RN starting new position with mentally ill in LTC

Editorial Team / Admin · Aug 1, 2005

hi! i am an rn with 23 years experience. i will be beginning a new position as a nurse consultant for a ltc company and i will be focusing on the mentally ill residents. i am looking for nurses who have worked with the mentally ill in ltc and want to hear and eventually share best practices. i look forward to hearing from you.

:balloons: :balloons: hello and welcome :balloons: :balloons:

you will find someone to answer your question. just hang around and wait for it. i do not know how soon you will get it tonight, but, hey, this is a 24/7 website and you may get bunches of responses.

good luck and good to have you.

siri, crnp, clnc, rlnc

Tweety, BSN, RN · Aug 1, 2005

Welcome. Good luck to you! :)

**RosesrReder, BSN, MSN, RN** · Aug 1, 2005

hello, and welcome to the family of allnurses. good luck to you in your new position.

Thunderwolf, MSN, RN · Aug 9, 2005

Welcome to allnurses!!!!!!!

healer_energy · Aug 11, 2005

:uhoh21: Hello ! Have you had experience in the psych field. I must presume so. I work in a locked demented ward and we are getting more and more psych diagnoses which are mixed in with the otherwise demented. I suppose we are the last resort. They are usually a bit younger than the rest 50's and up and I often wonder how wise it is to subject these poor people to the unsocial and unpredictable behavior of the other residents. We also feel very unqualified to respond to the mental health aspect. For example, our general response to a demented person being violent or doing other socially unacceptable acts is to smile and coax, or redirect them away from the exacerbating environment. However, I understand that some psychiatric reponses should be more commanding, or reality based. We do have a psychiatric liason nurse but we are not receiving any training in this issue.

I wish you well in your new position.

Sonya Burdge

suebird3 · Aug 17, 2005

:uhoh21: Hello ! Have you had experience in the psych field. I must presume so. I work in a locked demented ward and we are getting more and more psych diagnoses which are mixed in with the otherwise demented. I suppose we are the last resort. They are usually a bit younger than the rest 50's and up and I often wonder how wise it is to subject these poor people to the unsocial and unpredictable behavior of the other residents. We also feel very unqualified to respond to the mental health aspect. For example, our general response to a demented person being violent or doing other socially unacceptable acts is to smile and coax, or redirect them away from the exacerbating environment. However, I understand that some psychiatric reponses should be more commanding, or reality based. We do have a psychiatric liason nurse but we are not receiving any training in this issue.
I wish you well in your new position.
Sonya Burdge

I agree with her. I, too, work in a facility with some MI's, along with the "standard" demented/geriatric. Quite interesting. Keep in touch!

yrn4gb · Aug 18, 2005

Hi! I am an RN with 23 years experience. I will be beginning a new position as a Nurse Consultant for a LTC company and I will be focusing on the mentally ill residents. I am looking for nurses who have worked with the mentally ill in LTC and want to hear and eventually share best practices. I look forward to hearing from you.

I am not sure if I am answering this correctly or not, but here it goes..........

I work in a LTC facitlity with several different types of units, all together 13. Age ranges from 32 on up. I float throughout the whole facility, so I adapt to each separate unit, depending what type of unit it is, meaning Dementia, Alzheimers, to Medicare and short term stays. For the past 7 yrs, I have been an RN, before that I was a CNA for 2 yrs at the same facility. So I do know a little about elderly :coollook: .......I hope I get through this and look forward to feedback.........................

jsteine1 · Aug 18, 2005

Hi! I am an RN with 23 years experience. I will be beginning a new position as a Nurse Consultant for a LTC company and I will be focusing on the mentally ill residents. I am looking for nurses who have worked with the mentally ill in LTC and want to hear and eventually share best practices. I look forward to hearing from you.

Congrats on your new position! Behavioral health services are the coming specialty in the LTC settings. Your employer is ahead of the curve. Most LTC companies use contracted behavioral health services and rather sporadically.

I am not qualified to offer best practices, but I would like to offer a suggestion. Many SLP's in recent years have specialized in Dementia management and can be a wealth of information/support to you as you move forward.

Check out the SLPs assigned to your facility or facilities. If the assigned SLPs do not have this expertise, and the facility is using a contracted rehab company, then there will be clinical SLP supervisors employed by that rehab vendor to support your program by training nurses and therapists. The right vendor will do this as a courtesy to thier customer, the LTC facility. Best of luck to you!

yrn4gb · Aug 19, 2005

Congrats on your new position! Behavioral health services are the coming specialty in the LTC settings. Your employer is ahead of the curve. Most LTC companies use contracted behavioral health services and rather sporadically.
I am not qualified to offer best practices, but I would like to offer a suggestion. Many SLP's in recent years have specialized in Dementia management and can be a wealth of information/support to you as you move forward.
Check out the SLPs assigned to your facility or facilities. If the assigned SLPs do not have this expertise, and the facility is using a contracted rehab company, then there will be clinical SLP supervisors employed by that rehab vendor to support your program by training nurses and therapists. The right vendor will do this as a courtesy to thier customer, the LTC facility. Best of luck to you!

Hi again, I think you answered to susan, not I, LOL, I am new to this posting board and not sure how to get around yet. I have been an RN working at a LTC for 8 yrs, so this is not anything new for me. I love working with the elderly, they have so much to offer us as far as life goes. But, the demented, alzheimers, etc...are different. At times living in their past is a way to get along with them, others it is something new. Every moment in life is a challenge for them and that is why I love my job!