tbbtpeach

Does anyone have any good books or literature that they would recommend concerning dealing with psych patients on the medical floor? I try to rely on my therapeutic communication skills when I have a psych patient, but I feel so woefully incompetent and always feel like I agitate them more by the time I leave the room. As a new nurse it can be so frustrating to finally be nailing down some common nursing practice, but feel like such a failure when I have a patient with psych issues. I work on a fairly large medical floor and I typically will get 3-4 psych patients a month (mostly chemical dependency, but also bipolar, schizophrenia and personality disorders). I tried to do some research and got mostly textbook chapters outlining generic psych nursing "communication" techniques. Anyway, thanks for any help :)

Just came off a three day stretch where I had a patient who just downright stunk! When the night shift nurse and I did a safety check my first day, I was greeted with a wall of odor as soon as I opened the door. I thought that he must've just had a bowel movement, but as I did my assessment and took an axillary temp, subsequently almost gagging, I realized that this smell was just this guy's BO! I gave updates to my tech who told me this pt kept refusing any hygiene and kept saying he would shower "later". Well, I made it my goal to get this stinker bathed, but he was not especially excited about it. Finally he agreed to shower, after several (hopefully) veiled attempts on my part to mention it to him, but only after he took this walk. I agreed and PT took him for a walk & I excitedly stripped his bed and sprayed down his whole room with air freshener. He came back from his walk and the tech was helping him into the shower. I went to continue my assessments when I saw the nurse lead making a lap around the unit, holding her nose, and spritzing air freshener around the unit with a look of disgust on her face. It made for a good laugh.

Your snide comment may make you feel better about yourself, but I'm not sure how helpful it is to this forum. This is the crap that made me stop utilizing AN for a while. Fortunately, the majority of nurses on here are actually helpful and don't strive to bring people down.

@offlabel Yes, yes and yes. ❤️ Thank you. You're amazing.

Hey, ya'll! I just finished up my first year of nursing school today! Last year at this time, I was looking on this site for guidance and encouragement about the nursing program (about which I knew nothing!). Believe me, I can't believe how much I've grown and learned in the past two semesters. This is just my culmination of tips and tricks for new Nursing students. (Pst, some or all of these may not apply to you/your program, so just try to apply this to yourself) 1. CONGRATULATIONS on being accepted into a Program! You worked hard and ya'll are awesome!! 2. Organization. Organization is KEY. As soon as you get your hands on that syllabus, pencil that ridiculous amount of stuff in your phone calendar, wall calendar, mini calendar, period calendar, I don't care! Just write it down and be organized in your own way! 3. Think about possibly getting a tech/CNA job at your local hospital/Nursing home. Now, I know this can be a controversial subject because some don't think people should work while in school, but it will seriously help you with your skills and especially your patient communicating skills. Plus, if ya'll are organized (see #2 haha) It shouldn't be a huge problem. Plus, you can pad your worn scrub pockets with some $$$ 4. (This is subjective) You don't have to read all of the material. You usually won't have time to thoroughly read chapter upon chapter. You'll wear yourself out doing that. Try to go over notes and supplement it with the reading. That is, fill in the gaps from your notes with your book. 5. Make friends at NS. Seriously. Friends will be your lifeline. Whether it's shooting a quick text question about an assignment or de-stressing after a huge exam, nursing school friends UNDERSTAND what you're going through like no one else will quite understand. Believe me. I have a best friend who I tell everything too. However, she doesn't understand the stress, frustration and satisfaction of NS like my friends at school do. You create a bond through commonality and similar emotion and that combination has the potential to make great friends. 5.1 A note. Don't take the above to mean that you should diss your non-nursing school friends. Even though those friends may not understand what you're going through, they'll still be supportive in their own way. Plus, you need friends that you can hang with where you just forget about NS and stress and talking about LIFE outside the lecture hall and hospital. :) 6. YouTube may become you best friend for supplemental lectures and understanding. If you are a more visual learner, I encourage you to look up animations and lectures on YouTube and learn the way that suites you! This is especially helpful in those first semester check offs 7. Don't take breaks for granted. Whether for Christmas, Spring Break, Fall Break, Thanksgiving, whatever, if you can, make sure you relax, spend time with family/friends and try to give your brain a break from fluid and electrolyte imbalances, safety precautions and neuro assessments. Binge watch Friends on Netflix if need be. You get it! Just take a break! :) 8. Cry if you need to. It's okay. I remember, after a particularly stressful week after I was done with everything, I just got in my car and just had a good cry. It was more therapeutic than anything. Listen to your body. Take care of you. 9. Don't throw those notes/Power Points away. Aside from the possibility of having a cumulative final, those notes/Power Points can be really helpful for future reference and studying for ATI and NCLEX testing. 10. Talk to upperclassmen. THEY GIVE THE BEST ADVICE EVER. They've been through it. They know which professors are the best, what times to take certain classes and best of all, they can help you see that NS is doable. :) Ya'll got this. Okay? These were just some tips that I wish someone had told me before I started NS. I know that some of them don't apply to everyone. Nursing school can be rough, stressful and tiring. But you know, it's as equally if not more so interesting, exciting and empowering. If ya'll have any questions about my first year experience, comment below. Thanks for reading.

Hey! Y'all are close to me! I'm in the program at IPFW! Hope Y'all get in

I believe this is a tricky situation. On one hand, I can totally see how you feel about having to cover up your tattoos. You're not going to spread anything by them; they're a part of you and how you identify yourself. However, I understand the hospital policy of covering them up because not all people view tattoos in the same connotation that you do. They may see it in a more negative connotation and it may become a distraction (from what I have seen in my clinical environment). Honestly, I believe it's your work ethic and readiness to do your job properly that should define you as a nurse...not if you have tattoos. But, to be an effective nurse that copes well in a hospital or facility environment, you have to make sacrifices. Anyway, this is just my opinion. I can tell you care about really helping your patients, so I have a feeling you'll continue to do great work regardless of if you get to show your tats or not. Good luck in your career. :)

Thanks for the update, Heather! What type of program are you in? We had some issues with next semester scheduling. I'm apparently taking psychiatric nursing in the summer since there wasn't enough slots to go around :/..but I'm living with that. I have Med/Surg I next semester, Trans-cultural nursing and Pathophysiology. I'm also taking a open elective which is a criminal justice class. I hope this will help me later on because I'm interested in forensic nursing. Anyway, keep the updates coming!

Wow. Okay! So, I'm basically 3/4 of the way through my first semester of nursing school. It's crazy to look back just about 11 weeks ago at the beginning. I really have learned so much...but, I also realized how much I need to know and master. So far, my classes are going well. I have a Fundamentals class with it's correlating clinical, a Nursing "writing" class, which is about ethics and diversity, a Nursing Lab class (with checkoffs haha) and then Pharmacology. At first the amount of homework/reading/projects/standards/charting/etc. scared me so much...but honestly, the only thing that's given me the most trouble is the check offs. I think it's because they're so nerve wracking in general! But, I've passed each one so far. Anyway, this was just an update and a way to organize in my mind what has happened in the past few months. Please let me know how your semester is going!

Wow, @elkpark, thanks so much for your info! (I can't imagine wearing thigh-highs O_o haha). So, I'll be purchasing some high, white "socks" then! haha Thanks again!

Hi, all! Okay, my student handbook states that I need: "Stockings:White for men and women. No textured hose, footies, or tennis socks." I'm not very familiar with "stockings". Are those the ones that go half-way up your calf? And, by no tennis socks, do they mean, no "regular" socks? Thanks! tbbtpeach P.S. Any good brands or sites to get them?

Even though I did not take my Micro class online, I almost wished that I had! (I don't think my school offers it anyway, though). 1. The lecture portion should not be that bad online. Our professor actually uploaded each of her lectures to some website so that we could go and listen to them at our leisure, or if you missed a class. So, if that's the format of your online class, I honestly don't think lecture would be tough. 2. Lab. Oh my goodness, how I wish my lab would've been online. My actual hands-on lab was SO disorganized. Not enough profs and aides to go around and general confusion through the 2 hours we were there. When they put resources online (pictures of cultures and charts) was the only time I really understood and nailed down some key concepts. Honestly, I wouldn't stress. If you work hard, plan well, and keep up with your assignments, it shouldn't be that bad. Who knows, you may like taking online classes :) Good luck!

Cmon, everyone. Let's keep a positive environment on here. No need for the right-fighting and bickering. If you don't want to answer a question or thread, just don't. It helps with the atmosphere. :)

I would say that when dealing with lazy coworkers (nursing field or not) it's important to make sure all of your jobs are done to the best of your ability. Then, you could pick up the loose ends and show management what you're really made of :) But if the coworkers are being lax and potentially hazardous to the patient with their "laziness" it might be a good time to make good notes of their actions and then bring them up to management.

Sorry, random question passing through. Is the HESI like the TEAS?

That's very interesting!! Best wishes for your career! Just goes to show how versatile nursing really can be! Can you elaborate a bit more about what you'll be doing? I'm a student just exploring options :) Thanks! Again, Good luck!

Thanks for this, Lori! I'm just about to jump in to my nursing classes this fall ('14) and I'm excited/nervous/apprehensive you name it! But, I'm feeling more and more ready.

I'm starting Nursing classes this fall too! I just ordered my stethoscope off allheart.com. A light blue Littman Classic II S.E. (Because it was in the middle between cheap and pricey, and apparently, it's a good student steth) I got my named engraved on the bell, I believe.

Jello pushers, I swear... This made me laugh, OP! Thanks for sharing! There may be no such thing as a stupid question, but there is a time and a place for everything too!

Wow! Thank you all for your answers! (This is why I love allnurses). So, in general, wait until I'm in my last year/semester to start studying for General NCLEX. And NightCrow...I really love your two highlighter rule. That sounds very intuitive and will make things stick. I have Pharm this coming semester. I definitely would like to get a early start on that. So, study classes of drugs. Any resources I should utilize for that? Thanks again, all!

I can relate to this. All throughout my life, I knew that I had wanted to do something medical (I loved Health/A&P/Bio, any science or human development classes, you name it, I aced it.) But I never quite honed in on what field or specialty I wanted to go into. Doctor (Really physician) had always been thrown out there by family members or friends (but never Nurse...I wonder why?) Well, during my senior year, I interned at a physical therapy practice in my home town. The first semester, I loved it. I thought, this is definitely what I want to do/go into. Well, second semester, I got a bit tired of seeing hip/knee replacements all the time.(I wanted some diversity!!) Not to diss PT or anything, but really, it does get very repetitive. So, I knew THAT wasn't for me. Honestly, I picked nursing at first because I was just so confused and needed to pick something!! Now, I know I made the right choice!! But, I did get the questioning looks and the curt statements of, "Nursing? You could be so much more." I'm sorry, but what could be more FULFILLING than being a nurse? And there's so much diversity and room for upward growth! And you know what, if I want, I can become a NP: work under my own license and provide holistic, one-on-one care which, in my opinion, is sometimes more in-depth than seeing the physician for 2.5 minutes. But at the time, I felt like I was going into an inferior field and that I was making a terrible decision! That changed after my first year at college! I believe nursing students go through extremely rigorous schooling that rivals medical school and in less time. So, there is nothing EVER to be ashamed of. Anyway, be encouraged OP. You are you. You know what you want in life better than anyone else. I like the one liners given thus far! :') I'll use them!

Hello!! I am just about start my sophomore year in college (Fall 2014). My freshman year, I got all my pre-reqs out of the way and was accepted into my University's nursing program (BSN). So, now that fall is coming up (with actual nursing classes!! So excited, yet nervous), I was just curious as to when I should start studying for the NCLEX. I had two conflicting notions about it. 1. If I study right now, I don't think I'll really understand what I'm studying (since I haven't been through real nursing classes yet). Am I jumping the gun because I have 3 whole years of nursing ahead of me? 2. If I don't start now, I'll get behind. (& NCLEX practice might help with Nursing classes.) ??? Hmm, so. I came to my only source of nursing knowledge! I'm hoping ya'll can help me out a bit. And if I should start studying now, what materials do you recommend? Thanks so much!

"Well, the good news, ma'am, is that, although you don't have any FSH, you don't have any follicles to stimulate anyway!"

Wow, thank you everyone! This is why I love allnurses. I would have never known any of these opportunities existed! I'm definitely interested in sitting for my CNA exam after the first semester or year of Nursing school. I do remember when a family member was in the hospital one time, there were two student nurses working there during the summer...maybe I could do something similar. I would love to get paid for a summer job that was continually teaching me useful and pertinent information about my career than sitting behind a desk...learning nothing.

Hmm, well, if the first college requires an 80%, I doubt the likelihood of being accepted into that program. Did the other college not give a date when they said they would be sending out acceptance/rejection letters/emails? Normally, they would give you enough time to prepare yourself for classes. My timeline's a bit different. I attended my University of choice, completed the pre-reqs in Fall '13 and Spring '14, assembled my application, turned it in to my University's program in May, and got my acceptance email by June. My classes start in August though. I thought that's how things traditionally went. I didn't realize people took pre-reqs and applied to different colleges!! haha, I'm very new at all of this though. However, I think that if you're accepted, they'll give you the time you need to gather your resources and supplies.