oldpsychnurse

This is the kind of patient the docs will medically clear (even if they have a tube sticking into and out of every available orifice) in order to send them to us, your friendly psych unit!

I know I'm way behind here for commenting, but here's my 2 cents. First, when people you work with, who like you and depend on you, find out you're leaving, they start to pull back. It keeps them from hurting so bad when you leave, compared to hanging with you until the last second and then being sliced out of your life. Second, the foot you step on on your way up might be connected to the orifice you're kissing on your way back down. You made a good decision to work your last shift.

I would hope the safety cell is truly a safety cell. The ones at the prison where I worked had a metal cot, no sheets, blankets or pillows, and the usual metal toilet/sink. The inmates went in there completely nude. They usually wound up wrapped from head to toe in toilet paper, mummy style, shivering on the metal cot. They got the same food, and nobody stood out there to talk to them. I never saw any inmate be suicidal longer than 24 hours.

I am so dang sick of bed placement pushing those ED admits on us.

I'm not an MSN by any means but I've had my share LGBTQI patients. I'm not sure what you mean by LGBTQI "issues." Most of the ones I've had don't have issues with their sexuality. I'd say the ones who do are in the minority, as most have accepted who and what they are. I have had some who came in because they were having problems either with accepting it themselves or with those they love accepting their sexuality. As to the trans patients, overall I'd say they have more issues than any others. I've seen so many that had underlying psych issues and seemed to believe transitioning would cure all their problems. Obviously, IMO, they weren't stable enough to make that decision and I've worked with quite a few that were transitioning back to their original sex. I think trans patients should have a lot of psych evaluation done before any doctor agrees to perform that surgery.

One of my psych patients hit the floor when we were bringing them back from smoke break. I was a new nurse and couldn't find a pulse, so I hollered for the techs to bring the code cart. Well, luckily the patient was only having a vasovagal reaction for whatever reason, but I still thought he probably needed some oxygen so I got all the tubing and got it attached, then realized I had no idea how to turn on the oxygen. So I started turning the most likely looking part, thinking I would soon be getting oxygen. Unfortunately I unscrewed the part that held the gauges on. I was left standing there, holding the knob, while all the gauges hit the floor. One of my techs reattached the gauges and turned on the oxygen. By then, the patient had regained consciousness and everybody, techs, patients and all, were standing there staring at me. After that, I got my preceptor to go over the entire cart with me but I never told her why I had such a sudden interest.

You might have a better chance at a nursing home. They're hard places to work but always looking for help. After you have a little experience, and hospitals can see you're serious about health care, then you'll have a better chance of getting hospital work.

I hated nursing school from day 1. I flunked peds the first time around and passed it the second time. I finally got to psych and found I loved it. The first 15 years or so were great, as I had the best job possible. After that, as times began to change, I really regretted becoming a nurse at all. If you think you're going to hate it, look into some other careers and make sure you want to go to nursing school. See if you can shadow some nurses in different areas to see if there's any hope you'll like it. To this day I wish I'd followed my dream of working with horses, but my dad always said there was no money there and if it was fun, they wouldn't call it work. So my only real advice is to try to find something you're interested in and relatively good at, that pays a decent living. Good luck to you!

You did everything humanly possible for the kid. Whatever the outcome, you are awesome. But there's a good chance that if he doesn't make it, you're going to suffer from PTSD. Please go ahead and talk to the chaplain, and if you still have the dreams, or uncontrollable crying or whatever, go ahead and get professional counseling. You shouldn't let any feelings of guilt wreck your life. You are incredible.

If the doctor wants you to do something (or not do it), there needs to be a written order, ALWAYS, no matter what the issue is. If he tells you verbally to do something that is so obviously wrong, tell him that you will take it as a verbal order. Write it as a verbal, and until he signs it, continue to document your vital signs. That guy is lazy and if the patient strokes out, he's going to be all "shocked" that you thought he told you not to document the VS and you're going to not only lose your license but probably be sued.

If he's using the old "everybody's doing it" excuse, I'd have to be nosy and call the school and ask them if that's true. If that's what they're doing, isn't there some FNP board you could report the entire school to? I would think the state BON would also be interested if they're cutting corners, since I suppose they have to credential the school. This guy is going to be one of those providers that cause nurses to roll their eyes when they find out they're the ones on call. That is, if he ever manages to pass his boards.

Just me, but I don't think anybody should have to check their cell phones for messages from their employer when they're on their break or otherwise off the clock. If it's that important, management should call the nurse on the unit phone.

I don't know anything about school nursing, so take anything I see with a grain of salt. But if you're not allowed to take pictures of abuse, maybe next time call the SRO in to take a look. It's a legal problem (assault, child abuse, whatever) and I would think his say-so would mean a lot in court. Also, are you allowed to call 911 and have him sent to the hospital? I can assure you they can take pictures and testify about any bruises they see, and they are also mandated reporters. The way parents are now, I'd have as many people look at that kids rump as possible (discreetly so as not to embarrass him any more that necessary).

I traveled for a while. Never even had to leave my state, but could have if I'd wanted to. After reading some of the comments here, I've seen some things that should never happen. For example, you should never have to pay to get licensed in another state. The travel agency should either pay upfront or reimburse you. And I never searched specific agencies. I went on-line and found the jobs I was interested in and then contacted the agency. Use an on-line job site to find what you want. I like Indeed.com. You can to there, type in Travel RN Dialysis and see what pops up. I think most travel agencies want 2 years experience, but it depends on how desperate the need is. Good luck! Traveling can be really fun.

When I graduated nursing school and went into psych, I had a patient call me something nasty (can't even remember what it was now). My very wise preceptor (RIP Linda Slaughter, RN) told me that psych patients have an uncanny ability to home in on what you're most insecure about. Whether it be your weight, your race, your hair, whatever, they can sense it, and that's what they're going to rag you about. Over my 30+ years as a psych nurse, I've found that's the most true statement I've ever heard. Some personality disorders are just hateful, but true psychotic patients have a tendency to say whatever comes to mind. I've been called pretty much everything in the book. Sometimes it's funny ("patient killing nurse" "***** in purple") and sometimes it's really insulting, but you just let it roll off and move on. Somehow I don't think this job is for you if you were that upset about a racial remark. If you can't deal with that, you are really going to have problems when they get really personal.

I need some opinions about what to do about my license. I just retired from nursing, not because of my age but because I'd had enough. I'm a few years shy of 60, with over 30 years of experience. I got a renewal notice from my BON and I'm not sure what to do. Should I go inactive, or retired? Or should I renew? I don't have enough CEU's to renew and I don't really care to get any. I hope to never have work as an RN again, but if money gets short I could potentially need to pick up a nursing job. What's your advice?

I left the job I loved to go where the money was. I was back in 6 months. There are too many pros where you're at to leave. But don't worry. One day you'll get a new manager, or a new DON, or something, and it'll all go to heck. That's when you move. And by then, you'll hopefully have in the years and the experience that they'll hire you quickly. IMO, happiness at work is worth way more than the money.

First you have to learn to spell it. It's "poop" "ca-ca" "code brown" or "oh God." lol You'll get used to it. Believe me. I can't believe you went 4 years before you ran into it. You're going to real used to it, real fast. :)

Are you a new nurse? Quit beating yourself up. **** happens, no matter how well you do your job. Way back when I was in nursing school, my patient was in full Posey restraints, and they were tied literally under the bed. There is no way that patient should have been able to get out of them. We went into her room and the patient was sitting in a chair with the restraints hanging off the bed. We could find no way she should have been able to get out of them. We asked the sweet old lady how she got out. She replied "Jesus let me out." It was as good an answer as any we could think of. Fill out your report and move on. :)

Why are you ironing your scrubs??!! Even when I was lucky enough to find 100% cotton scrubs, I never ironed them. Wash them, toss them into the dryer, and fold them up as soon as the dryer goes off. Done!

It's called "education inflation" and it's a real thing. Nurses who have 10, 20, 30 years of nursing experience are being forced to get their BSN to continue working at some facilities. It's a sad joke. What other profession if forcing competent employees to go back to school? None. The ANCC is a for-profit organization, and the magnet program (and it's push for certification) is nothing more than a money making scheme that the idiots that run hospitals are falling for. I'm out of nursing now. But if I had been told that I had to get a BSN to continue working, I may have gone back to school to get my bachelors. But it wouldn't have been for nursing.

I have to take up for the sitter here. I'm assuming that "evil" patient was in hard behavioral restraints, not soft medical restraints. Those are rarely used unless the patient is a psych admit. If he was in restraints when the sitter got there, he was probably already on suicide (or some sort of psych) precautions. Also, I've never worked anywhere where a suicidal patient with a sitter didn't have 15 minute flow sheets that had to be filled out by the sitter, documenting the behavior and btw, proving that the patient was being watched (for legal reasons in case the patient does manage to harm himself). If he was on suicide precautions, there should have been paperwork for that sitter with the reason written clearly on top (self harm, homicidal ideation, violent behavior, etc). And I myself have told sitters to stay in the hall where they could see the patient at all times. This was because some patients are violent and agitated when there is a sitter in their room. They are advised to call for help if the patient's behavior becomes an issue. Lastly, I've worked at some hospitals where the sitter was allowed to read if the pt was sleeping. It's almost impossible to stay awake at night, in a dark, hot room, while a patient sleeps if the sitter has nothing to occupy their mind. And this I've seen it myself - When a psych patient acts out on a med/surg unit, everybody on the unit comes to "watch." So I absolutely believe the sitter when she says there was a crowd at the door, and improper remarks were made. It sounds like education for EVERYBODY is in order.

I work psych, so luckily I haven't had to deal with many L&D patients. But this is kind of relevant. One of our favorite frequent flyers, who was truly BSC, knew all of us really well and tended to say whatever came to mind. So, knowing one of my co-workers was a mom, asked her in his booming voice "I always wanted kids. Do you think you could squeeze out another one for me?"

Retired psych nurse here. There are alternative meds to benzos for anxiety. Buspar is one that comes to mind. With the right medication and some therapy to help you get a handle on your anxiety, you should be able to accomplish anything you want to. And there are tests to help professionals determine if you ADHD or ADD. If your school has a counseling center, you should try to make an appointment and find out what's REALLY going on. Only then will you be able to get the right help. And if you only failed by 1/2 point, they might be able to work something out for you if it's determined by your own school that you have a learning disability. Even if you decide on a different career (and I would encourage everybody to check into PT, RT, radiology, etc before deciding on the hell that nursing has become) you'll still need to be able to focus and function. Good luck to you!

It sounds like you've already made your decision, but I'm giving you my 2 cents anyway. Nights on psych are long stretches of boredom relieved by nights from hell, with violent, or self-injurious, or borderlines making staff want to slash our own wrists. You can literally only look at the computer for so long before your start feeling cross-eyed. But you don't have to deal with docs, social workers, treatment teams, etc. You kind of run your own show. The real down-side is the sleep. But if you are given an hour and a half breaks, you can catch a nap and be ahead of the game. Also, about half of the night shifters I worked with were in school and they had literally hours and hours to study. It really depends on whether or not you can stand the hours. When I worked 8's, it wasn't too bad (although I needed more sleep than when I worked days or evenings). 12's are a whole different story, but you don't have to worry about that. So good luck on whatever your final decision is. When you start school, you might find out that nights do work better for you.