Sanity is madness put to good use. – George Santayana
Pearls of Wisdom From An Old Psych Nurse
27May2009 Author: Mother Jones, RN
Nurses are experts at navigating through rough waters. We are always there for our patients in their time of need. Check this nurse out. She is using her critical thinking skills while she sails her boat through a stormy ocean. It’s true. Nurses can do just about anything, just so long as they have a good mentor to show them the way.
From time to time, I get letters from new psych nurses asking me for advice.
I was very lucky when I first started out as a psych nurse. Nurses and doctors who gave me valuable tips when I was new in the field surrounded me on the unit, and made sure that I didn’t get myself into trouble. Here are some pearls of wisdom that my mentors passed onto me when I was the new kid on the block. I hope they help you, too.
Pearl of wisdom #1: The first rule that I learned was that I never was to accept abuse from a patient. Patients may be angry about how things are going in their life, but they must learn to vent their anger appropriately. That means no hitting, swearing, or throwing stuff at other people. Period! Just because someone has “problems” doesn’t give them a license to act inappropriately on the unit. Seriously. Nurses are not punching bags. We have rights. Nurses must teach their patients to function in the real world, and we do them a disservice if we allow our patients to act out on a psych unit.
Pearl of wisdom #2: The second pearl of wisdom has to do with the myth that nurses can say something wrong to a psych patient. Many nurses are afraid that a patient will crumble if they say the wrong thing to the wrong person. I’ve never seen this happen during my nursing career. Just listen to your patients with your ears and with your heart. Everything else will fall into place.
Pearl of wisdom #3: Never turn your back on a patient. This is self explanatory. Psych units are unpredictable.
Pearl of wisdom #4: Don’t get offended if a patient hates you. That probably means that you are doing your job. Many patients come to the hospital because they have boundary issues, and issues involving the need for immediate gratification.
Pearl of wisdom #5: Never forget that you are a REAL nurse. You aren’t caring for a wounded body, however you are caring for a wounded soul. Don’t sell yourself short. Psych nurses rock!
- Tags: pearls of wisdom, Psychiatric nursing, tips
3 Responses to “Pearls of Wisdom From An Old Psych Nurse”
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Disclaimer
There has been a lot of chatter in the blogosphere about medical bloggers and HIPAA regulations so let me make this very clear: I write composite stories about many different people that I've cared for over the years.
Judi
May 27th, 2009 at 11:18 am
Your pearls are right on- and not just for psych nursing. These days they make perfect sense in any nursing arena. I especially agree with #1- too many times patients treat nurses like punching bags. I was originally taught to accept it as “the poor patient is sick and not responsible for his actions” but that changed 22 years ago when a MS patient stabbed me in the abdomen because I wasn’t quick enough. I hauled off and socked him in the nose, flattening the little sucker. My surprise- my employer backed me up! Nurses shouldn’t take any abuse!
Suzanne Pennise
May 27th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
Amen to that sister! Love ya much!
jessa
May 28th, 2009 at 9:43 pm
As a former patient, I would like you to know that sometimes patients hate nurses for legitimate reasons. Sometimes the patients hate that same nurse that all the rest of the staff hates and for very similar reasons. Sometimes patients hate the staff, nurses included, because mental health care puts them in a perpetual catch-22.
I don’t deny that I hated some of the nurses for reasons like lacking my own boundaries, but nurses need to understand that isn’t the only reason. To ignore that is to put the patient in the situation of hating a nurse for a legitimate reason that is assumed to be illegitimate on the basis of their patienthood, putting them in a catch-22 and giving them another reason to hate you.
And I don’t mean to attack. Patients might hate you for a legitimate reason related to something you are doing with genuinely good intentions. This doesn’t mean I think nurses don’t have good intentions (I have met only one nurse that I still think was mean and ill-intentioned toward me), nor does it negate those good intentions, it just means that you need to think twice when a patient hates you. You don’t have to take it personally when a patient hates you for legitimate reasons either, just take it seriously and do what it takes to fix things.