My nursing specialty is Acute Adult Behavioral Health. Therefore, we see a lot of suicide attempts, suicidal ideation, alcohol and drug addiction, bipolar (manic and depressive symptoms), cutters and other self-harm practices. I use the word acute because our population is usually fresh from an instance of self-harm. I have been working full time 80 plus hours a week for approximately 1 year in this field.
I like to tell my patients that if they break a bone they go to the hospital to get it repaired. So it is with mental illness. Mentally, emotionally, spiritually as well as physically something is broken and it needs to be repaired. We do see a lot of physical illnesses related to first world problems (obesity, diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol) but it is the spiritual, mental and emotional care that is difficult to pinpoint. Some patients need gentle redirecting and others need chemical or physical restraints until they are no longer a danger to themselves or others. Most patients need someone to talk to and to listen to them. The hardest part of my day is finding the time to actually sit down with 5 to 6 patients and actually listen to them. When I can do this I feel as if I have actually cared for them. Most patients are grateful for the time spent with them because they are aware of how busy our milieu is. The nurses in our facility interact with patients more than the doctors can, and I do believe the doctors look to us for our input. They don’t always use our suggestions but they