Why nurses don't want to talk to a ward psychologist?

[manjar]

Hello,

Since I often seek and get good information at this forum I had an idea I can ask you for help with my current issue.

I am a psychologist working in a pediatric ICU. I am there mostly for parents and older children. But I am also supposed to be available for supporting staff with their professional or personal issues.

Head nurse asked me to prepare a talk about the importance of talking to someone and receiving help after a mistake while giving medications to a patient. This I can handle. I can talk about the importance of talk support or therapy. But I am having troubles with the other part which is the fact that nurses rarely seek psychological help or advice. Head nurse encouraged me to talk about reasons for that. I do have my explanations but I would be really happy to hear what you think about that.

So, to summarize: if you had an option to speak to a psychologist, working at your ward about your work or personal issues - would you do it? Why yes and why no?

Regards,

Manja

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

I know many would disagree with me, (which would make me happy, to be honest) but I think it's also a culture of the current workforce. I organize educational opportunities (many offer CE credit) as part of my job as well as community outreach programs and I get almost zero participation. The only time people show up is if you make it super-mandatory (uh-huh, I said it- mandatory doesn't mean diddly anymore) and pay them. You'd think nurses would want to learn, keep up to date with new info, etc, but in my experience people just want to come in, do the job they're [under]paid for, and go home. No extra, even if it helps them.

Speaking for myself, it has nothing to do with not wanting to learn or being satisfied with my minimum. It has EVERYTHING to do with having a full SMORGASBORD. (I stopped having a "full plate" years ago.)

On weekends I am an extremely dedicated and passionate RN.

During the week I'm a SAHM to five kids. One of my girls has gymnastics 3x a week, and meets a couple times a month. My oldest daughter is more into endurance-type sports and works out 6x a week. My oldest son is into music and has weekly piano and voice lessons; two girls are also in orchestra. My husband is usually at the office until 7 p.m., and overnight for work at least once a month -- typically 2-10 nights. My kids attend four schools, and because they are open enrolled outside the district, I drive them all. And then of course is the small task of feeding and laundry for seven people, and helping with homework prn.

Feeling frazzled yet?

My work is a 30-40 minute drive depending on traffic, and weekday parking is $10. So say my take-home pay is $30/hr, minus the $10 and gas.

Plus, the time and gas incurred by having Grandma babysit the preschooler while I am gone. All things considered, I can't justify the drive for a 1-2 hour inservice when I have access to CEUs from home.

Community outreach? I don't even have time to shower some days! (Unless I want to be up after midnight.) To assume that everyone's reasoning is apathy, that is a very simplistic assumption. And you know what they say about assuming!

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

And OP, I'll echo what others have said. I would welcome something like a critical incident debriefing, and I'm sure you are an asset for difficult families....but discussing my professional difficulties with a psychologist? I am pretty busy doing my JOB, and if I do have time, I would much rather take a BREAK. It's like other non-RN professionals in the unit; I don't stop my duties for PT/OTs, chaplains etc to teach me either.

[SmilingBluEyes]

Take my personal problems to my employer? Never, ever happen. I have had therapy, always at my cost with someone in no way attached or having interests that protect or relate to my employer.

[NunNurseCat]

I too agree with these unanimous responses. It's a matter of the perceived risks outweighing the benefits. The last thing any of us want to do is bring attention to ourselves for the wrong reasons, and seeing a psychologist at work would be risking exactly that. Add the time cost and the choice becomes clear. Edit: Assessing risk is part of our job, and what we see in this thread is that a group of nurses spread far and wide all ran their own risk analysis and came to the same conclusion regardless of location or employer.

[Irish_Mist, BSN, RN]

Nope, nope, nope.

I don't want my employer having any kind of leverage over me.

[Gods_nurse]

No way. I keep my work and personal life separate, and if I need psychological help I would go elsewhere. Like it or not, these is still a lot of stigma attached to mental health issues.

A LOT of stigma. In fact, I think nurses are the worst at it!!

[Gods_nurse]

Speaking for myself, it has nothing to do with not wanting to learn or being satisfied with my minimum. It has EVERYTHING to do with having a full SMORGASBORD. (I stopped having a "full plate" years ago.)

On weekends I am an extremely dedicated and passionate RN.

During the week I'm a SAHM to five kids. One of my girls has gymnastics 3x a week, and meets a couple times a month. My oldest daughter is more into endurance-type sports and works out 6x a week. My oldest son is into music and has weekly piano and voice lessons; two girls are also in orchestra. My husband is usually at the office until 7 p.m., and overnight for work at least once a month -- typically 2-10 nights. My kids attend four schools, and because they are open enrolled outside the district, I drive them all. And then of course is the small task of feeding and laundry for seven people, and helping with homework prn.

Feeling frazzled yet?

My work is a 30-40 minute drive depending on traffic, and weekday parking is $10. So say my take-home pay is $30/hr, minus the $10 and gas.

Plus, the time and gas incurred by having Grandma babysit the preschooler while I am gone. All things considered, I can't justify the drive for a 1-2 hour inservice when I have access to CEUs from home.

Community outreach? I don't even have time to shower some days! (Unless I want to be up after midnight.) To assume that everyone's reasoning is apathy, that is a very simplistic assumption. And you know what they say about assuming!

How do you do that and remain sane???

[nursemike, ASN, RN]

I think it is highly commendable of the OP to offer this service, but I'm not surprised not many take advantage of it. I was very open with my coworkers when I started taking an antidepressant, but then, nearly every time I have a conversation, people feel a strange need to bring up Three Mile Island (TMI). For the life of me, I don't know why they're so obsessed about it...

Of course, depression (more dysthymia, in my case) doesn't carry quite the same stigma of some disturbances. But I was surprised as I learned how many of my coworkers were taking some sort of psych meds, and even moreso what some of them were for. Someone whose composure I had always admired (and still do) confiding needing anxiety meds from time to time. Genuinely fun people also on antidepressants. I sometimes joke that the Earth itself is bipolar--but so are a surprising number of its inhabitants. Now, I'm extremely lucky to work in a culture that's about as supportive as anyone could hope. When I was a brand new nurse, I'm sure not everyone was personally committed seeing me succeed, but most were, and none wanted to see me fail. Coming back after a lengthy medical leave, EVERYONE was supportive, and even now I get asked about twice a shift if I'm okay (sometimes I just need to sit a minute or two, but I'm okay enough.

Thing is, I'm a guy, and while most of my coworkers are gals, they are also guys. Nurses are strong, because they have to be, and strong people tend not to admit readily to any sort of weakness. We might open up to a very close friend, maybe request prayers on Facebook, but to have it known we were seeking the help of a psychologist, or even a chaplain--well, that can seem a little weaker than we'd like to admit. I'm sorry so many responders on this thread doubt the confidentiality of their treatment--I don't. Snooping into someone's psych chart is a whole level of difficulty beyond looking up whether they have herpes. Still, sharing isn't easy for people who pride themselves on their independence.

It's awesome that you offer this resource. After a beloved colleague of ours died suddenly and tragically, our management and our chaplains did their best to offer similar support. I don't think most of my peers appreciated it as much as I did, mostly because it didn't "work." Same with debriefing after a particularly hard code. We feel terrible before counseling, and we feel terrible after, and not everyone has accumulated enough life-experience to recognize the difference.

ETA: Please do keep offering. The difference you could make to even one person, someday, seems worth it. And just knowing you're there means more than you might think.

[Kooky Korky, BSN, RN]

I agree with Scottishape. If I wanted/needed to speak with someone, I would seek someone outside of my employer (preferably in a different health care system).

Of course, the employer can see your medical records since it is paying for your insurance, if yo use

employer-paid insurance.

[nursemike, ASN, RN]

Of course, the employer can see your medical records since it is paying for your insurance, if yo use

employer-paid insurance.

Your employer and insurer can see billing info. If they're looking at your chart, it's a Federal crime.

[NunNurseCat]

Your employer and insurer can see billing info. If they're looking at your chart, it's a Federal crime.

Well, it depends really. If charts are shared across a health system, and I am a patient within that health system, then someone can see my chart.

[nursemike, ASN, RN]

Well, it depends really. If charts are shared across a health system, and I am a patient within that health system, then someone can see my chart.

If the CEO of your system looks at your chart s/he can be sentenced to six years in Federal prison. I'm pretty sure your PCP needs your permission to access your psychiatric chart. If you're saying someone CAN see your chart, that's probably true, but without a legitimate medical need to know, they'd be risking a lot, and it wouldn't be easy for a nosy co-worker to get into your psych records, even if they were willing to risk it.