Nurse Support Group Community Group
To purpose of this group is to provide support to all nurses dealing with work related stress as well as nurses recovering from medical, emotional/psychological, as well as dependence on mind-altering substances
I am a psych nurse and have been one for 7 months. Im new to psych but not new to nursing. So I work on an impatient unit with depressed teenagers overnight. I had a lot of down time so I wrote each patient an inspirational note for their hygiene bin in the morning. Something like "When life gives you lemons make orange juice - think outside the box. Have a great day from your overnight nurse." The day shift comes in and they are already angry because computers are down and they have to use down time charting which no one understands.
I warn them about one child wrote in their self reflection paperwork that they were going to plan their perfect death as soon as they get home. She rolls her eyes and says "attention seeking." Yeah maybe she needs to see someone cares. So then I told her I was putting notes in their bins and she said I can do that at the start of my own shift and if I give them little notes I am going "to set them all off." Like what does that even mean. So I threw the notes away. My question is - Is this nurse just a raging B or am I naive to think putting some soul and heart in this place will make a difference in the kids lives.
I feel like she was just being mean because she was mad her day started off rough. No one reads the kids self reflection notes they write, they just shove them in the chart because day shift is incredible unhappy and busy. Yes my shift is much easier but I read the notes and my heart goes out to these kiddos with all the challenges they face and how real it feels to them. I just wanted to feel like I could help in some way other then watching them sleep every 15 min. I dont know why I am being so sensitive right now but I wanted to ask for thoughts in a place that was private from people I might know. Any advice? Thanks and god bless.
I am also doing Psych right now and blown away by the way these for profit mental health facilities operate. I have been an RN for along time my background was Trauma Nursing but felt I needed a change and thought to explore psych. These places are all about the money and big bonus pay out for managements, money that should be allocated to improving patient care. They higher unqualified personal to work in milieu with these people and in the facility I work in the RN is overworked and basically used as a note writer, charge, and admission nurse I have limited contact time with the patients. We have an adolescents program that I have reported numerous times to JACHO and others have reported to our state yet this place continues to recieve accreditations. Many nurses I work with have worked in no other enviroments or new nurses who simply needed a job without intent to stay. Qualified nurses who actually care and work in the field of Psych are either pushed out for asking to many questions and trying to change the system are either pushed out, or simply leave. I do not know where you live but it may be worth it for you to report any systematic concerns to your state agency and JACHO you can do this anonymously or give your name there is are whistle blower laws to protect you.
I agree with you that the kids are the most heartbreaking and because of the lack of quality, ethics, compassion, and overall commitment these kids lack any therapeutic enviroments and outside of Boys and Girls towns (Father Flanagan Boys town in NE if your unfamiliar look it up) which is the most successful program for children Internationally which I believe every state should either be required to have or facilities that care for children should be required to have teams train there and use this model which they will not do because it requires investing in quality staff to train. Instead the states take the cheap and easy path with the for profit asylum mills to place kids and take them off their hands. Your sound like a strong, ethical, compassionate nurse and do not give up on your notes because they do matter---even reaching just one kid matters and I say continue to do it because your those kids lantern.