MiAmorPickles

I’ve gotten out of pediatric private duty work since I posted on here. Had some health iissues come up and couldn’t continue working full time so took 3 months off and then went part-time filling in for call-ins or no-shows. Then, two incidents occurred. 1) Drove to a job to help them out with a patient in another county 2 hours away and they wouldn’t pay the $2 extra per hour for the vent patient or pay gas expenses. I had already worked 40 hours that week and they said since I was in overtime they wouldn’t pay any extras. Even though they were the ones who asked me to do them a favor and go out there. 2) I got stuck in rush-hour traffic for two hours going to a job that they forgot to tell me was canceled (total drive time = 3 hrs) and after going back-and-forth with them about it they finally paid a whopping $10 for my trouble TWO MONTHS LATER instead of standard industry courtesy pay. If they were going to jack me around like that and only pay me 10 bucks, I didn’t want to work for them anymore. Disrespectful. I quit. I wound up getting a better job with decent benefits and the most money per hour I’ve ever been paid so they actually did me a favor. I don’t ever want to feel undervalued like that again.

I am at the end of my career and it makes no sense to go back to school now to get a AD/RN degree or BSN . Worked in hospitals all my life until recently and loved med/surg and stepdown. The hospital I worked at before no longer hires LVN's. Learned a lot on the job and was good at it. Doing home health now on high acuity pediatric patients. Working in someone's home just isn't rewarding to me because I just get sick of family after a while and move on to something else. (Never met a sick child I did not like though, btw). I respect the house rules and all, don't get me wrong, but I just left one house because the mother would point at me and say "Do this now!" and said LVN's aren't as good as RN's and there I am taking care of her child. This same mother just asked the company to bring me back. Ugh. I always smile and play nice, but I wish I had gotten my RN years ago because I hate to admit this, but I am ashamed that I write LVN instead of RN after my name.

This is so sad but true.

I took rectal temps on a total care ped patient and the day nurse (5 year history with child) got upset and told the pulmonologist the next day and told me the doctor said no rectal temps and that it required a doctor's order because it was invasive. There are no rectal issues. I'm floored and don't believe it. The day before this happened the nurse and I took the pts temp and she got 97.8 ax and I got 100.8 ax. She said I was crazy and that my temp couldn't be right. I took rectal temps because I figured it's more accurate and the rationale was that there was such a big discrepancy in our temps and I wanted to be as accurate as possible. I asked if she told the doc about the discrepancy in the temps we got and she said no. I figured it's because I've only been there for 1 1/2 yrs and she didn't like that it made her look bad in front of the new nurse she was orienting.

I don't speak Spanish except for maybe 20 words and have been dreaming of moving to Puerto Rico for the past few years. Don't know why. Life is not always about the rate of pay but the experiences along the way.

I worked in a hospital that would use RN's and LVN's as CNA's when the census was low. Saw a new RN quit the day she was assigned to work as a CNA--she was very offended by it. It was hard work and I was always running around like a chicken with its head cut off when I had to do it. Got paid the same salary too which was great because it was a weekend job and I got the weekend shift differential plus weekend plan pay.

The day after writing this, I got an email from this agency with a list of open jobs for my consideration. So everything worked out as it usually does in life--one way or another.

I went to do a few hours with the day nurse at a new patient's home and things looked okay, but when I went back the next day for a 5 hour meet and greet with the family I knew I did no want to go back. The agency offered me $3 more an hour than what I currently make to take this assignment and tried to talk me into taking the job, but I said no after several minutes of going back and forth with the office staff. I will admit that I am a bit of a pushover and not very aggressive or demanding, so they probably thought they could talk me into it. They just didn't take into account that with 25 years of experience, I know what I will or won't do job-wise and will not be pushed into something I don't want to do--been there, done that and it didn't end well. That being said, yesterday they called and left a message wanting me to cover a shift there. Couldn't believe it! I never responded. Just signed on with this PDN agency too and they haven't offered me any other positions. I currently work PT at another PDN agency and have been with a client over a year there and enjoy it. I hate the way this has worked out but I refuse to do something that I know will make me unhappy in the long run. I personally have went to several meet and greets before finding an assignment that is a good fit. And I have taken some jobs that seemed good until the parents started treating me like a personal servant and I had to get out of there. I will go above and beyond to give good customer service, but there are limits.

That is the same advice another nurse friend gave me. I have made it a habit not to repeat secondhand info to higher ups during my career and I don't know if it's old age or what making me second guess my normal reactions to something like this!! Thanks for the words of wisdom and I am officially dusting my hands of the whole kit and kaboodle.

My first night as a new nurse in med/surg, I showed up and was given an assignment. No preceptor, nothing. I didn't know better. This was almost 30 years ago. I did the best I could. Looking back, I am surprised I managed to make it through the shift--halfway through the the supervisor showed up and apologized saying she didn't realize I was a new nurse and I needed a preceptor. But they still had me work the rest of the shift alone. Very rough. I wound up getting an peptic ulcer and losing 40 pounds during the first few months on the job there. I then got one week of precepting and then got told I wasn't ready and needed another week of orientation (geez, ya think!) My daughter just got her license and is taking hospital classes mixed with on the floor training that lasts for four months. I can only shake my head when I think about how us new nurses used to be thrown out there to sink or swim.

I work in private duty nursing. I met a nurse this morning at my current assignment who just stopped working an assignment I had also previously worked on before this current one. She remarked that she needed to leave because the nurse's there were giving her a hard time because she wanted to do things by the book, i.e., count the narcs at the beginning of her shift, etc. Anyway, she remarked that one of the nurses on that particular job--whom I actually oriented to take my place--is asking for and accepting money from the patient's mother due to a gambling problem. She said she didn't tell the office about it and was wondering whether she should. I told her this was a big deal--a violation of patient boundaries--but I gathered from our conversation she just wants to put it all behind her and move on. I am tempted to call the office and give them a heads up on the situation. However, it would just be secondhand information and I don't want to look like a busybody. Words of wisdom anybody?