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I applied for a VA nursing job online for the VA hospital in AR. I am moving back home to AR at the end of this month. About a week after I applied, I got a phone call from HR dept in Little Rock requesting a phone interview ( I live in VA. I did the phone interview with about 4 different people present. They called me 2 weeks later and said I was hired. They have emailed me the necessary documents that I am printing out today and faxing back to them. What else is involved in this process? They told me the pay rate and offered me the job which I accepted.

We cover them with Oposite as well. Especially with patients who tend to sweat a lot, it keeps the patch in place.

I used to keep a notebook on the cart for staff members to write (non emergency) things down. It cut down on the interuptions from other staff members.

I currently work in a SNF with a patient census of 42 {there are 2 nurses}. I am taking up to 2.5-3 hours to complete the medpass. We have computerized EMAR. Shift starts at 7am, sometimes it is almost 8am before I can get report from the 11-7 nurse, so that puts me behind from the get go! I do my Diabetic patients first. Most of my patients are on ALOT of meds. There are constant interuptions despite the fact that I took the initiative to put a notebook on my medcart asking people to please write down the non-emergent issues for me. Our admin is huge on customer service, so he thinks that the nurse can be constantly interrupted during the medpass and it is ok! I have been a nurse for 7 years, and this medpass is something else!! I have only been working at this facility for almost a month, and everyday I get so frustrated. I have tried cleaning and organizing the medcart, but it is always in a shambles when I return. I seem to be the only nurse who restocks and orders meds. Anyone have any tips or pointers for me? They also leave narcs from discharged patients sitting in the cart too! On my 2nd day in orientation, a whole card of 30 Percocets went missing! I was on the first cart not the cart when the narcs went missing. The DON drug tested a bunch of nurses, so I don't know what became of it..... Although I was told by a nurse that this isn't the first time narcs have gone missing. So for the sake of my license, when I accept narcotic delivery from pharmacy, I have a 2nd nurse cosign with me when I place the narcotic in the narc box!

Ditto on the a&p and medical terminology. Also, expect to spend a great majority of your free time studying. If you are required to wear white uniforms for your clinical rotation, please please please wear all white undergarments. Make sure your shoes are the proper ones and clean. Keep your hair off of your collar.

I was recently terminated from my nursing job of 5 years. I made the mistake of making a comment about administration (not nursing, but front office). In the time I was there, I had never been written up, my employeer reviews were all good. There was never any complaint about my nursing care or how I performed my job duties. Yes, I learned the hard way. From now on, I will keep my opinions to myself! The funny thing is that other nurses have been overheard stating the same thing but I was the one called on the carpet for it. I have been sending out my resume and filling out job applications. The phone calls are starting to trickle in with offers for job interviews. I have saved an email directly from the HR person who fired me who stated they only verify dates of employment only. How do I address this issue if it comes up? I have never ever been fired before, so I have no clue on how to handle this. I am a nurse with 7 years experience and this was my 2nd nursing job. Thank you.

You could always soak the swabs in mouthwash. I am forever wiping faces and mouths myself!! With the disabled pediatric patients I take care of, most of them are mouth breathers. That means constant gunk and crud to clean out!! Our cna's are fabulous when it comes to oral care on these little folks!!

I always use pink toothettes to soften up the gunk. I am a big believer in oral care!! Nothing chaps my behind more then seeing a patient with dried up secretions and crud in their mouth. Plus it makes them feel better too!

Yep, totally out of hand. Funny thing is, when a significent event occurs, there may not be an event report filled out. I talked with our QA nurse, and she gave me good guidelines on what NOT to write a report on. For instance, one of our kiddos pulled out his hair and ate the pretty big clump. That should have warranted an event report along with an IDT prompter for behavior issues, the IDT was written, but the event report wasn't. I am going to see if she wants to do an inservice for the newer nurses and staff members on guidelines for these reports.

We have to fill out event reports for lots of things. Gtubes get pulled out, or dislodged from deflated balloons. Scratches (even tiny ones). Heck, a new rec therapy person wrote an event report on me one day, because she thought I wasn't happy enough to be at work!! She was of the opinion that I was in a bad mood. Nice to know, that you can write them based on opinions. They have gotten out of hand at my place of employment....

At the old building (which was over 60 years old) there was the spirit of a nun who would go into the children's rooms and turn on the water faucets. Several of the old timers saw her, and one actually spoke with her. They said she looked like a real solid person. She had worked there for years and I guess she didn't want to leave her "babies". That old building was torn down 2 years ago. I often wonder if her spirit moved on.

I would reccomend a thin layer of either baby powder with cornstarch to keep you dry or Gold bond powder. They both will keep you dry and prevent friction.

You have summed up my thoughts exactly!! Some parents are just scared when it comes to taking care of a special needs child. I was scared to death at first, but with awesome nurses teaching me and helping me I got through it. There is nothing wrong with placing your child in a group home or ltc for special needs kids. That is what we are here for. I have walked in these parents shoes, so I am very aware of their feelings. I tell parents it is ok to ask for help. That doesn't make you less of a parent. Some parents do not have family to help them. I kept my son at home for years. I was eternally grateful for the nurses that helped us. At one point, when my daughter was born, we made the decision to place him in the ltc that I now work at. (this was over 20 years ago). I know the guilt and anguish parents face when they have to make a decision like this. I didn't have family who was willing to help me at all. My parents lived cross country, and my inlaws were frightened of the thought of hurting my son. The person who criticized me the most, was my mil. She never once offered to help with our son, or even come over to learn to help take care of him. In fact, she only held him a handful times in his life. Point is, there are good ones and not so good ones. You need to make a decision. Yes, there are parents who take advantage of the help they receive. There are some parents who are just over whelmed with the prospect of taking care of a special needs child. Parents need a break sometimes. It is both mentally and physically exhausting at times. Add to the mix "normal" children and it can get more stressfull. I have seen cases of where the healthly sibling ends up resenting the special needs child due to the amount of attention they need. I wish you good luck in whatever path you choose.

My son was special needs. Severe brain damage, blind and deaf. Fed by g-tube and had a colostomy bag. I was blessed to have home care nurses help me with my son. They were there to take care of him during the day, so myself and husband could go to work. However, when I came home from work, I took over. I enjoyed taking care of my child. I had a certain way I did things, and never once did I expect the nurses to do anything else, but take care of my child. Now that I am a nurse myself, I work with special needs children in a LTC type facility. I see all types of parents, from the extremely involved in the care of their child, to the haven't called or visited in years and years. I understand your frustation, but since I was in a situation similar, I can offer a different viewpoint if I may. Regarding the father who plays xbox, maybe he feels overwhelmed or even scared of taking care of his child. My husband loved our son, but had no clue about his meds or his gtube care, or his colostomy care as well. He was scared to even be left alone for even for a few hours. The only thing you can do is continue to take good care of this child and bite your tounge. Or perhaps look into another type of nursing. I am sorry you are going through this, it is a tough situation.

I worked for them too over 4 years ago and they didn't do a credit check. If they did, I def wouldn't have been hired!