maryb

I originally had an ADN degree, went back for a BSN. I did this for myself! not for any professional reasons. I received no increase in pay or anything for obtaining the BSN. I knew this when I went back, but it was something that I wanted to do beca...

sirens, Is mdslabod your supervisor by any chance? LOL Seriously, mdslabod's facility must be MUCH better staffed, maybe we should all work there?

Michele, Sorry I mispelled your name. :) When I say chasing dry IVs, have you never followed a shift where all the IVs seem to be beeping "EMPTY" as soon as you come out of report? I'm glad you do your job well and care for your patients as you do. I...

I have to agree with wildtime on this one. I was speaking with my (computer work) husband about this. It seems now that on a really good day, you may actually have time to watch someone swallow the medicine you give them, but God help you if they don...

LMAO - love these. My personal favorite doctor story.... First, a little background. I worked at a hospital that had on staff an older physician (close to 70). Of course, all of his patients were 80+, seemed like. This physician was very caring and t...

My sister is a teacher in a private school, and the pay REALLY stinks. She's is a CPA who left the profession because of long hours, never seeing her kids/husband, etc. (Any of this sounding familiar?) However, I worked with a male nurse once whose w...

I've seen this before. "Management" uses "customer satisfaction" as a tool to browbeat their nurses. Nurses tend to be very caring people, and hearing how unhappy your patients are is a good way (generally) to keep your nurses thinking they have to "...

Personal favorite didn't happen in a hospital... I'm active in Cub Scouts with my stepsons and husband. When camping, I'm the "unofficial" nurse. (Unofficial cause I don't do prehospital care, as I've often told them..:)) Went camping at a lovely sit...

And sometimes your patient has a guardian angel. The last time I gave a patient the wrong meds (patients next door to each other with same name, different middle initial), I freaked too. I was sooo upset, called the doc, and he had me run some basic ...

To get back to improving ratios, if the "counting" occurs as it has in my experience, then the ratios are worthless. It has been my experience that nurses who do ONLY MDS or Medicare (absolutely no direct patient care) get counted when the state come...

Reading all the posts about med/surg ratios, I guess I had a good reason for leaving nursing. 2 years ago, I had 12 patients on days, sometimes 13. To say that some patients got no care would be a major understatement. Maybe I just live in the wrong ...

NursePooh, I just saw your post, sorry for the delay. I'm working as a Medical Editor for a company that produces CME for physicians on CD-ROM. I lucked into the job (by sending a resume when I thought there was NO WAY I'd ever get an interview, much...

My only experience is a personal one. I had knee surgery while stationed in Iceland, in an Icelandic hospital. The surgeon personally came in and marked my knee with a big arrow prior to surgery. The surgeons may feel that they don't have time, but t...

I don't live in SC, but I worked there for 4 months as a travel nurse doing home health 4 years ago. The pay for the permanent nurses seemed median, and the cost of living was comparable to north MS, where I live, and is relatively low. It also depen...

janleb, If you have access and know anyone, I would recommend trying to follow an RT around for a couple of days over the summer. My start in pulmonary was transfer to a new unit pulmonary only, everyone was learning. I had gotten out of nursing scho...

Without getting into the gory details... quantitative is measurement of numbers. Example: population of 20 women, how many are in childbearing years? How many had a PAP in the last 12 months? qualitative is a measurement that is more subjective, part...

Hoolihan, it's almost impossible to swear off want ads... Now that I'm happy in my job, I read the want ads for my husband's field (computers), and tell him about all the great jobs HE could get....drives him nuts! But, I'm starting to wear him down....

I can sympathize with the groaning husband. I worked at a hospital 3-11 while in nursing school, completing a total of 8 years there including my time after graduating. Then, for a lot of reasons, I left. I met my husband after leaving, and moved to ...

It's been a while since I took the GRE, but I took the computer-based version "cold" (no study) and did very well. And, they were able to give me my "rough" scores before leaving the facility - I'm an instant gratification kinda person, so I liked kn...

Unfortunately, getting people involved is an uphill battle on a good day. Just look at the state of nursing. Especially when the facility really is a good one, by comparison. I've worked in two different long term care facilities in the area, and the...

For my area, the starting pay for an AS degree was very good. I honestly felt rich. That was over 10 years ago. (And in that time, I got my BSN.) Also during that time, I went from making $13 an hour to about $18. My last year as a bedside RN, I made...

For my area, the starting pay for an AS degree was very good. I honestly felt rich. That was over 10 years ago. (And in that time, I got my BSN.) Also during that time, I went from making $13 an hour to about $18. My last year as a bedside RN, I made...

Unfortunately, I've been to that web site and looked at the postings. It is apparently subject to political pressure. A local nursing home (in which I was formerly employed) underwent state inspection last year and received 23 serious violations. The...