So far so good...

We are now about 1/4 way through our first semester of the second year of nursing school. We are split up into two groups this semester: Psych and OB/Peds and will switch next semester. From what I hear, OB/Peds is pretty rough...taking care of sick babies is never very fun. However, the psych rotation is no walk in the park! It was only four weeks, but I think that is just about all we could handle. The Northern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services has an inpatient facility, and these are the sickest of the sick. You see, thanks to Reagan, nearly all mental health cases are handled on an outpatient basis. The only way someone can be hospitalized for a mental illness is if they pose a threat to themselves or to others. Well lucky us, we got to hang out with the hospitalized folks, and boy was that intense! I have never seen the ugly face of schizophrenia until I walked into this place. And then of course we just had to tour Lakes Crossing, which is a pretty name for the facility for the criminally insane. Our teacher always told us that if the hair on the back of our necks stood up, then we should trust that and respond appropriately. Well, the whole hour and some minutes we were in this particular facility, the hairs on the back of my neck were standing at attention. Needless to say, I was on guard. I can definitely say that I will never work in that facility. Which, by the way, is the only facility of it's kind in Nevada...the scariest people are in this place. Just making eye contact will send shivers up your spine. If you can get up the courage to actually go in there!