Essential Workers?

[MossRoad]

Yikes! My daughter just took a nursing job in the Mental Health unit at the local hospital!

It takes a special person to help people on that level. Keep an eye on her over the coming years. Some people are very good at dealing with it, but some, like my grandma I'm told, brought it home. I know things were different 'back then', but everything is different from yesterday, no matter what generation.

We have a good family friend who's daughter is an ER nurse. I was talking to her at her wedding a few months ago. She said it may sound horrible, but by being in the ER, you don't get time to get attached to your patients. While it's hard to lose one, you don't have that personal connection that long term care nurses get with their patients. She was quite honest about it. Didn't think she could do that at this point in her life. Maybe when she gets older.

 

[MossRoad]

My first memorable experience with mental health issues was when I was maybe 8 years old. Our Cub Scout troop went to a nursing home to sing Christmas Carols in the halls. While most of the residents were quite nice, one started screaming at us, jumped out of bed, came out of their room and chased us down the hall. I mean a major tantrum. Foul language, threats, arms waving around. I remember us running one way while a bunch of white coats ran the other. They grabbed them and forced them back into the room screaming and closed the door. We had to leave. We could hear the screaming the whole way out of the building. It was kinda traumatizing for a little kid. I went home and talked to my parents about it. Remember it to this day.

 

[Jstpssng]

It takes a special person to help people on that level. Keep an eye on her over the coming years. Some people are very good at dealing with it, but some, like my grandma I'm told, brought it home. I know things were different 'back then', but everything is different from yesterday, no matter what generation.

We have a good family friend who's daughter is an ER nurse. I was talking to her at her wedding a few months ago. She said it may sound horrible, but by being in the ER, you don't get time to get attached to your patients. While it's hard to lose one, you don't have that personal connection that long term care nurses get with their patients. She was quite honest about it. Didn't think she could do that at this point in her life. Maybe when she gets older.

An ER nurse I knew many years ago told me that most people last a few years then move on. It takes a certain kind of person to be able to handle that and not bring it home. A coworker was a psych ward nurse in a previous life... another area with a high burnout rate. He’s told some general stories without violating patient confidentiality; nothing I would care to deal with.

 

[Fuddy1952]

We used to have a mental hospital here, there were ones all over the US (most closed but they served a purpose).
A good 85yo friend was a nurse at the one here for years. One day the top executives were to visit, so everything was in order.
This patient lady was in a wheelchair outside, she never spoke and had a condition where her arm would jerk back & forth across her belly, fist clenched.
The top executive as he walked past said to her " And how are we doing today?"
To everyone's amazement as she pumped her arm replied "F*** you, you need it".

 

[ultrarunner]

72 hour hold describes a lot in the psyche facility... they get picked up, cleaned up, rested and out the door...

 

[Gator6x4]

My most memorable experience involving mental illness was when I was working years ago. Got a go and interview so and so in reference to.......

I arrived at the given address no one at home. Checked with neighbors and one of the neighbors said they had heard they were in the local hospital. I proceeded to the local hospital and walked up the the front desk and asked the woman if, and provided the persons name was a patient. She advised yes they are in room and provided the room number.

I got on the elevator and punched the floor number corresponding to the room number. I got off the elevator and walked down the hallway where a person dressed in a nurses uniform was sitting behind a window. I showed the person my credentials and informed her I would like to speak to and provided the persons name. She advised just a moment she picked up the phone and called someone. When she hung up the phone she advised the doctor said it would be alright and pressed a buzzer to let me through a door. She then directed me down a hallway to a room.

I spent 30-40 minutes on the interview and left the persons room. A personnel shift change had occurred while I was doing the interview. I walked up to the woman at the desk and asked her to unlock the door so I could leave. She looked at me and replied yes you would and so would the rest of the people back there.

It was then I realized I was in the Mental Treatment ward at the local hospital. Bottom line she called her supervisor who had to come and look at my credential also before i could get them to unlock the door and let me out.

Of course when I got back to the office and told what had happened. They told me they should have kept me.

 

[RoyJackson]

Last time I saw a shoplifter, he was running out the store (a K-Mart, as I recall) with two people chasing him. I chased him down in the parking lot, headed him off, and ran along while convincing him to just stop, as there was no way he was going to get away from me. He finally stopped and we just stood there for a while. He was a young kid. Maybe 15. Out of breath, scared to death. Security guard ran up and hit him. I grabbed the security guard and told him to knock it off, the kid gave up. Just stop. The other guy came up and they took the kid back into the store. Don't know what happened to him. I went back to the car and my wife told me I was nuts. My kids asked me what I was doing. I told them I was helping someone with their car or something.

But standing there and doing or saying nothing just isn't possible for me.

Couple years ago, we saw a hit and run right in front of us. I took off after the running car, chased it down, convinced them to pull over, took a picture of their license plate and the driver and they took off again. I let it go, as I didn't want to be driving like that putting others at risk. Went back to the accident scene and waited for the cops to arrive. Turns out a passenger in the hit car was an old coworker. Gave the cops the info.

Again, probably not a good idea. It'll probably come back to bite me someday, but standing by and not doing or saying something is part of the problem.

You did what a good citizen should do!!!
Frankly, I think we should just shoot these thieves...especially those a-holes who, as a group, steal.

 

[MossRoad]

My mother in-laws mom had dementia. She was in a dementia ward of a nursing home for about 8 years. In a nutshell, it's what you described. Could only get onto or off of that floor with a key code. Key code was changed daily. There were about 60 rooms on that floor. The patients were free to roam around that floor, but could not get out. She had men coming into her room at night several times. Fortunately, no sexual assaults took place, but they'd come in there while we were visiting and say crude stuff and just sit there staring at her. It was pretty scary. The nurses were very kind as far as we could tell.

My grandmother was in her mid 90s recovering from a broken hip in a nursing home. The nurses in that one were not nice. She told us some stories about how they'd treat the ones that couldn't stand up for themselves. My dad butted into her roommates treatment and called the authorities based on some things he saw happen to the roommate. We got grandma out of there ASAP for fear of retaliation.

 

[MossRoad]

You did what a good citizen should do!!!
Frankly, I think we should just shoot these thieves...especially those a-holes who, as a group, steal.

Well, this was just a kid, in my case. I kinda wanted to ask him why he was doing it. Looked pretty scared. The lifeguard in me just talked calmly to him until he gave up.

Would I do it again, being all things the same with my physical condition in this day and age? I don't think so. Good way to get shot. But I think I'd follow him as best I could.

I have a good friend that worked security at a Target store back in the early 80's. Even back then, he wasn't allowed to prevent anyone from shoplifting. All he was allowed to do was follow them along, telling them he knew what they were doing, all the way out the door and to their car. If the police didn't get there in time, they just drove way. He got very frustrated with it and quit. That store closed due entirely to shoplifting back in the 80's, so this stuff has been going on for quite a while.

 

[Alan W.]

Gator, I had a supervisor that transferred in to the local plant. We had an employee in the hospital that the super was going to go see after work on second shift.
There was no one at the desk after hours so he got on the elevator and went to the floor he assumed the employee was on.
When he got off the elevator he was in a small room with one door which was locked and the elevator closed behind him. No buttons to call the elevator only a place for a key.
He had got out on the psych ward by accident and since it was after hours he ended up stuck there until they made rounds.