Your Family?

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Specializes in Mental Health.

As psychiatric nurses we are trained to deal with violent, disruptive etc. behaviours and we can have an understanding and empathy as to why a person may show such behaviours. Sometimes with the job we can be in the aim of fire and become injured etc. I am due to start on a new very challenging behavioural ward, dementia, huntington's, korsakoff's, suicidal and homicidal. I will be working with people who have failed and been turned away from other placements due to their behaviours. Personally I am looking forward to the challenge and have just completed an induction week which included TMV.

I personally feel I cannot tell my family about the ward I am working on. As none of them are nurses or work in health care they don't have the same perception as I do. I don't want them to worry or feel I shouldn't be working there. I have told my boyfriend about a few things that have happened in the past one where I had to go to A&E and he doesn't take it well, I don't tell my mother at all. Nothing serious has ever happened to me.

What do you guys think? Do you share stories? How do others react?

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I think I work on a unit similar to the one you'll be starting on. It's a geriatric inpatient psychiatry floor. It's for 55 + and most of the patients we get have a dementia dx. They come mostly because of aggression and the place where they were can't handle them. We of course get other psych patients too. At times it can get scary because the Pts can be very aggressive and psychotic. I chose to tell my family because I was excited to get the job. It can be dangerous in a way but you are probably in the best place to deal with those behaviors. You have meds, doctors and colleagues to help you. Good luck!

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.
I think I work on a unit similar to the one you'll be starting on. It's a geriatric inpatient psychiatry floor. It's for 55 + and most of the patients we get have a dementia dx. They come mostly because of aggression and the place where they were can't handle them. We of course get other psych patients too. At times it can get scary because the Pts can be very aggressive and psychotic. I chose to tell my family because I was excited to get the job. It can be dangerous in a way but you are probably in the best place to deal with those behaviors. You have meds, doctors and colleagues to help you. Good luck!

Geriatric?! 55??! Say it isn't so......

Off-topic, I'm curious as to how many of your patients in their 50s come in with dementia dx as opposed to psych, or in addition to psych.

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A lot actually. It is sad most is either early onset or ETOH induced dementia.

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

That's scary. I have quite a bit of trouble with my memory, although whether it's due to my bipolar disorder or the five meds I take to treat it, I don't know. I've thought about asking my p-doc to give me tests for dementia, but I'm half afraid of finding out. LOL

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
Do you share stories?
I do not discuss nursing-related issues with my family members because 1) they live over 1000 miles from me, and 2) they would never fully get it, even after repeated explanations and clarifications.

My family members actually believe that what they're seeing on fictional medical dramas (House, Grey's Anatomy, etc) is how hospitals are run.

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Haha!

But yeah it is terrifying! Most of them are driving still which is more scary. But it is also very sad.

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

OK, back to the topic at hand: My family would've thrown a fit if they'd known about some of the situations I was in, even on a med/surg/psych floor. I got a chunk torn out of my wrist by an HIV + patient and never told anyone but my husband what happened until my final follow-up blood test came back negative; when my sister and kids asked why my wrist was bandaged, I just said that a pt had bitten me and left it at that. There was no need to worry them; I only told DH because he was at risk too.

I also kept to myself the takedowns and the really ugly codes---the kind you have bad dreams about and which haunt you for weeks afterwards. In fact, I shared most of my tough times right here at Allnurses, where I could talk about the bad stuff and people would understand. Now that I'm out of nursing, I've told my family some of the stories, but of course only the one who's going into nursing himself really wants to hear them. :yes:

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Specializes in mental health / psychiatic nursing.

I share a few stories with my family/friends, but many of my family members work in health-care and "get it" when it comes to the crazy things that can happen. My husband doesn't want to know what I do other than the vaguest generalities because he's pretty squeamish about a lot of things and hyper-vigilant in making sure I don't violate HIPPA.

I find that sharing small pieces of my work with friends/family/acquaintances who are interested can be a good way to educate others as to the realities of mental illness and the fact that while I work with a lot of residents who've been thrown out of other facilities and given up on by friends and family, they are still worthwhile people, with whom I can have a lot of positive interactions. I haven't been working in psych for very long, but the only violent interaction I've had was not with one of our psych residents, but was with a man who broke into our facility and tried to rob us - fortunately despite the fact that a co-worker and I were both assaulted, neither of us were injured and we protected our residents until the police showed up.

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.

I tell my family a lot about what I do in psych...and I also leave a lot out so they don't get worried. I generally put emphasis on the good stuff, such as the success stories or breakthroughs I may have had with a difficult patient, and gloss over the codes.

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Specializes in Leadership, Psych, HomeCare, Amb. Care.

A few raised a good point.

Don't share the bad stuff, because it often sounds worse than it was.

Tell them about your patients' successes, big and small.

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Specializes in Psych.

I only tell my bad stories to family members who work in law enforcement, because they can commiserate. Everyone else gets to hear the funny/quirky stories.

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