Full moon syndrome-fact or fiction

We did a study on this in my abnormal psych class. It turned out there was no statistical difference in the amount of ED admissions or the reasons for the visits. There was actually no difference in the numbers and types of crimes either. It appeared that people were expecting it during a full moon so they noticed it more.

I was taught waaaaayyyyy back in nursing school that this was never proven..... I have personally never noticed a difference.

I have had 31 falls in my building this month already, and the full moon is yet to come. I am NOT looking forward to filling out my monthly variance report, let alone going through the 15 incident reports that will land on my desk between now and Halloween.......

I think the full moon issue is just a figure of speech. On busy days I hear people say, "It must be a full moon" without even looking to see that we are nowhere near that time of the month. People just assume because of their preconceived notions.

Oh heck yes, I believe. Sometimes those full moons last a week or two, lol.

I do not care about the statistical data.....34 years of being a nurse is proof enough to me.

Here is where people start talking about how smart they are, because we all just have a selective memory, so we remember crazy on full moons/Friday the 13th/after someone says the Q-word (quiet) but there's no real difference.My take? Nurses have no real control over their environment. No matter how organized you are, how prepared you are, all it takes is one crazy person/event/missing supply/call-in/whatever and it all goes to Hades.So we take control where we can. We can avoid saying the Q-word. We can know that no matter how bad it is today on the full moon, our next shift will be better because the moon will be in a different phase.So maybe in reality it doesn't make a difference. But I believe things are worse on a full moon. I will strangle anyone that comes onto my floor and comments on the lack of sound. And the night walking in there were weird creepy birds lined up on top of the hospital? Yeah, that night sucked too.But the next shift will be better.

Quote from tokmomOh heck yes, I believe. Sometimes those full moons last a week or two, lol.

Quote from VivaLasViejasI have had 31 falls in my building this month already, and the full moon is yet to come. I am NOT looking forward to filling out my monthly variance report, let alone going through the 15 incident reports that will land on my desk between now and Halloween.......

Thanks for this information, I sometimes think the same as well if patients start to act crazy, I question if it is a full moon tonight.

I work in mental health. This is absolutely fact.

Well, interestingly, my daughter had grand mal seizures - uncontrolled no matter the medication or surgical procedure we had tried. I started to notice that her seizures were most often affiliated with the full moon. Day before, day of, or day after the FM were days when typically her seizures would hit. I mentioned this to her FP who didn't really believe me, but her neurosurgeon certainly did! He said that kids like my daughter with hydrocephalus as an underlying condition, most certainly seem to have more seizure activity around the full moon. He said that while he worked at a pediatric hospital, he had seen kids with seizures come in much more frequently around the full moon. His theory was, that if the full moon can affect the tide, it certainly could affect the the fluid balance in someone's brain, thereby causing seizures.