Psych Nursing Class

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Is anyone or has anyone had a hard time in their Psych Nursing class?? I just don't feel as though I know what to do with our clinical time?? I feel so uncomfortable talking to the patients and just don't know what to do...is this only me or do others feel like this to???

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Specializes in Med/Surg.
Is anyone or has anyone had a hard time in their Psych Nursing class?? I just don't feel as though I know what to do with our clinical time?? I feel so uncomfortable talking to the patients and just don't know what to do...is this only me or do others feel like this to???

No, it's not just you. I felt the exact same way when I was in school doing Psych clinicals.....and still feel this way post-school when I have to float to the in-patent Psych unit at my hospital. Although very interesting, mental health just isn't my "cup of tea".

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

if you haven't already had lectures on therapeutic communication, you need to review the information on these websites in how to talk with patients. therapeutic communication is a skill that takes some time to learn but is absolutely essential in talking with psych patients.

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Specializes in ante/postpartum, baby RN.
Is anyone or has anyone had a hard time in their Psych Nursing class?? I just don't feel as though I know what to do with our clinical time?? I feel so uncomfortable talking to the patients and just don't know what to do...is this only me or do others feel like this to???

Do you use therapeutic communication skills during psych clinicals? Do you see the signs and symptoms of mental illnesses that you learned during lecture? Do you talk to nurses about special unit policies? Can you observe adjunctive therapies? Can you observe the work of treatment teams? Can you observe ECT? Psych clinicals can be really interesting. ;) Good luck, Katie

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I did my psych rotation on a peds psych unit and I loved it.

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The first day of our psych rotation was awkward, but the staff made it easy for us. We played cards and board games and attended many meetings throughout the day as well as viewed charts and information. It was quite the learning experience and it takes a special person to work psych. One thing that I thought was sad was that with an illness or surgery, you usually know the outcomes or expectations. With an infection, you can do a C&S and prescribe a med that you know will work in X amount of days. With psych there is still so much unknown it is difficult to treat and even with treatment can b e months or linger before a good effect is seen. Hard to not be able to help them more, but the therapeutic communication does work and just talking to them like they are human and normal also helps them.

I had a great breakthrough with my pt who was schizoaffective (paranoid schizo if you ask me). He was using expression and even cracked jokes by the end of the rotation and I was so happy! I wished I could have done more for him but I feel that just developing the trust with him was a good thing. We talked a lot and he made me see mental illness is not so concrete and I now look at it very differently.

So just take it for what it is, a new and different learning experience. One thing we were told, is to not delve too much into their illness, but treat them well. Do not correct them, or argue (not therapeutic) and just have your eyes open for a new and different experience.

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The single best one-line quote I got out of psych is this:

When in doubt, focus on feelings.

So, let's practice. If I say, "I hate it here because it reminds me of the planet where I used to snort cocaine with Santa Claus."

You say, "And how does that make you feel?" (or some variation)

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