Rogue1

When you are changing diapers, feeding, etc, you are doing important assessments. Think of it that way, as your opportunity to observe and chart carefully. And try to empathize with the parents--they are in a very alien environment both physically and emotionally.

At my facility we have small 50ml NS bags that can be connected to the primary line, and there is usually always an order in for 'NS flush'.

Why battle with large amount of air in the line at all? Better to just put your small NS bag on the primary tubing and add secondary tubing to run the abx.

Excellent overview. I don't think the average (non-nurse) person--or even school administrators--has even a whiff of a clue about what school nursing involves. Hats off to school nurses!!

Interesting article--thank you! I work in peds so I see this on a regular basis, but I did not realize recurrence can be so tenacious. From the outside it can seem like not such a big deal but for the patients battling it (especially the older ones) it is horrible.

Yes I do. People forget that the purpose of lockdowns was to prevent the collapse of our healthcare system. Everywhere would have become like NYC, and quickly. It would have decimated our health care system.

But how many pizzas did you get?? Joking aside, it amazes me how management STILL ignores adequate retention incentives.

Report it. Surely you can do it in a way that keeps your name out of it, but for the minors' sake you cannot just look the other way. Imagine if this were your kid.

There is a big difference between what you do and how you are expected to do it. I think we have to be really careful in separating those. On my med/surg floor we have lost many long time staff, and they were all very conflicted about leaving--loving the job but not able to justify the working conditions anymore. We have gotten new staff, but I would not be surprised if the attrition rate becomes even higher than before (it was bad enough baseline pre-covid). Also, it is funny to see this post on the same home page as several 'quitting bedside' type posts. IMHO, if we want to continue doing what we love (and if we want the health care system overall to be healthy), it's up to bedside nurses to identify the stressors and to articulate to upper management proposed solutions in terms of altering structures, systems, and processes. (Or unionize, and force the changes that way.) Nurse/patient ratios are a big one, but there are others, too. I have had enough of being told to take care of myself as the solution. It's not. The solution is to change the structures, systems, and processes.

So sorry to hear of your situation. It is not acceptable patient safety (let alone care), and it is not a sustainable work situation for you. Not only are the patients in danger, you are at risk of loosing your license. I assume appeals to upper management have been met more or less with crickets. Time to go up the food chain--probably way up. Is there a state agency that you could contact? (PS--I also suggest starting to write EVERYTHING down!)

Solution: Unionize. Pool together to get your workplace needs met by admin. And reject anyone who tells you that 'recharging' and 'regenerating' yourself individually is the way to solve this problem. The problem is with the system therefore it is the SYSTEM that has to change.

Most professional nursing organizations advocate more for patients then they do for nurses. And, as many have already mentioned here, workplace administrations advocate for the bottom line and see nurses as obstacles to that. I am thinking the only way nurses can gain bargaining power is through creating local unions. Curious to hear others' opinions....

Excellent article. This topic needs to be discussed industry-wide. Meanwhile, bedside PRNs at my hospital have been waiting 4 1/2 years for a raise....

Follow your heart and gut--try peds out! There are many different types of units/jobs within a peds hospital or clinic--you can move around until you find the one that appeals most to you. I have been working in peds (acute care, med/surg floor) for 5 years and always deal with the 'oh how can you bear to see those children suffer' comment from outsiders by reminding the commenter that these kids come to us already in some type of distress and we are the ones who get to participate in relieving their suffering and guiding them on their path to healing, so how could I not love this job?

Ways to afford pricey things on an RN wage: 1) inherit a ton of money 2) go into debt up to your eyeballs (and enjoy the feeling for a lifetime) 3) win the lottery/find a briefcase full of money on the street 4) get an advanced degree and/or leave RN nursing altogether

I just laugh and say "unfortunately I am way too busy working all here the time to be able to know anything about the news/politics" and change the subject to how awesome the hospital food is, LOL.

I've been thinking the same thing about this Dr. Conley--he does not even remotely sound like any doctor I have worked with. He obfuscates and sounds unprofessional. I would not be surprised if he is being bullied into saying things in particular ways--by guess who. And his little patient was such a selfish, idiotic bully that he convinced people to take him off hospital grounds for a silly personal joyride while he endangered the poor people who had to drive/sit in that car with him (at minimum). Some people at that hospital should be losing their jobs for that infection control fiasco. It was shocking. (And obviously infection control compliance is not Dr. Conley's strong suit....)

There are mandates right here in Western countries! Can you believe it? You are MANDATED to wear pants in public places! Silly old health codes, you know--wouldn't want to spew all those nasty bacteria by scooching across the booth at your local burger joint or by brushing up against the produce at your grocery store! Still, leftists right here in the good ole U.S. of A. are surely licking their lips at the prospect of harassing those who don't conform to the national dress code by refusing to wear pants! (By the way, wear a mask while you are at it, too--I hear there is something going around.)

Macawake, thank you for your very thoughtful and nuanced response. I agree with many of your points. It is irritating how when one wishes to have a thoughtful and nuanced discussion the self-appointed freedom fighters will try to slap the topic shut with scare tactics like calling the other person a communist, LOL. Public health IS a complicated topic. We ALL benefit when certain public health measures are implemented and maintained, which then gives individuals much more freedom to pursue their dreams.

So...are you saying that person A's freedom is more important that person B's life? There are always limits to your 'freedoms', whether you admit to them or not.

Thanks for bringing up the topic--I have been wondering about this! (Can someone fix the links to the articles? I'd love to read them!) My hospital has given us 3M model 8511 respirators with valves (to be used up to 33 times before getting a new one). These do not protect patients from the wearer's exhalations, which does not seem ideal (but beggars can't be choosers). Meanwhile, people purchasing face masks online have the option to purchase 'cycling masks' or 'dust masks' which also feature valves. Since the whole purpose of wearing a face mask in public places is to protect OTHERS, it seems to me these masks with valves are less than ideal as well. They will stop the majority of big droplets (I guess?), barring sneezes and coughs. I am also guessing that anyone who sneezes wearing a cotton face mask would be blowing a lot of that sneeze out past the cotton mask as well. I wish we had a robust public health department that would address this and put out some good public health education material on masks.

At my hospital: (as of April 9) we get one N95 mask to be worn for 3 shifts, after which you get to turn it in for UV sanitizing We are to use them through 10 UV treatments, which means 33 wearings (considering you can wear it 3 more times after the final UV sanitizing). If you work 12 hours shifts, that is 394 hours for a mask that I believe was meant to be used for 8 hours max (from one manufacturer's website). I just assume the UV sanitizing works, but who in the world knows what all that moisture is doing to the masks' filtration capability?? Our national PPE problem is nowhere near solved. How many times are we going to have to repeat that sentence? It's ridiculous.

Funny how the ADN is supposedly 'only' a 2 year degree. That's only IF you ignore the 2 years worth of prerequisites you need to get into an ADN program. And 'four year' BSN programs are actually 2 years of gen ed (your prerequisites) and 2 years of nursing classes--basically the same education. My ADN included classes in community and leadership, and we had to do several huge research papers (studying the research process along the way), so other than a class in statistics I'd say my ADN included everything any BSN includes. Plus it was incredibly and notoriously hard, LOL, with a huge drop out/fail rate. I already had a bachelors and a masters before starting the ADN so I had something to compare it to. And I've never felt behind in any way to the BSNs I work with. IMHO the ANA should figure out how to give ADN's the appropriate credit for all they have studied instead of ignoring those 2 years of prereqs they take. It's disingenuous and annoying.

Not sure who originally said this, but you know what they say: "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." First thing we should do with statistics is examine them relentlessly--what was asked, who was the sample, what is it being compared to? and on and on and on, thus helping us figure out whether this is science or mere opinion disguised as 'science'. These guys are not presenting science. Seems herring_RN found the article that cracks this case wide open--great job!

The Mayo Clinic should have cancelled the tour and photo ops if he refused to wear one. They should have followed their own policy and protected their patients--the people they are accountable to. And Pence should have shown some modicum of intelligence and respect and worn a mask because the experts (his hosts) were telling him it was policy.