B52 BSN, MSN, RN

Psych, Substance Abuse, Case Management

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All Content by B52

  1. B52

    What sort of unit do you work in, and what is it like?

    B52 replied to LilaDavis's topic in Psychiatric

    I work in a hospital. We have 45 beds, 10 on the geriatric wing, 17 on the mood disorder wing, and 18 on the double-locked thought disorder wing. We have groups throughout the day and all patients are...
  2. B52

    FAU FNP class August 2018

    B52 replied to Jdrodr's topic in Student Nurse Practitioner

    3.6 GPA, Boca campus, 3 years LPN, 3 years RN, BA in journalism, membership in NAMI and
  3. B52

    FAU FNP class August 2018

    B52 replied to Jdrodr's topic in Student Nurse Practitioner

    I applied for the Boca campus MSN leadership/administration track in December. My transcripts and letter of recommendation were sent in February. My interview was 3/19. I was accepted on the spot....
  4. B52

    Assessing CIWA

    B52 replied to brdavis17's topic in Psychiatric

    If hospital policy is to wake them, I'd wake them. We had one patient who seemed to be detoxing safely ... until he went into DTs and was transferred to
  5. B52

    Assessing CIWA

    B52 replied to brdavis17's topic in Psychiatric

    Some withdrawal symptoms are subjective. Anxiety or agitation could have other causes, resulting in higher CIWA scores. If tremors are not obvious, but you can feel them at the fingertips, the pt...
  6. B52

    Psych Nursing - Boring?

    B52 replied to Nimrodel's topic in Psychiatric

    The only time I've been bored is when the unit is full and all patients sleep through the night. This rarely happens. We usually get admissions throughout the night, and we almost always have more...
  7. B52

    PMHRN Certification- I passed!

    B52 replied to BigBrownPotato's topic in Psychiatric

    Congratulations! How much time did you spend studying? I'm planning to take the exam this
  8. B52

    Pysch nurses, how often do you do these things?

    B52 replied to outsidegirl's topic in Psychiatric

    Most of the wound care we do is minor, i.e., scrapes and bruises, superficial self-injurious behavior, stage 1 pressure ulcers. However, we have had at least one self-inflicted gunshot wound. We don't...
  9. B52

    What is it with the "I love going green" thought

    B52 replied to Pug RN's topic in Psychiatric

    When I read the headline my initial thought was something to do with being environmentally friendly.... Any how, we had one guy on our unit, a big guy heavily into martial arts, and he loved those...
  10. B52

    Anxiety Attacks Before Work

    B52 replied to Nurse Beth's topic in Career Advice Column

    I had a sense of dread every time I drove to work. I attributed it to the poorly designed, new behavioral health unit and infighting among staff. . I stayed for a year, then left for another hospital....
  11. B52

    New Hire

    B52 replied to BrightEyes3468's topic in Psychiatric

    Don't underestimate geriatric patients; some of them pack quite a punch. Avoid concomitant administration of IM Ativan and Zyprexa. If you have to draw blood, be persistent; pt's might refuse today...
  12. B52

    Zyprexa and Ativan IM Compatibility - (Haldol Allergy)

    B52 replied to adnrnstudent's topic in Psychiatric

    As others have posted, concomitant IM Ativan and Zyprexa are not safe. Here's info from MedScape Medscape: Medscape
  13. B52

    Any Psych Mental Health nurses out there?

    B52 replied to Poofy7's topic in Psychiatric

    It's not that bad because most of the patients sleep at night. We also have one nurse working 11-11. She does admissions when we're doing meds and she helps out if there are no admissions. The charge...
  14. B52

    Any Psych Mental Health nurses out there?

    B52 replied to Poofy7's topic in Psychiatric

    I work night shift, 7-7, and the ratio varies. I might have to chart on anywhere from 2 to 6 patients in addition to med pass, admissions, chart checks, and phlebotomy, but I'm responsible for all...
  15. B52

    Officially got the job!

    B52 replied to Pug RN's topic in Psychiatric

    I haven't worked with many patients with eating disorders, but when I was a journalist I profiled a woman with an eating disorder. She said she would hide ankle weights under her clothing when...
  16. B52

    Fort Hays State University MSN Program

    B52 replied to mp86's topic in General Nursing

    I'm curious also. The program seems to be affordable and it's
  17. B52

    Physical demands?

    B52 replied to caren19's topic in Psychiatric

    I work with adults and it's not too physical. On the geri unit it's rare that we get a patient who requires q4h turns. The geri unit has hospital beds, but on the other units the beds are low and...
  18. B52

    patient abuse in psychiatric nursing

    B52 replied to julesjameson3333's topic in General Nursing

    I just reported a colleague for abuse. I can't go into details, but the patient was not an aggressive, agitated muscle head. Instead it was an elderly, non-violent woman in a wheelchair. I stopped the...
  19. B52

    New Grad Psych Nurse

    B52 replied to PSyChRnBSn's topic in Psychiatric

    My advice: Stop worrying, be compassionate but set firm boundaries with the patients, and learn as much as you can from the seasoned nurses. If you were comfortable in the clinical environment you'll...
  20. B52

    No Restraints

    B52 posted a topic in General Nursing

    I'm just venting. I work on a new psych unit and so far we haven't been allowed to use restraints. I'm afraid someone will die or be seriously injured before we put a patient in restraints. A 300-lb...
  21. B52

    Good looking male borderline patient.

    B52 replied to benji66's topic in Psychiatric

    I suggest you have your charge nurse assign another nurse to this
  22. B52

    When patients self-harm, who tends to it?

    B52 replied to LilaDavis's topic in Psychiatric

    I had one patient who removed the plastic thing in the ceiling so he would have access to a light bulb, which he used to make superficial cuts along his arm. After we cleaned him up and bandaged the...
  23. B52

    Feeling disrespected and unsupported :(

    B52 replied to DepressedPsychRN's topic in Psychiatric

    The techs I work with spend most of the night playing with their cell phones. I can't do anything about it because the charge nurse allows it. I recently went over her head and made the nurse manager...
  24. B52

    Nursing a prejudiced Pt.

    B52 replied to Avid reader's topic in General Nursing

    I've experienced racism. Only once did I retaliate, and although I know I was wrong, it felt good. (No, I didn't use a 19-gauge for an IM) ... And just a few days ago a patient told me how upset he...
  25. B52

    Geropsych?

    B52 replied to kingvonnBSN2017's topic in Psychiatric

    You're right, Davey Do, the patients on our geri psych unit are "medically cleared" on paper only. Sadly, it's all about filling empty