CoachCathy

Hey - My name is Cathy - preparing to go to my fifth summer at Camp Sea Gull, a sailing YMCA camp along the NC seaboard. We take care of >1000 campers/counselors at a time, it is really alot of fun - I recommend it to anyone - especially if you c...

When a child comes in complaining of a tummy ache/head ache, immediately check temp and pulse - great indicators of heat exhaustion. Remember that the pulse will elevate faster than the temp, so it's a better indicator.

Camp nursing is great! I've worked at a YMCA camp for the past four years, and look forward to the summers every year. It's a great bridge for school nurses. I work at Camp Sea Gull. We have 800+ campers with 300+ staff. They staff 11-12 nurses a...

A new grad RN will start at $16.00/hr at our facility. Our MDS person has been with the facility for quite a while and makes $25.00 an hour. The average salary for RNs at our building is $20-25/ hr.

Howdy - have done QA in LTC for five years - have now added ADON to my list of duties. We have a variety of teams - the Exec QA over sees them all - it has all the department heads and the medical director on it. We also have physical restraint, che...

Tex - we have had state twice here in NC in one month :-p The focus seemed to be on oral care (like the one from Kansas said) and feet (!?!?). They also looked at our pneumovax and fluvax records, which is something they haven't done before. good ...

A better idea than to try to back track like your facility did is to "freeze" the chart after an unexpected death. We do that at our facility - we use a dummy nurses note for the charge nurse that was caring for the resident to chart on. At the end...

Going back to the fellow that falls, have you tried a low bed. It isn't comfortable for the staff, but it is a Godsend for those confused residents that still have quite a bit of mobility. I agree with bandaidexpert - don't let em see you sweat. T...

Going back to the original question - that being protecting an elderly person from falls. Really, there are no hard and fast rules, you have to take into account what is going on with that resident. There is one case where an elderly lady leans too...

In addition to the activities listed above, we try to have a "major" activity each month. (Our activity department is wonderful) We have a "senior prom" in May, where the local single Marines escort our residents (wheelchairs and all) for dancing and...

try http://www.nflpn.org - they offer certifications for both IVs and geriatrics for LPNs - good luck!

I know that there is a certification in geriatrics for LPNs (and actually one for CNAs as well). I used to have the information, back when I was SDC-ing it. I'll try to dig it up and post it as soon as I find it!! :)

What are you writing the policy for? We recently had to implement a policy on the removal of central lines - something that just hadn't been done at our facility, but was within the scope of practice for the RNs. I got up with the nurse educator at...

Golly, we must be neighbors or something - I am in Jacksonville!!! :) I have found the surveyors in our area to be thorough, but fair, in the area of MDS. As long as you can justify why you proceeded/not proceeded, they are okay. The major concer...

Get with AHEC in Wilmington (They are affiliated with NHRMC), they do quite a bit of training in various lines of nursing. When I hear of another class, I'll email you...

Rhona - you also have to remember that on night shift, most of the residents are asleep and may not need to be changed q2h. If the resident is dry, then only turning and repositioning is needed. Back care, oral care, combing hair, etc. is done on on...

ooops! sorry tex - with all that I actually forgot to answer your question!! If I am not doing my regular work, I can do three to four sets of raps a day. (that is given that I am also not doing careplans, assessments, etc.) Some of the raps you ca...

Ya know, Tex, I really don't know the name of the program!!:imbar I'll check tomorrow when I go in and let cha know! hee-hee. I differ from the regular MDS nurse in that I actually like doing RAPs. I'd rather do a set of raps than a full MDS. To ...

assume unhurried manner, allow time for responses, redirect as needed, respect personal space, establish convenient time to provide care (let the resident dictate), contact responsible party if inappropriate behaviors continue, document each time car...

Hey tex, me again. We are a facility that is part of a "chain" throughout NC. We have a "short-cut" book that we can refer to. I understand that it is hard to start from scratch, knowing what the state is expecting to see. How does your system wo...

At our building, we only schedule care plans on Tuesdays and Thursdays (we have a max census of 165 and are currently running at 140 or so). This gives you three full days to get assessments, etc. done without having to worry about breaking your tra...

I have to agree that it is hard to recommend anything without knowing the history of the patient. Many of the psych meds have the "benefit" of side effects that could be beneficial to the resident. (e.g. appetite stimulation, weight gain, weight los...

In our area, you can see staffing at 8-12 patients on days, 12-15 patients on evenings and 15-20 patients on nights. We strongly inform our staff to use the "lift alerts" to protect their backs. Alot of times on nights, the aides will do as much as...

I agree that she needs to be reported. Before you jump out of your building, MAKE SURE that the powers that be have really been notified. I have seen nurses say "We have been complaining about this for months", when - in fact- they had only been co...

Be sure to check before you give them a figure to see if you will be salaried or hourly. If you are salary, you'll suddenly loose all that overtime, so you'll want to adjust the value that much more - You need to be paid what you're worth:D