What's so scary about psychiatry? / Mental Health Nursing / Specialties / Forums / NurseCentral

Author	What's so scary about psychiatry?
sassygirl Joined: Aug 2005 Location: Posts: 41	Sat Oct 08, 2005 12:10 pm It's mighty quiet on the Mental Health front lately. Thought I might pose a question that might help me dealing with the anxiety that I see when the new undergraduates start their placements on our ward: 1. How is psychiatry presented in your workplace? 2. How was psychiatry presented during your training? 3. Why do you think psychiatry is scary? or dangerous? It's interesting that by the time the students have finished their placements they (mostly) report having a really positive time, have really enjoyed the placement and have learnt heaps. They initially think it is going to be really dangerous and violent and are quite pleased that it is not like they imagined. Psych is a still that all nurses need to work in all areas of nursing. I actually believe that it is safer than ED and perhaps even parts of aged care. let me know what you think? sass

Darren Joined: Mar 2005 Location: Adelaide Posts: 158	Oct 08, 2005, 12:40 pm I have to agree with you Sassy. I have worked in almost every arena of nursing, including a few years in mental health. I have been physically assaulted in a private surgical ward, in a community setting and in an aged care facility, but not when working in a specialist psych facility. On at least one of those occasions, the situation was escalated by other staff members who reacted badly and inflamed the situation rather than managing the obviously escalating situation. By the time I was able to get involved I walked into a volatile situation and was then trying to protect the other staff member involved. I think psych facilities, while generally facing potentially much more volatile and dangerous situations, can in fact be safer work environment because there are good protocols in place staff are aware of the dangers fellow workers are also trained and skilled in defusing situations Of course there remains the tragic circumstances that are not controlled or managed and are usually highlighted in the media as well. "It may seem a strange principle to enunciate as the very first requirement in a hospital that it should do the sick no harm." - Florence Nightingale

sassygirl Joined: Aug 2005 Location: Posts: 41	Nov 07, 2005, 05:23 pm I can only sigh.. in our newspaper today (the age) they had the wonderful news that they will look into an undergraduate program that specialises in Mental Health to assist with the chronic Mental Health Nurse shortage. Then they went on to tell everyone how dangerous psychiatry is, how 75% of psych nurses have been abused, how x% have been assaulted. What hope do we have.... I would argue that my psych unit is safer than any Emergency Department, or any dementia ward. All of my staff are aggression management training (yes all, the ward clerk, the allied health, the nurses and the doctors) with an emphasis on managing people who are angry, and identifying it before it is an issue. We have high dependency areas and seclusion rooms for those most at risk. Please, don't believe the hype in the media.... the reality is not what they love to write about.

mattycat Joined: Jun 2005 Location: Davoren Park Posts: 18	Dec 31, 2005, 12:38 am I firmly believe this is another area only given lip service at Uni. We had a day or two of mental health focus, but patients with psych issues turn up in any ward or ED and must be recognised and treated appropriately. In country ED we had some quite dramatic moments and I learnt heaps just from being there. My best friend is bipolar, a recently spent a day in a major local ED after swallowing floor cleaner and trying to kill herself and taken there by police. They let her go 5 hours later after chucking up blue vomit, with her promising to see a GP next day. Two months later she had not seen one. Almost no follow up :-( No meds from hospital who had her record including previous detentions. Sad but may one day slip through system and just be another statistic :-(

sassygirl Joined: Aug 2005 Location: Posts: 41	Jan 01, 2006, 01:34 pm Hi Matty, looks like you and Darren have been busy on the forum today. Happy New Year to you all. What a sad story you have Matt, unfortunately not a story in isolation. Mental Health would have to be the most poorly funded and government supported field of medicine/ nursing around. Yet as you say the need for psych skills covers every area of health.. most importantly in the ED department. Sadly the admissions are based on the most needy and discharges on the 'least' unwell. We now discharge based on reduced risk, not improved mental state. I wish I could offer you and your friend some advice.... at least she has a good friend. jen

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What's so scary about psychiatry?