I wanted to give you all an insight into our Ward Rounds...
It starts with a Ward Round summary written by any given Nurse and at any given time though it's meant to be your Named Nurse and at least 24hours before Ward Round.
So, my summary for tomorrow (09.01) was written by my Associate Nurse and I had the option to comment on each sections. It reads like this...
My Mental Health Recovery
Staff Views: 'Suffered from hallucinations which lead to Aimee self harming by throwing herself from the toilet. Aimee wrote distressing things on her mirror but a day later removed this herself and replaced it with positive things. Aimee suggests she feels lonely.'
Service User Views: 'I did, under no circumstances, 'self-harm.' An hallucination promised to catch me but obviously I realised too late that he was an hallucination. Once again, you've all misunderstood, I was trying to keep myself SAFE, not, self-harming. I'd also say it was normal to feel lonely when you're miles from your family and best-friend!'
Stopping My Problem Behaviours
Staff Views: 'Aimee self harmed (above) and is eating minimal amounts. When offered tablet paracetamol as PRN Aimee refused and requested liquid!! :D'
Service User Views: 'As above! Also, my diet is obviously adequate since I am maintaining my weight!
Getting Insight:
Staff Views: ' Aimee finds it hard to distinguish reality from hallucination at times, but generally shows good insight into needs. Very poor self image.'
Recovery from Drug and Alcohol Problems:
Staff Views: ' No access to drug and alcohol on ward.'
Making Feasible Plans
Staff Views: 'Aimee has plans to work.'
Staying Healthy
Staff Views: ' Very little to eat. New glasses, so fewer headaches. Hip pain gone. Bruising easily. Good meds adherence.'
My Life Skills
Staff Views: 'Aimee has become very isolative but uses time on her own well.'
My Relationships
Staff Views: 'Good with mother. Continues to speak to Chelsea but declined to discuss how she was in an abrupt manner. Grandad getting married which may upset family, but Aimee is taking quite well.'
Service User Views: 'Me refusing to tell the entire ward how Chelsea is doing should, under no circumstances, be mentioned in MY ward round summary. Irrelevant! Also, my Grandad is engaged - that doesn't mean they'll get married.'
And then it's Ward Round...
I must admit, I had originally planned this post because, after reading my Ward Round summary, I had assumed there'd be some heated discussions in the actual meeting and that I'd have something to have a good rant about... Now though, this will be a good post in showing how unpredictable things are here because regardless of my summary, the Ward Round went fantastically! My Consultant asked about my Christmas home leave and I explained that it'd been a little harder towards the end but that I hadn't needed PRN or to come back early so he said that was a massive achievement. Then he asked what my requests were. I mentioned leave for College (I've applied for three courses that each run two hours a week) and the Nurse said it'd be hard to organise one of them because it's right on handover but my Doctor said that they should take into account that this is what they've been working for me to do and that I'm doing really well and it's important I get to do this. So he said to leave that with them. Then I got all my other leave written up; home leave next weekend (an overnight drop-off), leave to go to London on the 22nd for a conference, and home leave for my birthday (31st-2nd Feb). I also told the Doctor that I was using my PRN quite often and without hesitation or questioning they increased my anti-psychotic by 50mg.
It's times like this when you really see why it's important not to give up at the first hurdle and assume something will end badly so that you don't even bother trying.