melsman1904

melsman1904 has 6 years experience and specializes in Home Health.

Latest Activity

1. how many points

   melsman1904 replied to BabaLouRN's topic in Home Health

   30/ week SOC = 2.75 pts Recert = 1.75 Roc = 2.25 Oasis D/C = 1 Routine SN visit = 1 pt

2. ICU Male Nurses - Scrub Question

   melsman1904 replied to lennon33x's topic in Men

   I second Aviators. I'm in home health and give my scrubs a thorough beating sliding in and out of a car all day. They are some of the most comfortable scrubs I've ever owned. Also, you can customize them to practically any configuration you could ...

3. Wound care opinions (apologize for length!)

   melsman1904 replied to CaringGerinurse525's topic in General Nursing

   If the drainage is r/t edema, you would need to control the edema. What is causing the edema? Venous insufficiency? Do you have a current ABI? From what I read, my next step would be to discuss with the Wound MD the possibility of utilizing somet...

4. Nurse Retention ideas

   melsman1904 replied to CCU-Flight RN's topic in General Nursing

   Most others have mentioned it already... The #1 reason we all work: MONEY. I challenge anyone who disagrees with that to do any of our jobs for free while maintaining the (sometimes) unreasonably high standards required of us for 12 hours. Don't ho...

5. How does you agency handle on call responsibilities?

   melsman1904 replied to melsman1904's topic in Home Health

   Thanks for the responses. Very interesting to see the differences from agency to agency.

6. How does you agency handle on call responsibilities?

   melsman1904 posted a topic in Home Health

   Just out of curiosity, how does your agency handle on call responsibilities? 1. How many on-call shifts do you have each week? 2. How often are you required to handle weekend on call duty? 3. What hours are considered on-call/afterhours? 4. What's th...

7. Quality between Littmann models that big of a difference?

   melsman1904 replied to Nguyenchester's topic in Uniform/Gear

   During nursing school, I had the Lightweight II S.E. and it worked ok. In fact, I used it for probably a year or so after graduating. I had the opportunity to use a Cardiology S.T.C for a while and the difference was night and day to me. I got a M...

8. What kind of holiday bonus do you get?

   melsman1904 replied to cbcle's topic in General Nursing

   I get to be the primary on call nurse for ~200 home health pts. Oh, and since Tuesday is my normal call night, I get to be primary on call for New Years Day as well. I must've been extra good this year for Santa to bring that shining nugget of coal ...

9. holiday pay this year-what??

   melsman1904 replied to orla's topic in General Nursing

   What is this holiday pay you speak of??? For us, it's just another Sunday. No weekend diff either. I'm not complaining though. I could be asking "What is this job thing you speak of?"

10. Night shift work

    melsman1904 replied to pat8585's topic in General Nursing

    It could be considered a stepping stone. I hired in to a hospital on nights and was able to score a day shift position after some time because I was already an employee. One distinct benefit is that you may know about an open position before it is ...

11. male nurses with beards

    melsman1904 replied to nrsman1's topic in Men

    Like mofomeat and Bortaz, I got the short end of the stick on facial hair. I can grow in a decent goatee, but the rest just grows in thin ans splotchy. Lately, I've been wearing the goatee as Mrs. Melsman seems to enjoy it.

12. on call/ low census status

    melsman1904 replied to TallRN3's topic in General Nursing

    I see this situation a lot at my current facility. Some take PTO, some take unpaid leave. I really don't know what others do, but I usually volunteer to pick up a shift later in the pay period if needed. Also, I budget accordingly so that I can ab...

13. Customer Service? Maybe on your home planet.

    melsman1904 replied to Art_Vandelay's topic in Relations

    Please understand that I'm not asserting that unprofessional behavior is acceptable, no matter the circumstances. Now, let's look at this a little more in depth. We've all heard about patient rights and responsibilities, right? Well, a lot of atten...

14. Customer Service? Maybe on your home planet.

    melsman1904 replied to Art_Vandelay's topic in Relations

    I've only been a nurse for a little over 2 years, so my experiences are somewhat limited. However, most (in the neighborhood of 95%) of the rude pt behavior I've experienced has been over things out of my control. Examples are giving pain meds earl...

15. Overtime, how much?

    melsman1904 replied to anotherone's topic in General Nursing

    I rarely see OT on my unit. Usually, I get called in on an off day and then get canceled later in the week. It's not ideal, but it will do for now. It really makes it difficult to plan things on my off days. I guess, working with a great group of...