Whoops!

Okay, we've been slacking...sorry!

I'm going to try and keep this one [fairly] short and sweet.

For the first clinical rotation yet, MK, Katie and I are all on the same unit - the men's intermediate stay at Dorothea Dix Hospital, a psychiatric hospital in Raleigh, NC. The primary diagnoses we see are schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder.

I've learned that psych nursing is definitely not the area of nursing I want to pursue, but I also think that this has been one of the most enlightening rotations yet.

At DDH, we also have patients called "forensic" patients - those who have been committed to DDH because they were judged "not guilty by reason of insanity." Maybe more to come on that later, but they've got three levels of security: minimum, medium, and maximum. Depending on their behavior, forensic patients are given certain privileges - like going to "the mall" for group time.

Yesterday, instead of doing group time on my floor, Mary Kelly and I went down to the mall and attended "Horticulture." After a little lesson on horticulture, we transplanted watermelon plants with the help of some patients. When we left, we even got souvenirs! I got a morning glory plant and MK got a tomato plant. I can't wait until my plant flowers! I've got to pot it in a couple weeks. After horticulture, we headed over to "Arts and Crafts," and I colored next to one of the fmax (forensic, maximum security) patients! Haha, too weird.

The fruits of my visit to "The Mall"!