Bonnie, my unit manager at API, sat with me at the station the other day. First I am thinking I missed something cause she just isn't getting to it. Finally she says it's a favor....will I work on North after April (my best 3-11 buddy) goes to the day shift. Until they hire a guy or something. I fear I may be there for a while but you never know, it could be shorter.
North is where the truly psychotic go. These folks have shit going on in their heads that the movies can only touch on. Delusions of being a genius, papers with pencil written plans, "formulas". People who believe they are god, or the devil, who see things that you or I only see in our nightmares.
Schizophrenia type disorders strike people during their late teens and 20's, devastating family hopes for college and grandchildren. Other psychotic disorders may be the result of years of drug and alcohol abuse, age, trauma. These folks often come to the hospital naked, some have no more than a suitcase full of belongings. Families are long forgotten, burned out or some are still hanging on, looking for those few "good days".
North is where you watch your back. We do have mostly all male staff there and they have been injured when an individual responds to something we can't see or hear and strikes out. But I like North too. Word Salad according to Wiki :
The term originated as the common name for schizophasia, a symptom of various mental illnesses. Schizophasia produces language that not meaningful and might or might not be grammatical. "Salad" indicates that the words are tossed together randomly.
I cannot reproduce word salad the way I could imitate the language or mannerisms of my developmentally disabled patients when I was with Arc. Listening to the predominance of religious content of psychotic speech and ideation is always very interesting as well.
When I was a younger nurse I use to say I hated psych and never likes floating there, everything changes as you get older. Now I enjoy psych and never lose wonderment at the complexities of the mind and spirit.
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