Hello.

I'm a psychiatric nurse working in an inpatient setting. I can't and won't say where. I often find there are things I wish I could say to my patients. Thoughts that find words while I'm driving home after a shift.

I don't know how to explain it. In the nurse-patient relationship, especially in a psych setting, there's a need for boundaries. Patients want and need to feel that I've a handle on things. That they're not burdening me. That I'm not quite a whole real person. And that's OK. I don't want them to worry about me - they've got enough to worry about already. So sometimes, these things that I wish I could say, they're just not appropriate in reality. So I'll say them here.

These all started as facebook status updates. The response was such that I decided to move it all here.

Patient confidentiality is a priority for me. If you do know who I am or where I work, please don't let on. If you think I'm getting close to violating HIPAA regulations or inadvertently sharing identifiable information, please let me know. I welcome feedback on how best to go about this.