Broward Community College - Silver Sands Yearbook (Fort Lauderdale, FL)

Page 18 text:

Psychiatry is the branch of med- icine concerned with investigating and treating mental illness. Statistics show mental patients occupy about 1l2 of the hospital beds in the U. S. Doctors estimate that 10 of every 100 adults will seek psychiatric help at some time. Edith West, head of the Nursing department, comes to BCC with many years of experience behind her. Mrs. West received her Masters in Psychi- atric Nursing from Boston University, taught Nursing Education at the Uni- versity of Miami for eight years, and worked as Director of Nursing at the South Florida State Hospital since 1967. While Director of Nursing at the State Hospital, Mrs. West directed some 500 to 600 Nursing employees. This was quite a job since nurses were on duty round the clock. The South Florida State Hospital houses about 1700 patients, said Mrs. West. The patients come to us through various ways though usually through the courts. We have a few who voluntarily enter though not many. Some patients are sent by the criminal courts and these patients have committed some crime, lsuch as writ- ing bad checks, rape, murderl against society. These patients have to be guarded and more security precautions taken for them, said Mrs. West. A great deal of effort goes into patrolling the whereabouts of these particular patients since the grounds are spread out and many have to be transported from one area to another. This can tie up a lot of people. There are no cut and dry rules to psychiatry. it is what you experience in Contact with the patient and how you can help him communicate. +5 ing L- Some patients, identified by blue cards, can come and go around the ground unescorted, and some are al- lowed to leave the grounds. This is not a jail, said Mrs. West. The hospital is not fenced in, we don't have guards, or carry any fire- arms. lf the patient wants to escape he can. Now of course we have locked areas and everybody has assigned keys and are responsible for these areas. However, in transporting the patients to the dining room and different ther- apies, they could run away from the grounds. We, of course, have had son escapes but these are usually returnt rapidly by police. The State Hospitals are paid f by the government and the majority patients do not pay. Those who a finacially able pay approximate S325 a month for their care. There a four State Hospitals in Florida: one Arcade, jacksonville, Chattahooch and Broward. Before Kirk cut the hospi' funds, supplies were needed and n available. We wanted air conditio ing for the patients, said Mrs. We and we didn't have adequate funds repair the buildings. After Kirk cut the State Hospi' funds, they don't have any extra that is for sure, said Mrs. West. Thirteen psychiatrists are a pointed at the S.F.S.H. because only Limited number of positions a opened for hire, as set by the Divisii of Health. Mrs. West had patient conta while at the State Hospital, though n on a consistent basis. She was involv with patients more as an instructor the University of Miami. Working with patients is quite rewarding experience, replied M West. There are no cut and dry ru to psychiatry. lt's what you expe ence in contact with the patient a how you can help him communica A nurse's job is to help the patie find helpful way to relate to his env onment. If you can help him do tl by establishing a theraputic relatic ship with him then this is the mc helpful thing you can do for the t tient.

Page 17 text:

vvere staging a sleep in at a pop festival mvernight. I let my beard grow for 2 days and I and my friend picked up a guitar and a bottle of wine and were :vidently accepted by the kids. We vere able to secure a position right in he middle of the group and saw that lrugs were being openly sold there. There was nothing we could do iecause you just don't arrest 5,000 ' H ids. lt's got to the point now where nolicemen can't do that much about lnarijuana smokers, but worry more :bout hard drugs like Heroin and Co- 1aine. l Schultz feels the new laws on peo- jle caught with a marijuana cigarette lre more appropriate. llf you are .aught with a joint on your person lnd you're just a user, it's usually lrased from your record after a year.j Q lt's pretty hard to condemn the lids using marijuana when some top eople in the cities are fronts for the tu afar. l When questioned on his views of lfire tapping, Schultz had this to say, rWe're in a dilemma in our country lfhere one individual's personal free- rom violates the freedom and ability o have safety of the home for thou- lands. l Take out and out communists yho spend every waking minute plan- ling the overthrow of our government. ihis crime far over rides his personal teedom of using his phone without omeone listening in. Now as far as tapping wires to et the warrant for petty theft or lbmething along those lines, l don't :el it's right. But for treason and mur- er I would say it's more than accept- ble. , Shultz explained the Chicago riots i this way, Newspapers are out to iell their papers. lf they can show a H7ylL'l'L' ll.'tlN llfjlflllltj wc' tould do bctuzm' you jus! dfllllf tlnusl 5, OOO kids. student throwing a brick this isn't news because he's a citizen, and no matter what the student does he's still a citizen. But if they can show a po- liceman with a baton up in the air like he's going to hit or does hit someone then this is news because he sup- posedly is a representative of the Law. Newspapers are notorious for being anti-police. This is how they sell news and magazines. They look direct- ly at what the police are doing and not too many of them show the other side, of why the policemen did what they did ln Chicago a legal body wanted to have a convention and the protest- ors were preventing this. The police re- ceived orders to protect the confer- ence against those that would cause problems. Now the police were there to protect and maintain the safety of all those involved and this included the protestors. The protestors set the way things are going to be. The police do nothing but hold a certain line. The students judge whether there's going to be a conflict or protest by breaking those lines . . . l feel Mayor Daly handled the sit- uation right and again,l lay fault in the news media who, weeks ahead of time, practically advertized and invited the people who wanted to throw bricks to come. Mr, Schultz spoke strongly on the SDS and Black Panther Movement. The Black Panthers, and SDS are ene- mies of the student. They want the complete destruction of the American system of schools. There's not a shad- ow of doubt in my mind that Com- munists are behind these movements lending their complete support. There is little difference between the Red Book lCommunist Mani- festol and the goals set forth in the platform of the Black Panthers. These kids are being led astray because racial prejudice in Russia makes ours look like nothing. SDS and Black Panthers are ad- versaries of the American system of government and we should infiltrate them attaining information and indi- vidual arrests as soon as possible. Mr. Schultz found his job as a po- liceman most rewarding. It was won- derful to come home at night and be able to say l've done something to help someone today. Whether it was solving quarrels between neighbors, giving directions or medical aid, or counseling marital problems. By the way, our professor of Police Science also delivered a baby boy all by him- self. Oh the woes of a policeman.

Page 19 text:

0 0 o Q 'Q 'aff' 'O Q ' , -'ok' 9 'Q ' - ' Q o o'.'o' ' . 0 .fer s I..-In 0 Q I I 1 u ,-I. '.' O .-' QI. JI... oh.. .,. . Q 0, ,. ... I.I. . , . , acl. IQIQI s 5 0. , ces., ,1.u.. 1 e ' s'.-'.'. 0 U O 6 ', - -I -'QR' Q 0 ',',oI.'.',' Q :Jig '.-I.IoQ.o,- '.'.- -' ' 0 ,e 0 '. 'Q a .4 .I eq.-f ' - ','f:I'I- -,.gIsg, 0 , .-.1. .0 J. -,w .1-'J-f Q - g O 3 - I .' y . . 3,-If .2 .'. . ' K! . '.',x',' - .-,oe .I.f.g.:,0.Q 54. .sI.:.f 7' '03 'fs'-' !'.'u -'Q' -'u'-'- Q . Io - 9 O o 0 . . . 0 0 - 0:-'fvff - o ' 0:-'fvf o ' ,. rf- .0 0 ' o,-fozvfvf-Qa'g 10:95 s -o..'.st -o. 0 o..'.. o 0' 0 as o 0 002,09 0.4290 5. , . 0 I... , . Q Q 0 .It , 0 pf.. 9 3, QI... 9 Q if -,o 63.5 , 0 5 , . .5 ,-.0 Q 9. ,go s s . 0,-,5 I. .0 I.I.' ,sa 1, 0 ' -1.1, ',sI.' I.I.0, 9.1: ,.I.0,' 0 - ' . , . , . I. . . I. . . I. - . . eff Q ' .Qs 32.3. :Zozo 's:.:.f+E.'2.g 2 . 1 g.Q-E.g.g.gQI- 'e':'2.I Zfjqf- '.-. 0 :T-H QT-2 fig - '-15 .0 'ff-121.-T-H-. -17-I-5 .-Q .N t. .1 -.'. A ' 'sf S. 6: Gfs s 's Sep' 2-Qs' f-Q AT-Q0 Q4-Q T-gk! '-1-, ,sf-Q. ' '-gs' Qbf- ,-Qs' '-bf-, of go gag-. -.5 .... a , -. 5 5 ... 5 .sf ' ' - O ' Q - - - .- -- Q .- 0 . J.. 5 , . . . . . I., ag-I. . .o,- . ,-Is.. Q .. go . -X I. 0.0. In.. . o , 09 ,. .o,- ve I. '.',' Q'-'.'.',u .' ' uv 'Q'-'. . 9.9 '.O. 4 .- Q' .T-'. .' s u 0.9 2'-'.'. 0.9 3,0 -:o:s',0.-:Q . '-' - -:qe,o:.g.- ' -.-. ,spy .g.3'e,o:.g . I ' - ' '.'.',o:.g.-.' s. . H .-- Q s... -s .n -545.0 s 'gn-' When questioned on the percent- age of patients returning to the Institu- ltion, Mrs. West replied, Many of our laatients do come back. But mental ill- l ess is like a cardiac problem. You go n for an immediate cardiac attack, nd you may return to your home. j But if you're placed in another stressful situation you may have to re- turn to the hospital on an emergency basis. So we don't look at a patient as being forever cured. They get better and regroup, so to speak, and then go back and function in the community. 1 lf the community is a stressful situation and it doesn't provide for ltheir needs, they will return to the hospital. This doesn't disturb me. I don't believe it disturbs too many peo- ple. The state hospital is like a first aid station where the patient can come back and receive support and kreatment and then go back to the community again. After being in a mental institution the patients records clearly show it. Some places will not accept former patients of mental institutions, said Mrs. West. 'LMany patients feel they cannot be truthful about their former illness or the job will be turned down, and this is often true. These people, depending on what job it is, can function quite well and should be given the opportunity by the community. lf you don't give them a chance they are always going to be in the State Hospital. And of course the more they are in the hospi- tal the more they are on the taxpayers role. There are many different signs of an emotional breakdown in a person. According to Mrs. West a person may become very withdrawn and isolated. He may perform in a bizarre fashion or stay in his room all day. The person may be extremely nervous and afraid. Or to the people around him there might seem to be a sudden change in behaviour, though the process has been going on over a period of time. There are two types of patients, replied Mrs. West. There are those that withdraw and refuse to communi- cate, and those that seem to confront you and want to talk to you about everything. I don't feel uncomfortable around those that don't communicate because there are other ways to ex- press yourself than verbally. A nurse working with the mentally ill should not be overly anxious, but wait for a response from the patient. Most patients are not actively but subtly hostile, said Mrs. West. Those that are actively hostile are controlled by medication. Getting to know the patient and how he will react to you is the most important thing. You have to know when you're causing too much anxiety and making the patient uncomfort- able, and why the anxiety is being caused.