April 2006

from the BBC

Mental health services are being unfairly hit by the deficits problem gripping the NHS, MPs say.

The Tories said over a half of the NHS trusts providing mental health services have had to close wards despite none of them running up a deficit.

Good grief after reading the article i find myself almost agreeing with Tory politicians. I’m off to get myself assessed.

Hello.

As you may have noticed the site has had a few updates.

The Mental’s Web Links has also changed. I have installed link sharing software on mentalnurse.org.uk at www.mentalnurse.org.uk/bookmarks. My personal links can be found here. Feel free to use it or not as you wish. If you have used del.icio.us you will be right at home.

I’m still waiting for something exciting and related to mental health to happen so I can write about it.

Mental

I think I’m hoping for some inspiration, devine intervention, or just for someone to tell me what career path to take.

I have a degree in Psychology and I am currently working in a speech and language therapy department. I have a few relatives who are mental health nurses who tell me how fab it is!! (yeah they do) and I am seriously considering doing a post graduate mental health nursing course. I wondered if anyone could tell me about this route, how dooable it is, and if they think I should go for it.

Will my psychology degree be useful? is it really that different to adult nursing? or should I just quit now!!!!!!!

wannabe X XX

Some days I feel I should just stay in bed and read the free newspaper that comes with the cheap and nasty DVD’s.

The day started well enough. Handover had no great surprises, everything was all set to run smoothly. A bit short staffed but that is so normal as to not be worth mentioning.

You just know something nasty is going to happen.

One of our chaps had been admitted to hospital a few days previously I thought I would phone up the ward and find out how he was getting on. He had only been admitted to be on the safe side, I was expecting the ward to tell me he would be on his way back soon.

I dialed the number …

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Alien soul theory is no cure for depression

My first thought was, of course Alien Soul Theory is not cure for depression! The next thought was what is Alien Soul Theory ? I know I’ve not hit the textbooks for a while but Alien Soul Theory did not sound familiar.

My third thought was ‘What was the correct order for my first two thoughts ?‘

Then I decided to read the article

The Telegraph’s Trust Me I’m a Junior Doctor columnist, Max Pemberton, takes issue with the actor Tom Cruise’s renewed attack on psychiatrists

The problem with being a famous film star is that people listen to what you say. The other problem with being a famous film star is that it’s unlikely you can speak with much authority about anything other than your latest blockbuster.

Aaaaah. Scientology !

Psychiatric Hotline [MP3]

I would suggest right clicking and ‘Save Target As’…

I have no idea where it comes from.

Mental

Also try this:

http://www.mentalnurse.org.uk/2005/07/23/cynics-guide-psychiatric-hotline-protocol/

As a follow up to this post I asked what questions were been asked at this interview.

what would you do if you were asked to take a patient on close observations to the shop and was told they had a history of self harm ?

for this job:

The job entailed working on a rehab ward- for those who had been hospitalised for a number of years and were planning to live independently. it looked professional- I asked for a tour- a bit like halls of residence actually.

What would you do ?

Time for some reminiscence therapy. This goes back to my first few months of being a qualified RMN, my first set of nights and a desire to be liked by the patients. Also I wanted to treat them like mature adults.

Why ? Because I can write anything I like.

The Situation:

I am at the start of a week long batch of night shifts on an acute admission ward. My first where I am in charge and no longer supervised. My head is full of wonderful fluff about all kinds of … wonderful client centred fluff

The ward has one main smoke room and a cupboard with a hot water boiler for making tea. They are locked from midnight to 6 AM every night.

How wrong can it get ?

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