This week was a rough one at work, and I feel like a vegetable today. On Tuesday night, one of my teens (who is no longer enrolled in my adolescent program) drove himself to the program and told me he overdosed on 30 Abilify the night before. I was trying to get him admitted into inpatient, but his parents were not there to sign him in and I couldn't find anyone to write the 5150 hold. Ultimately I got him in (he had to go to the ER first to be medically cleared because of his OD attempt), but it was a fiasco for sure!
On Wednesday, one of our patients enrolled in outpatient stabbed herself in the belly with a kitchen knife in the lobby bathroom. She was sent to the ER, then admitted to our inpatient unit. That same day, a patient on our more acute unit somehow busted through the doors twice and broke free. I saw the paramedics wheeling him out, scraped and bleeding on a stretcher, to take him to the hospital.
On Thursday, a teen from the adolescent unit somehow got onto the roof of our hospital and tried to jump off the roof (I guess he climbed a tree from the patio when the teens were outside). Two of our male staff climbed on the roof after him and managed to yank him back right before he jumped. Later that day, a woman from outpatient showed up late to the program after cutting her arms. My supervisor and our outpatient RN were trying to admit her inpatient, and she freaked out. We had to keep all of the other patients in the group rooms, and my supervisor called over a bunch of mental health workers for help, as the woman became quite aggressive.
On Friday, I went over to the adolescent unit to check on my teen (the one who had overdosed). I was only on the unit for about 3 minutes when suddenly our staffing coordinator collapsed to the ground. There was a whirlwind of activity as the nurse's station and then the operator called out on the intercom, "Code Blue, Unit 1, Code Blue, Unit 1..." The nurses were checking his vitals. I run over there, and I'm yelling, "Get a pillow!" I am worried that he is having a seizure and his head is on the hard ground. I notice his pants are wet (it appeared he wet himself), so I added, "Get a blanket too!" Me and a nurse are cradling his head, and she rolls him to his side. Another nurse brings the pillow and blanket. The nurse and I place the pillow under his head, and I put the blanket over his groin area (I guess it was silly, but I didn't want him to feel embarrassed by the wet spot). I'm saying his name, and asking him if he is okay. My heart is pounding. Suddenly he opens his eyes, gives me a thumbs up and says, "Happy Friday." I'm thinking, whaaaaaaat the hell??? Then he says, "I wanted to tell you so bad, but this is a drill." CRAP. It turns out that the nurses had made several mistakes during a real code blue earlier that week, so they decided to do a drill, and I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. It also turns out that the guy is a DAMN good actor. None of us knew it was a drill, but I felt so damn foolish.
Two good things came from this week. On Monday, I was told my psych assistantship application went through (I applied almost 3 months ago). I have to accrue 1,500 post doc hours in order to become licensed as a psychologist, so now the clock is ticking (It will take me about 9 months from this point to complete the hours). The second good thing: After the situation from Tuesday night, I talked to my supervisor about becoming certified to write 5150 holds. I'm alone in the department on Tuesdays, and she agreed that I should have that ability. I will be taking the class and getting certified in January. :)
Jer told me that "Skyy" Vodka does not cause hangovers. We have a giant bottle of it in the cabinet. Purely for scientific purposes, I will be testing his theory tonight.
It sounds to me like you need the vodka! I'd need it if I had that much stress in one week. I don't think I could deal with such an eventful job. You're pretty awesome for managing it so well, Shannon. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Kristyn! Typically our weeks aren't THAT intense. I'm not sure how I would handle it if things were that chaotic all the time. But the vodka does help for sure! :)
ReplyDelete~~ Shannon