit myself to only having that kind of experience and it's not a field I see myself as doing forever... What do you think? Will that be too late to jump into other fields of nursing? Thank you in advance for reading! :)