Psych Trap

During the evening shift, the psychiatrist asked me, the nurse in charge, if I agreed that a young adolescent boy had a mental illness. Immediately disagreeing, I explained that the boy had been severely beaten by his mother's boyfriend, that his anger was understandable. The doctor explained that his mother reported that her son had a rather healthy appetite one night the week before and had played basketball with some friends. His mother reported that this was not usual behavior and the doctor concluded that this was evidence of a manic state. I voiced my opinion that perhaps the kid had logical reasons to be angry--a healthy appetite and playing sports were rather normal behavior. The doctor still prescribed several psychotropic medications for the young man, including anti-psychotic medications even though there had been no observed, reported, or documented signs of psychosis. Later that night, as I was passing bedtime medications, I found myself standing at the medication station with an anti-psychotic drug in my hand and having a lot of difficulty giving it to a boy who did not need it. My nursing license was telling me that I had to administer it.