So, I'll start out with a story. I tell this story a lot in my classes when I begin talking about schizophrenia. It's always been memorable to me. Imagine a young, naive, psychology extern. First time working on an adult unit in an inpatient hospital. I was asked by some of the nurses to help them with pain assessments because I was new, inexperienced, and frankly because they had no clinical work for me to do.
So, here I am, going room to room on a women's unit asking patients who indicated they were in pain, how much pain they're in on that happy face chart hospitals use. I walk into the room of Ms. P and I note in her chart that her primary diagnosis is schizophrenia. My first schizophrenic patient. Exciting, right? Well I do the pain assessment, she's having pain in her back. Throughout the entire assessment, her reality testing has actually seemed pretty intact. Naturally as a dorky student, I was sad that this was so. Not that I want people to be actively psychotic, but this was a learning experience for me. I finish up and ask, "Is there anything else you'd like me to share with your nurse or doctor?" She looks at me in a confused way and says,"Well, I am pregnant." I realize that this could be a possibility so I decide to assess further. "How many weeks are you?" I ask. I was surprised by the response,"I'm having the baby." "What? You mean you're actively in labor?" "Yes, I'm having the baby right now." Followed by a groan. "Do you need me to get the doctor?" "Yes, can we go to the snack bar?" I guess her reality testing wasn't so intact after all.
No comments:
Post a Comment