I have so much respect for pysch nurses, who often go under appreciated for all the amazing, life saving work they do.
Im just wondering, for all the pysch nurses out there, how often do you: do wound care (and are they simple dressings or wound vacs and beyond?), care for patients who are incontinent (does your unit/facility admit incontinent pts?), walk patients to the bathroom, measure/examine pts urine, feces, and vomit, bathe or help to bathe patients, change pts clothes/briefs/diapers, suction pts, ect.
How physically sick are your patients on average? Do many pts recieve IV medications and/or enemas?
I'm on adult inpatient psychiatry and detox. Most patients are self care, but we do get the occasional incontinent patient that need total care. IV fluids and antibiotics are allowed but no pushes. It's infrequent, because they need to be on 1:1 observation, because it's a strangulation hazard. We get some pretty significant wounds that we have to care for. We do a lot of EKGs, but no tele. Lots of insulin. You have to be very alert because psych patients have a lot of medical comorbidies that can be written off as psych issues until they become severe. Some patients are very somatic and complain all day every day, so you have to be very observant to pick out the real problem. Also, delusional patients and delirious or hypoxic patients can look very similar, so you have to keep close tabs on their vitals.
NO to pretty much all of it except for the occasional skin tear (wound) or help to the bathroom if they are unsteady. Admits to the unit must be pretty much self-care capable (geri psych unit is separate).
Psychin'it
1 Post
I'm on adult inpatient psychiatry and detox. Most patients are self care, but we do get the occasional incontinent patient that need total care. IV fluids and antibiotics are allowed but no pushes. It's infrequent, because they need to be on 1:1 observation, because it's a strangulation hazard. We get some pretty significant wounds that we have to care for. We do a lot of EKGs, but no tele. Lots of insulin. You have to be very alert because psych patients have a lot of medical comorbidies that can be written off as psych issues until they become severe. Some patients are very somatic and complain all day every day, so you have to be very observant to pick out the real problem. Also, delusional patients and delirious or hypoxic patients can look very similar, so you have to keep close tabs on their vitals.