In mental health, it takes one to know one

The title of this blog comes from something my husband said to me as I was leaving for work one day: "Have fun working with crazy people! And be good to your patients too."

Or as SuperNP likes to put it: "We're all working here because we're not all there."

I love my co-workers?

During my break at work one stressful day, I called my husband. We had a nice chat, and I ended the call with my usual "I love you, bye."

I heard something behind me. Dr Warmnfuzzy was standing in the doorway to my office. "I love you too. Can you fax this prescription to OverpricedMeds?"

How to have a slow day

Lately I've been followed by a slew of nursing students. They spend the day with me at work, (in the words of one student's e-mail) trying to "figure out what mental health nurses do all day."
So far, every day on which I have been followed by a student has been extremely slow. It's like the opposite of the old superstition about saying "It's really quiet around here."

When I had a nursing student follow me last week, she got to watch me give one injection, return two phone calls, and fax four prescriptions to pharmacies. Over the course of four hours. No wonder she didn't come back after lunch!

Blood is hard to clean out of the carpet

I have a love-hate relationship with GoodbyeNurse. He's a good nurse and a much nicer person than I am. But there's also many days when he absolutely drives me up the wall--and I couldn't pinpoint the reason for love nor money. (Insert Freudian theory about transference/countertransference here.)

As with any co-worker, there's always a dynamic of competition that underlies our working relationship. Nothing overt, but it's always there. Consequently it was childishly gratifying when I announced my upcoming vacation and got the following response from the office goddesses:

"But that means we'll have GoodbyeNurse covering for you! I like you better!" the head of the clerical staff wailed.

As usual, I said the first thing that came to mind. "You guys will be fine. Remember, if you kill him, then I have to train a new nurse, and neither of us wants that!"

Pass the Febreeze!

Co-worker quote of the week:

"Mr. Smelly lives by himself and he's kind of malodorous. The best thing that could happen for us all is to have that guy go for a walk in a rainstorm. A heavy rainstorm."

Chart check quote of the week

"I believe the client is somewhat manic. Although his given name is Rodney, he introduced himself to me as "Hot Rod" and insisted that I call him that throughout the assessment."

Guess what day it is today?

I heard one of the social workers say this at today's staff meeting: "I've been sober so long this 420 thing wasn't around when I quit using pot!"