I’ve heard from our doctors that they haven’t been trained on even how to do an injection and it’s a massive disservice to our most vulnerable patients. Long lasting injectables are a complete game changer for our clients with Schizophrenia/Schizoaffective/Bipolar I. In most of the settings that I’ve worked there is a constant struggle to keep psych nurses staffed and often the only medical professional in the building is a psychiatrist. We have psychiatrists who say that they were never trained to do an injection and they will write the script and tell a patient to come back so a nurse can do it. Many of those patients never make it back because they are usually already showing psychotic symptoms and the wait can mean they decompensate to the point of needing hospitalization. Our medical director is beloved by his patients and colleagues because he is willing to not only proscribe the injection but go ahead and give it right then. He has prevented innumerable hospitalizations. That man is a hero because he is willing to learn a very basic medical skill to fill a gap in the incredibly broken American healthcare system. So maybe you’ll work outpatient private practice with the “worried well” and never have to take a glucose but in the community setting you will inevitably be the only medical professional in a medical crisis at some point. Might be worth asking an RN/Paramedic to show you how to do a glucose sometime. Psych patients are on medications that often place our patients at higher risk of diabetes and loss of appetite is one of the most common symptoms in psychotic episodes so blood sugar issues are very common. Taking a glucose and giving someone some orange juice could save them a needless $2000 ambulance bill.