Week 2 as a level 3 nursing student

This week has been one of realizations! As much as I'm enjoying the research and readings on mental health issues, I'm having a hard time adjusting to the pace in mental health nursing. I've become very accustomed to the fast paced, task-oriented nature of nursing and mental health nursing is a completely different framework altogether. I'm finding it a bit hard to understand what my tasks are when I'm at the hospital. The patients get up, we take vitals, they get their meds, and they pretty much do activities with the occupational therapists and recreational therapists. This kind of nursing is a whole lot of talking, but when patients don't want to talk and they don't want to play games, I find that I'm unsure of what to do. I ask the other nurses and health care workers if they need help with anything, but they say no. So it's a bit of a challenge for me.

This semester seems super intense. I think for the first time since starting school last January, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with the volume of assignments. It may not be such a bad thing to have a two week break during the Olympics. I know it's just a matter of organizing myself, but I'm just scared I won't be on top of everything. Having said that, I won't let it happen either... :)

It's nice having a day off in the middle of the week - I'm really productive in that I get readings and patient research done. Time to go to pharmacology! Have a great week, everyone!