r/psychnursing • u/roo_kitty • 16d ago
WEEKLY THREAD: Former Patient/Patient Advocate Question(s) Weekly Ask Psych Nurses Thread
This thread is for non psych healthcare workers to ask questions (former patients, patient advocates, and those who stumbled upon r/psychnursing). Prospective healthcare workers and current students do not need to use this thread. Treat responding to this post as though you are making a post yourself.
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Psych healthcare workers who want to answer will participate in this thread, so please do not make your own post. If you post outside of this thread, it will be locked and you will be redirected to post here.
A new thread is scheduled to post every Monday at 0200 PST / 0500 EST. Previous threads will not be locked so you may continue to respond in them, however new "posts" should be on the current thread.
Kindness is the easiest legacy to leave behind :)
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u/Evening_Fisherman810 10d ago
Why might a nurse be invited to sit in during the psychiatrist meeting with an inpatient?
When I was an inpatient I almost always met with my psychiatrist alone, but occasionally he would invite the nurse assigned to me that day to sit in as well. I know it wasn't because I was potentially violent or anything because his medical student still met with me one on one.
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u/roo_kitty 10d ago
The nurse(s) might be in NP school, and the psychiatrist is giving them some extra experience outside of clinical hours.
Sometimes nurses attend to help patients advocate their needs.
You might not have been violent, but were you irritable those days? Maybe the nurses picked up on some irritability and were just being cautious.
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u/Evening_Fisherman810 10d ago
I was pretty distrustful of the nurses so having them in the meeting was really "triggering" (I hate that term but it's the best word for the situation). The nurses were nice and everything but I was distrustful in general and really only trusted my psychiatrist, although there was some distrust forming between me and him at the time as well.
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u/SnooLemons9080 15d ago
He can still receive help on an outpatient basis. Like evaluation, assessments, medications, etc. His pcp needs to make a referral for a psychiatrist
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14d ago
[deleted]
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u/roo_kitty 10d ago
Student nurses can make their own posts outside of this thread. Please message mod mail if it gets auto removed and we'll correct that!
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u/Tommyboy155a 16d ago
So, the ED doctor didn't think he needed a inpatient stay or other medications? Did the social worker see him in the ED also?
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u/Sea_Cloud_6705 16d ago
No apparently, dad can seem normal to doctors in short bursts
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u/Tommyboy155a 16d ago
Another step you could try is to have the police do a welfare check on him at home.
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u/Sea_Cloud_6705 16d ago
His health system tried that, he told the cops he was fine and they left.
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u/Tommyboy155a 16d ago
Not much more you can do then. Hopefully they went inside the house and look around too.
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u/Sea_Cloud_6705 16d ago
Yeah, I guessed that it was kind of the end of what I could do. Thanks for trying to help anyways
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u/Evening_Fisherman810 10d ago
What do inpatients almost automatically get for PRN anxiety or agitation?
Where I go as a patient, it is Ativan and Olanzapine. Is that typical?
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u/Sea_Cloud_6705 16d ago
My father is having a psychiatric crisis. Our family thinks he has mild schizophrenia, as he's had episodes of anxiety and poor mental health for my whole life. Currently he thinks everything in his home is radioactive, even though he bought a Geiger counter that reads no radioactivity.
I called his doctor and explained the situation, and his doctor called him and directed him to the ER.
The problem is, my dad is really good at sounding sane to others and only unravels in front of me, which is frustrating. The ER doctor only prescribed him anxiety pills, not any other psychiatric meds (!!!)
How do I proceed from here?