Lorie P.

cya, cya, cya.... i usually put " no new orders received, continue to monitor pt's status" of course i chart why the doc was called and all info i gave to him/her. from a past experience i had to call an on call doc 3 x about a pt that had a major change in status and the pt expired right at shift change. i had over 3 pg of notes documenting everything, which is what saved me and the others per risk mgmt.

we have a comfort kit that our medical director will order and we can give atropine 2-4 gtts q 4 prn for secretions...

doesn't sound like a wise thing to do..if the sibling was 18 ( adult) i would feel better about it. did the agency have the parents sign a release form so that you wouldn't be held responsible? sure the agency says once you sign out no problem, but leaving a disabled pt in the care of an under aged minor is not what a "prudent nurse" would do... just make sure your hind end is covered!!

like others have said it takes time, background checks, reference checks, and plus the HR people still have their daily jobs to do. Patience is needed just hang in there!

it was a nation wide company, but they downsized and some of the nurses that worked there got some investors and bought the company. so now it is a private owned company. the pres is a rn with a mba and all of the top admin folks are rn's too. it is pretty tight nitt group of folks.

my orientation for the prn hospice position went very well. i spent 2 days in a classroom and then was able to ride with a nurse for days when she did her visits. the first day out, i jumped right in and did assessments on a couple of pts, then went back to the office to chart. i love the computer charting!! then on friday, i went with the same nurse and did a couple of more assessments, drg changes and actually called a couple of md's for meds and charted everything. so now next week, i will be assigned a couple of pts on my own to do everything. now i know why nurses love hospice care so well. the nurse i rode with, gave me great reviews and told our supervisor i will be really great. also the rn that did orientation said that she was so happy to get a nurse that could jump right in and take off with little direction. so thanks everyone!! who helped me through a difficult month last month!!

it person is different, i know of 1 pt that has been like this for 3 yrs, but justlast week he took a turn for the worse. so please enjoy the time you have with him that he is still able to do things.

I didn't say that I was going to give po meds pr, jut mentioning what was told. I know better than to just take some one's word for anything , I always research and go by the Policy manual. Thanks so much!

i just ocmpleted my first orientation day for a local hospice. i asked about the "butter" being used and was told yes! it works and they don't have a problem with it. the rn that did ( doing) orientation says" what can be used for the good of the pt" use any and everything!! was also told that the pharmacist told them that almost any pill you give po can be given pr, except the enteric coated and a few others. i learn something new everyday!!

:yeah::yeah:this is why we have an's so that we can vent and not wind up losing our minds!!

but like other areas of nursing....some just aren't cut out for pdn! maybe one day i might consider going back to pdn, but for now i am going to work for a very realible hospice company. those recruiters at the agency not all of them,were something else. that would be a whole other topic!!

nope sometimes we need to take care of us! don't feel guilty about working prn, if you can than more power to you. here in the deep south there are alot of pdn positions posted. i have seen both lpn's and rn's work the same cases, not sure about the medicare rules. the only other thing i have noticed is that some agencies will post the same case just about every 3 months, raises a red flag with me. anyways glad to hear you able to be flexible with work now.

you need to check with your bon in the state you live in to see if they accept ec. also remember that if your state does except ec and you plan on moving to another state, you may not get endorsed by state #2 cause you went the ec route. also go to the distance learning forum and there is a ton of info on ec, the good, bad and ugly! good luck in your path to becoming a rn.

stop by the hr office ask to speak to the supervisor and politely ask what can be done to expedite your background check. if they give you a time line say check back so-in-so then show up againa and request what you need . sometimes the hr dept are really busy and i have known some to wait until they had a certain # of checks to do and would complete all of them at one time. my last position, my back ground check took 2 weeks, the one before that only 2 days. good luck and keep politely asking!!

i start orientation next week for a hospice position, any advice, thoughts, recommendations would be greatly appreciated. i am nervous but excited. a new area of nursing for me. also any of you wonderful lpn's have any advice? i know the rn's do, but i won't be doing admissions so i'm not to concerned about that area. can someone describe what their orientation was like? thanks so much!!