Psych

As in it feels weird to write this weblog.

And I am thinking of writing about general nursing issues related to psychiatry.

So far, not very interesting, really. Or perhaps only interesting to me?

Though in school we talked a lot about the role of the nurse and how there is not very much accurate information about what nurses do, there is even less accurate information about what nurses in psychiatry do. Do we wander around jabbing people who act strange with needles, spending the rest of the time in the nursing station coldly plotting how to destroy people's lives per One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest? Do we dress all in white, peering in locked rooms at dangerous people, as in The Terminator? (where the mom is in the forensic psychiatric hospital) Do we inject people with insulin to get rid of hallucinations as in the most recent episode of House-which I might say had no clue about actual treatment of psychosis.

Sadly, even within the workplace as nurses we perpetuate these sterotypes and worse, we end up promoting stereotypes about people with mental health issues.

I've been doing research for our nursing practice committee related to psychiatric issues and I have to say that there is not enough research done on psychiatry and poor information out there for nursing practice within this area. It is frustrating when you think that (give or take depending on what research you use) 25% of the population will have a mental health issue at one time or another during their life.