Nuts
I just finished wrapping up my most recent on call weekend; tonight actually I finished. I was again contracted from 7a-7p Friday through Sunday, and I raked in about 26 hours this weekend. A teeny bit of hours on Friday, and 12 hours yesterday and today. Yesterday was the worst; 12 hours straight with 20 teenagers, with 18 by the end of the night. Today I was on my unit for the first 8 hours, then back with the teens, who were hyper. Well, hyper minus the one who was giving me death glares most of the night. I was leaving tonight and I was venting some of my frustrations with these kiddos and he was like "you're not medicated, are you?" (Kidding by the way, but I am sipping on a Smirnoff as I write this). As I was walking out the door to clock out, the supervisor, who happened to be on the teen unit at the time, just gave me this "I know the feeling look" and said "God bless you, Kelly." Yeah. It was one of those weekends.
There were so many things that happened; some good, some not so great. Yesterday was the worst, and as I wrote on my Facebook, I can't stress it enough; mental illness is real!!!!! It is a real thing; it's the real deal. It doesn't matter a person's history or anything like that; you have to take their comments seriously! Because that one time you don't, it could mean someone's life. I was on my way to the cafeteria to get some lunch and a rapid response was called onto my old unit. I leave the receptionist somewhat stunned and make a beeline from the front lobby to the unit. Upon my arrival, all the patients are standing there in somewhat of a daze, not really sure what's going on. It's then I hear the unit nurse scream "get the scissors!" The other nurse was running down the hall, so I followed and a patient was on the floor of their room, unconscious. I'm not going to disclose anything further than that, but I will say this; it was a real attempt. So after the whole situation died down, the other nurses and I sort of pow-wowed in the hallway and tried to process and make sense of what had just happened, while another staff member talked to the rest of the patients, as some of them were very upset and crying. I had never seen anything like that before, and it shook me for the rest of the day. I couldn't get the scenario out of my head. It just goes to show you....you never know what you're walking into in a place like this.
And now I'm thinking of these kids and teens I spent all day with and part of today with. I just don't get it at all; I wasn't their age that long ago, and I spent my time participating in belching contests, going over to each other's houses, saying please and thank you, listening to authority and making fun of the fake and "popular" people at their ridiculousness. And nowadays, most of the kids/teens I interacted with this weekend have done drugs (a few times), cussed several staff members out, were fighting, picking on each other, teasing each other and feeding off each other's just....stupid drama. I mean, some of this stuff I saw when I was their age, but most of the time it was just ridiculous. I don't understand it. It makes my job as a nurse over there especially difficult because it doesn't even feel like I'm nursing; it just feels like I'm doing damage control so nobody over there hurts each other or any of the staff. And that's happened recently; staff getting injured by patients. Again, you can't mess around with things like this. I know one staff member had a black eye....from a 10 year old. It just makes me wonder; what in the world were these kids and teens exposed to in their life at such a young age that has caused them to behave this way? I can't help but wonder. And I think about it a lot, and honestly, and I'm not saying this for any old rhyme or reason, but some of these kids are going to end up in prison because they're going to seriously hurt someone, or worse I fear. It makes me fearful too, because I don't want to provoke these kids; you just have no idea what will set them off.
On a happier and positive note, I was on my unit for the majority of the day today, and one of the groups that shows up is called Bridging the Gap (I may have mentioned it before). Anyway, it's part of AA/NA service group requirements that they have to do, and one of the speakers today was a former patient, who I actually remember. And is celebrating 6 months of sobriety next month! It works if you work it. Definitely a plus. So that's all for now. I'm off to bed for work tomorrow and Tuesday, then 2 days off, then 3 more days. The fun never stops.
There were so many things that happened; some good, some not so great. Yesterday was the worst, and as I wrote on my Facebook, I can't stress it enough; mental illness is real!!!!! It is a real thing; it's the real deal. It doesn't matter a person's history or anything like that; you have to take their comments seriously! Because that one time you don't, it could mean someone's life. I was on my way to the cafeteria to get some lunch and a rapid response was called onto my old unit. I leave the receptionist somewhat stunned and make a beeline from the front lobby to the unit. Upon my arrival, all the patients are standing there in somewhat of a daze, not really sure what's going on. It's then I hear the unit nurse scream "get the scissors!" The other nurse was running down the hall, so I followed and a patient was on the floor of their room, unconscious. I'm not going to disclose anything further than that, but I will say this; it was a real attempt. So after the whole situation died down, the other nurses and I sort of pow-wowed in the hallway and tried to process and make sense of what had just happened, while another staff member talked to the rest of the patients, as some of them were very upset and crying. I had never seen anything like that before, and it shook me for the rest of the day. I couldn't get the scenario out of my head. It just goes to show you....you never know what you're walking into in a place like this.
And now I'm thinking of these kids and teens I spent all day with and part of today with. I just don't get it at all; I wasn't their age that long ago, and I spent my time participating in belching contests, going over to each other's houses, saying please and thank you, listening to authority and making fun of the fake and "popular" people at their ridiculousness. And nowadays, most of the kids/teens I interacted with this weekend have done drugs (a few times), cussed several staff members out, were fighting, picking on each other, teasing each other and feeding off each other's just....stupid drama. I mean, some of this stuff I saw when I was their age, but most of the time it was just ridiculous. I don't understand it. It makes my job as a nurse over there especially difficult because it doesn't even feel like I'm nursing; it just feels like I'm doing damage control so nobody over there hurts each other or any of the staff. And that's happened recently; staff getting injured by patients. Again, you can't mess around with things like this. I know one staff member had a black eye....from a 10 year old. It just makes me wonder; what in the world were these kids and teens exposed to in their life at such a young age that has caused them to behave this way? I can't help but wonder. And I think about it a lot, and honestly, and I'm not saying this for any old rhyme or reason, but some of these kids are going to end up in prison because they're going to seriously hurt someone, or worse I fear. It makes me fearful too, because I don't want to provoke these kids; you just have no idea what will set them off.
On a happier and positive note, I was on my unit for the majority of the day today, and one of the groups that shows up is called Bridging the Gap (I may have mentioned it before). Anyway, it's part of AA/NA service group requirements that they have to do, and one of the speakers today was a former patient, who I actually remember. And is celebrating 6 months of sobriety next month! It works if you work it. Definitely a plus. So that's all for now. I'm off to bed for work tomorrow and Tuesday, then 2 days off, then 3 more days. The fun never stops.
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