justpoorfect

Free Ear Savers at glowforge.com Blessings to all our frontline peeps!

There is still so little that is known about this virus. I have been listening to a podcast by a Dr. Chris Martensen, PhD where he goes over several up to date papers submitted from Chinese physicians and others. In one or more they talk about possible reinfection rates, and really there has not been enough time pass to say that survival of the acute phase means cure. Another study posits that the virus directly attacks the heart's ACE 2 receptors as well as the lungs, yet another that the virus enters a red blood cell, affecting the binding of the actual iron molecule and expelling Fe+2 and Fe+3 which is then a toxin that damages the organs. He even shows a tube of blood wherein the serum floats above the RBC with a greenish tinge, which he said US doctors are seeing and may corroborate the unbinding of ferritin. Perhaps this helps explain the worsening hypoxia in victims? In any case, he is interesting in how he breaks down the documents. You can listen to him on Youtube under Peak Prosperity if you want.

Do we not have a duty for self-care? If not, we cannot care for others.

Resign and open a business training CNAs, as the next 2 years or so will require huge numbers. Or look for something in telehealth, answering phone calls is about all I could contribute. Or sit down and start recording everything you can remember related to your career in nursing, both good and bad, and I can guarantee you will be able to sell it on Amazon Kindle for a recurring income. Don't worry about your writing ability, others can write from your recordings, the gold is in your story! Best wishes.

I wondered if anyone here has had experience with the plastic bubbles that I see on the video of Italian patients being cared for due to Covid-19? Are those simply O2 personalized tents? Could a caregiver benefit from using an oxygenated bubble like that, wearing a portable concentrator under the isolation gown? I am currently licensed but retired early due to fibromyalgia, arthritic knees and spine. I wonder if the BON will try to threaten anyone with an active license to come back to work or give up the license? For those who are working without proper PPE, I would hope a loving family member might accidentally break one of your arms, thus preserving your life and families' (potentially) and your license (certainly). Alas, I don't think the BON will have time to provide hearings to all the accusations to be filed against nurses during this pandemic. The reason all the N95s are locked up is so they can be doled out to Doctors, as they are scarcer than nurses. They don't want you bringing in your own gear because they don't want to provide everyone with gear that complains. When you do become overwhelmed, do not feel any shame. Some of us will die in our homes regardless. You are still doing your best if you insist on PPE or nothing.

Verbal assaults only so far.. "I want to punch you in your FAT nose!" (The one part on my body I believe is still quite pert!) and "I will cut your T*ts off!" (Not quite as pert, but precious!)

Have you filled in the online application for employment with the State of MO? I went right to work 2 days after graduation May 2008 as a psych nurse. Also, try the VA.

Social Welfare Board, 904 S 10th St., St. Joseph, MO. 816-233-5188

Wow, sounds like your problem is similar to my own! I work at an adult facility (98% forensic) and I have a tech on my shift who is chomping at the bit for me to seclude any antisocial that pushes her buttons. (She has one in mind in particular.) I know she just dreams of us getting a solitary confinement space where only she holds the key! My own education emphasized seclusion and restraint as a last resort, and so far I have stuck to that mantra...but it irks her no end. So, as the new nurse, I must suffer the endless write-ups she gives to my superiors about how I do too much talking to the patient, and never enough discipline. When she is not on duty, nights go very smoothly and with so much less tension it is like a vacation. Good luck with your situation.

Thank you ownadobe, for your perspective. Essentially, the nurse said she was the only one with access to it, mainly so she could create employee wellness programs, but said that admin. could also ask for it. None of these assurances were written on the paper, however. I am sure if my ankles swell, they are not going to come tell me to put my feet up!

Yes, all employees (we were told) are given the same check-off sheet... Do you now or have you had problems with the following: Swollen ankles Allergies G.I. or digestion Cardiac Asthma Smoke? How much? Since? Diabetes Last menstrual period ___/___/___ and so on..

As part of yet another round of new employee orientation, the EHN came in with an Employee Health Questionnaire for us to fill out and sign for our official record...all confidential unless Admin. asks for it, of course. I find it irksome that my employer asks me to confess all (including the date of my last menstrual period), because I think it will be used if ever I need to file for Worker's Comp., etc. What do you think?

Using anything other than your facility's approved methods places you in legal jeopardy and the clients in physical danger. Be aware and leave yourself an avenue of escape, keep dangerous objects (weapons) out of reach, call and wait for help, and only lay hands on them as a last resort. If you and others can stay out of reach, the harshest attacks usually cannot be maintained for longer than 90 seconds. (Highlights from our own training.) Focus on defense, not offense.

Thanks for the reply inthesky. Last night the super said the tx team did listen and decided that coffee would be available from 5:30 - 6:00, THEN be dumped. She told the staff herself, and they didn't all quit, so that's a good thing too. Looks like maybe they have decided to give me a chance to work with them instead of against them! Now we'll just have to see if the patients decide if this was the victory they wanted! (Stay tuned for the next soap opera episode??!! :typing:bugeyes: )

Just a couple of months in my new position, I am in a quandry! As a new grad, I am dropped in the middle of ward drama, and dealing with hostility (both open and in grievances that I have not seen) from my aides due to their perception that I am "not backing them up" in enforcing the rules re: a.m. coffee time. Previous staff allowed bending the rule for some time until 1 or more patients began complaining that "so-and-so got more coffee than me!" The solution then became all pts that wake up in time for coffee get an equal amount and that any remaining coffee at the end of a 15 minute interval would be dumped out, not distributed to anyone. Sounds okay so far, right? Except when the moon is full and a manic wakes up 2 to 3 minutes too late to get coffee! At that time it is open season on staff, and all sins of such staff are shouted out for all to hear (I know they catalog staff shortcomings for use as ammunition) while staff point to a schedule and say "There is the rule. You must live by the rules outside the hospital, too...etc." Security is called and is brought into the mix (their sins are enumerated as well), while I am trying to de-escalate the situation impassively (my words are repeated by various individuals to my super as non-supportive), and I say I will look into the "rule" vs the "schedule" before I take a stand. My dilemma is now that I don't believe I can support the strict enforcement of the "rule". I have the most up-to-date copy of the ward's publicized Rules and Guidelines that are given to patients on admission, which states, "Wake up time is 6:00 a.m." and "Unless you are restricted from caffeine and fluids, you will be allowed 2 small cups of coffee in the morning and early afternoon..." This is different from the posted schedule, which says coffee break is at 5:30 a.m. until 5:45 a.m.. I have been told that the different time schedule was due to the patients voting to have coffee before their 15 minute smoke break. (Except that the facility has now gone non-smoking.) I received a non-answer to the query of whether another vote may be taken, to return to the original rule or to re-write the wake-up time to 5:30. Every time I open my mouth to say anything, I am ever-so-gently reminded that these are manipulators, who if given an inch will take a mile and push every limit. However, my gut tells me not to ignore every complaint just because they are "mental" with "antisocial" personalities. (Much as I am hoping supers won't dismiss my "new grad" inquiries as ridiculous.) BTW, I have NOT given this info to the patients to use against the treatment team, so I hope you won't accuse me of being taken in with staff-splitting. I am determined to hang in there and prove to my aides how much I value them and their work, without letting them go on a rampaging power trip, wherein rehabilitation is now just incarceration and punishment. (I get to hear "Someone should order seclusion for that one!" though I don't see it as justified for ranting - no danger, just distasteful.) I will value all your thoughtful replies, as I realize I have much to learn.

Hey nursebreeze! Congratulations! I too took the test on 07/17 and just found out I passed with Quick Results. I have been working as a GN and didn't really have time to study as I had planned, but put in 4 full days of cramming using Princeton Review tests and ATI. So happy to have that stressor out of the way!! :D:yeah:

As a student, I took care of a Mormon lady who was beginning another round of chemo to try to hang on until her son's wedding date. She was so happy he had returned to the church from a wild youth. The chemo caused her embarrassing diarrhea, but I gladly rinsed out her "garments" for her husband to take home to launder. When we were alone, I asked her if she feared death, and she said, "No. I am only afraid that I might not be as brave as my oldest son was when he had cancer and lay dying. He was 8 years old at the time, and had to have very painful treatments. He said "Mother, if I can look in your eyes and squeeze your hand when it hurts, I will be okay." She said he never screamed in pain through it all. I hope she made it to that wedding, and had a hand to hold.

We can all think of better ways to die, but we don't really get that choice, do we? What you choose for your LIFE is fine and dandy --for you. I know lots of seniors that are sitting in nursing homes, neither spritely or independent...SO? Yes, I have watched loved ones die from smoking-related illnesses. AND I have watched them die from non-smoking-related illnesses. The end result was still the same. That's a little cold. I hope those who subsidized your grandmother didn't object to her circumstances to her face! It's called paying it forward and respecting your elders.

I did a clinical rotation in a county social welfare board clinic, wherein they accepted extra meds from the public and dispensed them to the county's indigent. They passed out meds that were up to 18 months over the expiration date as well, additionally they received soon to expire pharmaceutical sample packs. It is an awesome program for the uninsured, but only available to county residents. I reside 2 blocks over the county line, and don't believe there is another program like it in the entire state of Missouri.

Non-smokers will have to face up to the fact that they are gonna die anyway. No matter how much clean living you do, something is going to kill you too. Smokers are just choosing to live life as they want to, and still the planet is nearing critical mass. Tell me honestly, who here wants to spend 30 years living in a nursing home while they wait for their 105th birthday? And who cares if a lunger spends their last days pulling off the oxygen mask to smoke? Is there any point at all in forcing them to quit at that point? From the ANA Code of Ethics: 1. The nurse, in all professional relationships, practices with compassion and respect for the inherent dignity, worth, and uniqueness of every individual, unrestricted by considerations of social or economic status, personal attributes, or the nature of health problems. Someone needs to care for the ugly wrinkled yellow people too, even if they knew better as nurses.

LOL! I love nursing typos! :yelclap:

Isn't there a computer program that would check the medication ordered against the client's diagnosis and require a manual override if the dosage were outside the safe range or contraindicated with other meds? I know when I used to work with durable medical equipment sales, the computer would not process orders without the diagnosis justifying its use.

I am sure Timothy has contingency plans in place for his daughter's coverage, so please don't think I am attacking him, but if this pre-term birth were visited on a "regular" person who is depending on employer-based insurance, their options are then limited, especially if the baby develops chronic complications. There may be a lifetime cap, no? What about if the company folds? Can the employee even contemplate switching to another employer? As far as I can see, that person is now obligated to continue with that original insurance policy, at whatever price, as long as there may be any lingering need for coverage, unless they have the means to pay cash for all care. What if the employee is hurt/dies/goes to prison?? The possibilities are too many to plan for, as a "regular" person!!

This year our college health nurse required me to take a 2 part PPD, the second one week after the first. Is this going to become the new standard for healthcare workers? She said it is because you can be exposed, but your body may not build up enough response to show a significant reaction with the first PPD, whereas the second will be definitive. Anybody else have this?

You can look up statistical data by county at this Ohio website http://dwhouse.odh.ohio.gov/datawarehousev2.htm This kind of data mining was taught to us last semester in Community Health class. :) Good luck in your search. Joy, BSN student