tiger

i'm paid by the hour and get ot(time and a half for anything over 40 hrs in a week or anything over 12 in the day. also time and a half for holidays(i think we get six paid holidays).

i've heard that you would also hang for the lpn. even though they are liscensed. how ridiculous is this? everyone should be responsible for their own scope of practice. the rn cannot know everything that a cna or lpn does and should not be held responsible. cosigning is the same stupidity. how did these regulations come to pass?????

sorry for a kind of a double post--i didn't think the first one took.

val--why the need to be so nasty? can't this be a friendly debate. it was before you showed up. and no, i haven't participated. only observed. it seems you are just looking to put someone else down instead of talk about things.

:)

where i work we have cnas. they only do adls. they used to be able to do more. i am an lpn. i used to be able to do alot more too. more and more restrictions came in to limit our scope of care. i don't understand why, when there is a nursing shortage???????????

we used to have this too. the overlapping shifts were SWEET! of course it was taken away to cut costs. but now that i am used to the 3 12s i don't know if i would wanna go back. 4 days off is nice, and like someone mentioned, if you are already there 10 hours might as well stay a couple of extra for the extra day off. my two cents.:)

i am 38 and have listened to the older nurses(i started at my hospital at age 25). 12 years vested now for the retirement they provide plus my deferred comp. if i can stand to stay where i am for another 18 YEARS i can retire at 55. i may buy two years and sometimes they buy three when you have alot of years in so i'm shooting for retirement at 50 with 30 yr investment.

i agree. wish i had a postal job!

we get time and a half for anything over forty hours in a week. i just pulled 11 twelve hour shifts in a row with x mas included. my ot pay was nice--not to mention my bonus check i got on the same day for twelve years of service.

yes, we were supposed to attend a freakin class on how to answer the phone(luckily i slipped by without it). we are supposed to say " good morning(or evening/afternoon),you have reached blah blah, this is mary smith, rn., how may i help you?" i answer "blah blah, this is mary." can you believe they paid damn near everyone in the hospital to take a class on this!? we have also had classes on patient satisfaction, cultural diversity, and others. all useless!

YOU GO GLOBAL GIRL!

we frequently have confusing orders like this. maybe the order is for routine meds of xanax .5 at 8 am 4pm and 8pm plus prn every 8 hrs, the same pt has routine ms 30mg every 8am, 4pm amd 12 midnight and percocet every 4 hrs prn, plus the same pt. has ultram prn every 6 hrs, and soma every 8 hrs prn, plus tyl # 3 every 6 hrs. diferrent docs order different things and never look back to see what the pt is already on. some nurses refuse to give the meds too close together(no matter if the med function is different) and some give everything all at once if the specified time has passed in between doses. good question to bring up.

at my hospital we get a longevity bonus. when i started in 1990 you began collecting it after 5 years. now you have to wait 8. it increases every year you are there. my last one after 11 yrs. of service was around 1700 net. it is based on a percentage of your yearly salary. i am an lpn.

at my hospital we (full time people) work three 12's and a four hour shift per week to get our 40 hours. we used to just come in the early part of the shift and help with the busiest part of the day(just kinda be extra without an assignment most times). but now they are forcing us to stack our 4 hr. shifts together and take an assignment. like 6-10 then 10-2, then 2-6. sometimes there are only two four hour people on a day and so then the floor works short. helps the budget out .the poor nurses left have to cover. i personally prefer the early(6-10) slot even though it is the busiest.

when i started at my hospital in 1990 we (lpns) were allowed to do our own assessments. this continued for about 9 yrs. then, they changed it to the co-signature thing. that lasted about 2 yrs. now we are not allowed to do assessments at all. i don't see how i was capable for all those yrs but now with more experience am not.

babs, just like to say that you must be a great manager to have this concern. i have had great managers but have also seen "don't give a sh*t" management. it is very demoralizing to regular staff to be floated or called unfairly. please, keep your present attitude. i'm sure your staff appreciate it. are you guys union. if so, there are no unwritten rules. janet

we are doing the merit raises now. it suc*s. it depends on who is doing your eval where i am. your manager has complete say so unless you get less than 2.0 and then the union can get involved. you can get up to 6% but that is in your dreams. the highset i know of in the 11 yrs i have been there is 3.8 because the wording of the questions in the eval make it impossible to get higher. i always got 3.8 from first boss--been there forever. then, got a new inexperienced boss who was doing exactly what her boss told her to do that gave me 3.4. the latest was 3.6. and this acting manager hates me. she didn't know how to tally up the eval and i think that is the only reason i didn't get a 2.1 from her. not because i do not do good work but because in everything else she has done she has shown that she acts on her feelings, not fact. she gave one rn a really bad eval after me and i know it is because they don't get along. this rn is a hard worker and gets along good with everyone except this woman. i could never refer to this acting manager as my boss. we have a new boss now who has been at the hospital i am at for like 24 years but i only hear bad things about her. word is she got bumped to us from another unit for all the union write ups. i'm trying to give her a chance, but hey, i'm in the union too.

i think there is hard work to be done on both shifts and a slow time as well. on my unit i feel there is more slow time on nights. days has all three meals and all the other depts to deal with. as well as family and other issues. mho j

i like to use mom the first morning i have the pt. if no bm by the evening, try a supp. if no results i give mag citrate or another shot of mom. depending on how many days with no bm. mag citrate usually does the trick. janet oh, and of course the stool softeners

sbrn-- hope your career will be all that you want but when you get into the real world of nursing and see that you don't have time to re-assess every few hours, or talk to your pt., much less give a back rub, etc... maybe you will realize why alot of nurses complain. we like to be able to take good care of our pts. but are not able to because of the demands put on us by administration. more work, less help, not enough pay.

one more word. bag balm is cheap and soaks in to the skin so it doesn't wash off. i aso like aquaphor--prescribed for pts that have radiation therapy. more expensive and same results.

get some bag balm - mix it with cocoa butter if you like. apply it to your hands. if needed put it on then wear gloves to bed to keep in the moisture. never had a problem till i moved from tx to vegas.

it is amazing to me that on our unit a little old lady that says "i just want to die" and has no intention of attempting to kill herself will be placed on 1:1 supervision even if the rest of the staff works short. but a chi who has eloped 2-3 times is still not 1:1. i'm talking confused chi ending up blocks away. or a pt. that is confused that can walk but not steady and has fallen several times. we are not allowed to restrain them.

i'll keep that in mind for any pts i have on trazadone. thanks for the info. that is a bad side effect. think if i was male i would want a different drug. but i guess you never think the side effects will happen to you when they are only present in a few cases.