Hospital life...

Hmm..., so I've just completed my rotation in the aged psychiatric ward, and have seen the fair share of rather aggressive patients. The first one was male elderly gentleman who refused his medications. He kept coming by the nurses' station, insisting that his cigarettes were kept there. He got angry when the nurses couldn't find them and due to some unfortunate circumstances and perhaps carelessness on our part, he entered the nurses' station to rummage through the drawers himself. The medical staff then left the station and called security to remove him. He was then placed in seclusion, where he ripped a toenail off by banging against the doors. And all along, the cigarettes were actually with him, and he had dropped them onto the floor. The second one was also an elderly gentleman who presented with paranoid delusions and had a background of aggression and violence. He was certain that the medical staff were preventing his family from visiting him and insisted on leaving the ward. Medical staff had to call security in order to give him his zuclopenthixol acetate injection. The snag was that he was so strong and muscular and fit that at least 5 guards were required to subdue him. The area was cleared and each security guard took hold of a limb and one stabilised the trunk. They then lifted him into seclusion and had to restrain him so that the nurse could give him his injection. The third was an elderly gentleman who somehow got hold of a branch with a sharp end. He was holding it threateningly and was subdued by 2 nurses. He was then placed in the HDU but somehow got out of it and almost managed to enter the nurses' station, where my friend and I were getting our duress alarms.
It was quite scary to see the situations where the patients were escalating and becoming aggressive and menacing. Yet at the same time, I have to remind myself that they are unwell, that they are not always that threatening. And it makes me realise that the nurses in the psych wards are amazing - brave and calm in the face of the storm.
That said however, my experience at the aged psych ward was a fulfilling one. Affa and I got to call patients' relatives and GPs, write in patients' files and even presented an MSE during the team meeing in front of the consultant. =) We felt like part of the treating team, that we were helping the intern and the registrars, that we were contributing and not merely wallflowers. We were so proud and excited at getting to write in the notes. Imagine being excited about paperwork, LOL.
My next rotation is adult inpatient psychiatric ward. I wonder how it will be like...