JerseyDevilsAdvocate

Don't disclose it. Even if employers aren't allowed to discriminate based on disability, you can't prove that they did fire you because of it if they do let you go. They may also treat you differently, and who knows what workplace bullying may come along. You choose who can see your health information. I would never share my history with employers based on the fact that I may be discriminated against because the stigma against mental illness and neurodevelopmental disorders is still very prevalent. All they need to know is that you are competent and have your license.

I have ADHD, and it really made life difficult in nursing school. I had to study so much harder than my peers, and my dosage for adderall XR went from 10mg-25mg, on top of the addition of a 10mg IR PRN prescription. My peers studied way less and often performed better on exams, but I'm autistic and sometimes I misinterpreted the questions. It's easier practicing as an independent nurse, although the biggest thing I initially heard was that I had to slow down and stay focused. Definitely learn to prioritize, and know what you have to do now. Make sure you have everything you need, because if you keep running back and forth that's bad! You will learn a routine though. Know what to do later, what needs to be done now. It's the core of nursing. My best tip is to stay organized! Go through your syllabus, write down the dates for everything, homework, classes, plot study times, etc. I made an itinerary for each week with the chapters I needed to study, when exams were and what topics/chapters. Many of my professors let us record lectures, and I listened to them often. Definitely take meticulous notes in classes! Learn how each professor writes their tests as well, that helped me a lot. Also, don't cram! One thing I wish I did less was study the night before an exam, even if I studied all week. They say that you will recall that information more and it can cloud your judgement, when preparing for the NCLEX everyone told me to do nothing the day before, no parties, no studying, no working, just do nothing! And I feel that by following that, it really helped me recall information and focus better when I took the NCLEX.

I have major depressive disorder, among other things, and just weaned off my Zoloft, so it's hard to fight the depression now that I can feel everything again. I thought I would be doing better than I am, but at least I'm keeping my anxiety in check. It's hard to force myself to eat and get out of bed sometimes, or do any of my old hobbies, but it's something I've learned to deal with. I feel like a lot of nurses who experience burnout show depressive symptoms, although that's situational depression rather than a disorder. My best advice, other than following your medication regimen and to see a therapist, would be to maintain your focus while you're working. Stay organized. Leave work at work, keep yourself busy in your free time, and enjoy your hobbies. Also, keep a mood diary to bring to your psychiatrist, and discuss any concerns with your medications and offer you advice based on how you are. One thing I do want to mention though, is that often when antidepressants are prescribed, they check for possible bipolar disorder, because prescribing just the antidepressants for bipolar disorder obviously will have negative effects, you want to treat the mania too. I've seen this happen to people plenty of times, unfortunately

I believe it takes a very specific kind of person to be a psychiatric nurse. You have to really understand your patients, and be empathetic and compassionate towards them. It is easy if you understand the medications, expected outcomes, etc. And what kind of psychiatric nursing you work with. You need to have a very thorough understanding of mental illnesses. I've heard people say "never turn your back on the patient!" but I have never, ever witnessed a patient assault or felt physically threatened by a patient, and I'm a small and light woman. When they have everything stripped from them and every window and door barred, there is not much they could do to you anyway. Plus, when they feel locked in, the stress and fear rises. You must adjust yourself to the patient and the environment. If patient's don't feel threatened by you, they won't attack you- verbally or physically. I've seen this firsthand, and I've experienced this. I honestly do think psychiatric nursing is in dire need of renovations- I still believe there are a lot of changes that need to be made and that it should focus more on each specific patient. Not all patients work well being locked up on a unit. I also see nurses frequently threatening restraints, which where I live you need a doctor's order for, and legally is an assault threat. Restraints should never be mentioned, and I see no need to use them. This isn't the 60's anymore. Those who find psych nursing difficult, most likely do not know what it is like to suffer mental illness. I've had patients be nothing but cordial, and the worst case was I had a patient suffering withdrawals from a heroin overdose. The only thing I suffered was insults. I'd have to disagree with the majority here and say that if you find it difficult, you're not doing your job as well as you should and you need a better outlook.

Being part of the younger crew, and in my 20's, I'd have to say that this site at least respects privacy. There is a microblogging site I frequent, which often calls for the stalking, harassment, telling people to kill themselves, and doxxing of users over trivial offenses, such as dissenting opinions. I've seen people have their home addresses leaked, syringes and knives mailed to their houses, and fired from their jobs. I see the users on this site engage moreso in constructive criticism, rather than outright bullying. Sure, most nurses think the way they practice is the right way, that's the first thing you learn as a nursing student! Agree to disagree, and move on.

From my experience,the housekeepers are the most well-liked staff, and for good reason. This is very rude and condescending. Numerous nurses and students are from abroad, and are bilingual or multilingual. Learning a second language is quite a challenge, I have no idea if you have had the experience of learning more than just english, but I would suggest not insulting the linguistics of others. Let's all be cordial and not insult eachother, unlike the PA OP was talking about.

I was not sure where exactly to post this topic, however I feel this would be the best category. If any admins wish to move it to somewhere they deem more appropriate, then feel free to do so. So I am in my junior year of nursing school. I'm nearly done with the semester, I just have one exam and a paper due in two general education courses. School, is a much bigger struggle and fight for me than everyone else. I suffer anxiety, depression, ADHD, autism spectrum disorder, and PTSD - all professionally diagnosed. It is not a fun combination, and getting through each semester is an emotional roller coaster. I have some physical disabilities as well, but those do not affect my learning atmosphere. I've tried every studying tip under the sun, most of which are geared for neurotypical people, and they never help me improve. I've tried varying amounts of studying, from 30 mins at a time to 2 hrs at a time, all with short breaks. I've listened to lectures in my car. I've read from a physical textbook, I've taken notes (I cannot read my own handwriting, so notes are best typed, but technology is distracting). I can only really use ebooks, as reading from a physical textbook (for whatever reason) makes me ill, I feel nauseous, drowsy, and I get tension headaches. I can never read a physical book for more than an hour, and I only achieve maybe 10-20 pages in that time. I am also photosensitive, so I prefer using ebooks with an extension that makes all website and pages dark, and changes the screen tint to red after sunset. I've also tried flashcards, but I'd rather understand than memorize. I've tried calendars and planners, group studying (which is very difficult thanks to ASD), tutoring, evolve's online resources, etc. I'm at my wits end! I'm panicking, because my program requires a min 3.0 GPA, you can only fail one nursing class (you need a 77 quantitative testing grade, and I've been told by transfers that my school is much more difficult from their previous nursing school) This semester I believe I managed to pull a 3.0 in all of my nursing courses, and I'm not worried about my gen eds. I'm nervous for future clinical rotations, because I was confused and lost this semester. I get nervous during physical assessments, because I don't want to feel invasive, and a lot of patients refuse because the admitting nurse already performed assessment. We only have one patient, so I do not to know what to do in the free time, as I don't want to overwhelm the patient. I don't want to look at the charts too long. I am just easily confused. I have four semesters left, and I'm scared I'm going to fail out in one of them. I'm sick of watching my GPA fluctuate between a 3.1 and a 3.2, I really want to bring it up! But getting anything higher than a B or B+ on exams seems impossible, no matter how much I study! I would really appreciate helpful tips. I can't write in notebooks or read physical books. I'd rather learn than memorize. I need to be able to keep myself on track when I study, and be able to pay attention for the full class time. Anyone else who has had these issues, have any tips to share? I have two clinical rotations next semester, as well as needing to work to live, so I really want to try to stay afloat! Thank you for reading.

I've dealt with similar issues in my nursing cohort (with about three bad eggs), as well as the RNs I worked with during clinical rotations being extremely unprofessional and downright nasty to us. I've talked to several nurses I know through family, and they say there was a slogan in nursing school that went "Nurses eat their young." Many of those nurses say they would come home crying after clinical rotations (glad to know I'm not the only one) I would just say that it would be best to keep to yourself, focus on yourself. There is a nursing instructor at my school who said studies show that you do just as well studying alone than in a group, and when you study alone you focus on your own needs solely. Ironically, nursing is seen as a very compassionate profession, but from personal experience it is the complete opposite; especially in the mental health field, there is a lot of ableism and it just simply is not right. Sadly, from the nurses I've spoken to, most nurses aren't very nice people. Just stick it out, find your niche, and ignore them. Don't let them stress you out, and try to be the best nurse you can be. No one says you HAVE to work with the students in your cohort, you can work as far away from where you are as possible! You can be a school nurse, work at an insurance company, not everyone has to do ER or ICU.