Black Jade

I had three experiences in where two of them were done in clinicals. I remember one experience when I used to work at a clinic, I had to cathetherize a male patient who was paraplegic. I was a little nervous, because it had been awhile since my school clinicals and I was still new at my job. My supervisor made me have a female stand-by with me in case I felt uncomfortable. I was nervous trying to make sure everything was sterile and I found myself looking for his member. My stand-by and I were looking at each other confused, until he said that his member was buried. Soooo, I had to dig for it. I was so embarrased since I never experienced something like this. Nursing is stressful. However, as a nurse, I have to say that things like this makes my life interesting. In my opinion, you will never encounter weird, funny and humbling experiences in other professions more than in healthcare.

What about a warm shawl so she can wear it around her shoulders? Great gift for this time of the year.

It is a "one-of-a-kind" profession where you wear multiple hats.

Noble

Lately this has been happening more frequently at our company and we all wonder what we can do about it. They're asking to put "reminders" not to steal other people's food and/or office supplies. How can a "reminder" help this situation? The individual doesn't need to be reminded not to steal, just keep their hands off from what doesn't belong to them. Some people find it funny or dismiss it as being petty. But others, including myself, find it disrespectful, dishonest and unethical. If this individual doesn't have any regards for other's people's property, I wonder how he or she is with patients or other types of jobs that involves money or information that is confidential? Will that individual also tamper with medical records, (ie. I heard of CNAs making up BP numbers), steal money or medications? I wouldn't trust this individual to work for me. Putting a surveillance camera is out of the question as that violates everybody's privacy. Has this ever happened at your facility or company? Did they ever caught the culprit? If so, what happened to him/her?

While it is difficult to lose a patient, I commend you for handling it well especially early in your nursing career. In my opinion, I think it will be better that you send a card as group since everybody worked together to saved this patient's life. Hugs to you RNikkiF. :hug: ...and good luck in your journey as a nurse.

Difficult enough that only about seven students from our class passed the first time. We had three attempts to pass and those who didn't, wouldn't be able to graduate. But because it was a trial and we were all panicking, the instructors decided to just give extra points according to the percentage scored.

I think proof of that will be if you look around and check your co-workers; especially the young ones. How many of them would you consider to be good looking?

I wonder if the hospital will get sued, if something happened to the neglected patients because some stupid lazy CNA or "nurse" didn't care.

Check out this website on Occupational Outlook on Registered Nurses. Hope this helps. BJ http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos083.htm

I'm still not sure about your plan. If I were the employer and see your resume, I'd still want to know where you did your CNA studies. Just my . As far as the youtube videos, I wouldn't rely on them since some of them are not legit or are evidence based. You might want to buy books that come in combo with DVDs or videos. I bought a DVD on critical care and it helped me for my clinicals. Also, there is a thread about CNAs and nursing skills on video that you might want to check it out. Just do a search on it.

As a nurse, there are more things to worry about than just a back injury. We are at risk for Hepatitis, HIV, TB, MRSA, violence, etc...The fact that you are becoming a hypochondriac is not good. Heck, you are more likely to injure your back at home than your work as a nurse! As long as you use proper body mechanics and ask for help, the risk of a back injury will be minimal. On another note, if you choose to find another career please make sure you do your research prior to applying. It will save you stress and a lot of headaches.

My sincerest sympathy to you and your family. Stick to your guns with the day off you requested; you are entitled to your bereavement time. If I were you, I would go straight to the higher ups and HR to explain my situation. It's sad that we can be there for our patients, but when it comes to our own family management makes a huge deal.

As far as I know, the only time that you can challenge a CNA exam is when you already finished your first semester in the RN program. After that, you can work as a Nursing Assistant in the hospital. In California, they have Regional Occupational Programs to get your CNA where you just pay for your books and your uniform. Don't you also need to accumulate clinical hours prior to getting your CNA license?

Are you able to talk to the manager about it? When I used to work at a clinic, my MAs wanted to do everything they pleased. I brought my concerns to the manager and together we worked out a plan where the MAs had to do their job according to their scope of practice without stepping on anybody's shoes.