As mentioned earlier, the protocol is to remove any sharp items. If I was there in this case, I would have not sedated the patient and talked to the patient about the problem. As stated earlier, the patient desperately needed therapy and did not require sedation. Therefore, I would treat the patient with counseling and therapy and mild anti-depressant medication. Seeing how the patient was a vulnerable, she would be monitored to see if she displays any suicidal tendency. Regardless, the patient's privacy and dignity would be well preserved. What I Like About This Job

For all those who have the passion to serve the humanity and take care of the people, being a psychiatric technician is the perfect career for these people. There is no doubt in the fact that the people who are admitted to the psychiatric ward are going through great trauma. These people need the love and attention of their family, friends and absolutely anyone around them. Since the consultants do not have that much time to give to every individual patient, the psychiatric technician is the one that has to interact with the patients and the family of the patients on a daily basis. After a great deal of effort, care and empathy, when the patients start showing their trust in me, that gives me a great feeling of accomplishment.

This is the kind of job that allows one to give ample time to one's studies. I have completed my diploma in psychiatry and now I want to pursue further education in the field. The timings of my duty are very convenient; therefore I can easily carry on with my studies. Moreover, the tasks that have been given to me are also very convenient and they make it possible for me to learn a lot about this field.

There are many patients who come to the hospital in a very bad condition. They stay in the hospital under our supervision; we interact with them and help them come out of their psychiatric problem. Many of these patients get well and are discharged from the hospital. When they leave healthy, it gives you an unexplainable feeling of accomplishment and encourages one to do even better in this field (Loscin, 2013).

List of Topics

1. Introduction

This topic will include a detailed explanation of the aims and objectives for writing this book. It will also include a brief summary of the main themes that are contained in the book.

2. Characteristics of a Psychiatric Technician

This chapter would explain in detail the characteristics that should be owned by a psychiatric technician. It will also briefly mention the characteristics that are absolute contra-indications for a psychiatric technician. Apart from this, this chapter will also include the habits that need to be adopted by the technician and exercises through which he or she can attain the characteristics of being a good psychiatrist technician (Psychiatric Technicians and Aides, 2012).

3. What a Technician needs to know about psychiatry

This chapter will briefly list and explain the knowledge that a technician needs to have about psychiatry. It will also explain briefly the degrees that a technician should achieve to become successful in this field.

4. How to deal with different types of patients

A psychiatric technician needs to know that every psychiatric patient will behave in a different way. Therefore, he should have sound knowledge as to how he or she should deal with every kind of patient. This chapter will give a brief summary of the different behaviors that psychiatric patients and exhibit and the ways these patients should be dealt with.

5. Career choices for Psychiatric Technician

This chapter would not offer alternatives to the psychiatric technicians, but it would inform the technician what he can do to become successful in this field.

6. Conclusion

This chapter would simply sum up whatever is contained in the book. Moreover, it will also sum up all the important advices that have been given to a psychiatric technician in this book.

The best psychiatric technician

There are many technicians that I come across every day, but there are some that become a source of motivation for their colleagues. One of such technician who used to work with me was Mr. Tim Harry (not his real name). The reason why I consider him one of the best technicians is that he had all the characteristics that should be there in a person if he or she wants to become a successful technician. It should be noted here that when a person is working in a psychiatric ward, he needs...

Tim was the kind of person who was always happy and he made others happy as well. Every morning when he would come to his duty, he would greet each and every patient in the ward. He would even go up to the patients who were not assigned to him and helped them with whatever he could. Many times I also noticed him staying beyond his duty hours and making use of this time by interacting and socializing with patients. He never reacted to whatever negative remarks some patients hurled at him. He was also up for learning and expanding his knowledge about the field. The aforementioned are the reasons why so many of the patients would start admiring him. Once they started admiring him, they started putting their trust in him. This gave him a great edge to peep into their hearts and minds and therefore this is what made it possible for him to treat them appropriately and to make appropriate notes. Because of his gentle behavior, patients also listened to what Tim told them to do and this was in itself a great help in their treatment. Apart from this, he would also always help his colleagues with any sort of help that they needed. Another major attribute shown by him is that he takes people's wishes and their ethics into consideration. A psychiatrist should therefore know when certain ethical issues make an impact on the patient and he should accordingly with them. (Howe, 2011)
Skills Needed

A psychiatrist should have a good set of personal attributes that make his or her job easier. A psychiatrist should be able to observe and listen in a very good manner. Another important skill is that a psychiatric technician should maintain their own integrity and ethical conduct. Often when psychiatrists are placed in certain situations, they tend to give their own judgment about a person. Therefore, the psychiatric technician should have a nonjudgmental viewpoint and cognizance of their own limitation. They should exhibit empathy and compassion to the patient; however, they should also be firm to present their point across (Nasrallah 2011) Another crucial skill to have is the curiosity and mindset of a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist should be inquisitive and be able to take from any signals from the patient.

These were certain aspects from the personality component of the psychiatrist. Nasrallah (2011) also stressed on the domain of clinical mastery. This basically stressed that the psychiatric technician should be aware of the models of psychopathology and different behaviors. The technician should have a clear cut idea about the principles of psychiatry and be able to apply evidence based interventions. The psychiatric technician should also be vigilant in going for diagnostic measures to rule out other medical problems. Many a times, a patient will present with more dire medical problems rather than issues with his or her psychical and mental health. This therefore presents the technician with a duty to recognize and resolve those problems first.

The psychiatrist should also be able to maintain a balanced professional and personal life. This means that he should be able to sustain a healthy and smooth relationship with other crucial facilities and with the patient's family. Another major skill the technician should display is the increase comfort level with the people so that they don't have a problem in expressing their problems to the psychiatrist. Overall, it is seen that a lot of relevance is laid on overall clinical competency in investigation, diagnosis and management. The psychiatrist should be a good communicator and should make relevant timely decisions. (Bhugra et.al, 2009)

Checklist

1. Sign in

2. Take the list of the assigned patients

3. Visit every sub-ward and greet all the patients

4. Observe any difference in attitude or behavior

5. Take the patients for breakfast

6. Note what each patient eats and whether or not he or she has eaten well

7. Bring the patients back to the ward and make sure they are feeling comfortable

8. Ask them if they want something

9. Make notes of the behavior and attitude and if any changes noted about each assigned patient

10. Discuss the progress of the patient with the consultant

11. Arrangement meetings with family members of the patients with the consultant (if required)

12. Go back to patients

13. Spend at least 20 minutes with every patient…