Plagueis

Latest Activity

1. BID strictly every 12h or just twice a day?

   Plagueis replied to krg8089's topic in New Nurse

   For PRN orders, our consult pharmacist discourages orders without a specific time frame. If an order is BID PRN, it should be written every 12 hours, or for TID PRN, every 8 hours. This is to prevent confusion about exactly how much time should pass ...

2. Do you give meds without seeing the MDs order if he MAR has been checked?

   Plagueis replied to canadianRNeducator's topic in Medications

   The midnight shift is responsible for chart checks where I work, and that is a 24-hour check. In LTC, nurses often have 30 or more residents. When do they have the time to check 30+ medical charts for every single order before the med pass? Plus, I'v...

3. LTC facility-TAKE DOWN THAT ARTWORK NOW!!!

   Plagueis replied to juzme's topic in General Nursing

   I've never heard of artwork being considered a state violation. Every LTC facility I've been in displays the resident's artwork. I would think there would be more serious things for state inspectors to worry about.

4. brilliant freaking idea - pull ALL CNA's. . .

   Plagueis replied to Lola77's topic in General Nursing

   And I'm sure that at some facilities, the nurse who confronted the DON and wrote the complaint would be fired for insubordination, or for some other reason.

5. Sleeping on lunch break

   Plagueis replied to nursebrandie28's topic in General Nursing

   I was interested in the studies regarding taking a nap while at work that was previously posted, and how it can be beneficial. However, every place that I've worked (in LTC) at had rules that prohibited sleeping at work, even on breaks, and that slee...

6. How to admit new patients in LTC facilities

   Plagueis replied to lvnnars1's topic in General Nursing

   I can also add the following assessment sheets that my old LTC used: Braden scale, pain, wander risk, and physical mobility. Also, we had to send the diet slip to the kitchen and weight the resident. Plus, sometimes there were consults for follow-up...

7. Why do night shift nurses get paid more when day shift clearly does MORE work?

   Plagueis replied to squatmunkie_RN's topic in Relations

   I work in LTC, and I've worked every shift. From a work standpoint, I would prefer to work the overnight shift over day shift anytime. I admit, I found it nearly impossible to sleep in the daytime, and noisy kids, neighbors, and insensitive phone cal...

8. Am I in the wrong Nursing home?

   Plagueis replied to MelissaLPN's topic in Geriatric

   In my experience, most issues with meds involve the pharmacy not sending refills in time, even if they are ordered. Just yesterday, for instance, two meds I pulled the refill label for last Thursday were still not in. (I was off the days in between....

9. Cough Syrup via PEG Tube

   Plagueis replied to MisMatch's topic in General Nursing

   Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm assuming the Mucinex you're referring to are the granules, since the pills are extended-release. How well do the granules go through a peg tube?

10. Do we really need a MD's order for this?

    Plagueis replied to Plagueis's topic in Geriatric

    First, thanks to everyone who responded. And, no, our orders aren't computerized. Diet orders here, or so I thought, just list the kind of diet (ie. regular, puree) the resident is on. It just killed me when I saw the POS with these food preferences ...

11. Do we really need a MD's order for this?

    Plagueis posted a topic in Geriatric

    I understand that resident's need a physician's order to apply ice, heat, or even for Vaseline, for instance. However, recently I've seen orders to D/C particular food items from a resident's diet. For example, one order was to D/C waffles with brea...

12. Giving PRN at family request

    Plagueis replied to MelissaLPN's topic in Geriatric

    Unfortunately, I know a few nurses who were written up for not giving a PRN pain med at the family's request, despite the fact that the nurses assessment didn't warrant a PRN. So some places may "punish" a nurse if they don't please the family. t

13. Any other LPN's find LTC too much to deal with?

    Plagueis replied to cardiacnurse34's topic in LPN/LVN

    Hmm. I think I worked with the clone of that guy you mentioned. The nurse I know would finish his two meds passes in less than an hour. However, when anyone else (including me) worked that section, it would take almost 2 to 3 times as long to finish.

14. We only have one pulse oximeter for the facility, but we have flat-screen TVs!

    Plagueis posted a topic in General Nursing

    I've been hearing stories from my fellow nurses about not having enough equipment (or it goes missing) at work, so they end up buying their own, such as personal pulse oximeters or wrist blood pressure machines. I would then ask if they made managem...

15. Tips for preparing for surveyors @ work

    Plagueis replied to patskeelvn's topic in General Nursing

    I've had pharmacy reps follow me and my coworkers (not state surveyors), and there were a few things that they flagged that may not seem like biggies, but were important to them: Make sure all spoons on the cart have their handles up; don't use the g...