ejsmom

My mantoux was positive, took myself to an ID doctor and are going to be starting Rifampin for 4 months. I'm devasted. I was vaccinated w BCG in my country of origin where TB IS NOT of concern, but the vaccine is part of childhood immunizations. I've tested positive in the past but was told it was a false-positive and had cxrs that were negative. I wish eveybody was on the same page w this info. Not one nurse @ work that I questioned knows tx is need. I just hope that I don't have significant side effects from tx since the meds are toxic. Wish me luck I guess, I have no other choice.

ok so now I'm more confused.... if you were vaccinated and test positive )5mm or more induraton) w/ the antigen how do u really know that u have a latent infection? And also, now you go months being treated w/ INH or Rifampin (which is the second line treatment of choice) how r u safe from re-exposure? After tx shouldn't ur ppd still be positive if you had the antigen? my head is spinning:uhoh3:

No. I just had a general question. Our infection control dept informed us that even w/ BCG vaccine pts should be treated for 9mos if they have a positive ppd. I was never aware of this. I was under the impression that if a pt was vaccinated, a positive ppd meant immunity not exposure. Just a bit confused.

Good morning to all! Have any of you had positive ppd, neg cxr and treated for TB? Thanks in advance.

Thanks to everyone on your great advice! I've charted on every interaction that I have w/ this pt, I also always make sure that there's someone w/ me when I'm performing care. I have not had anymore interactions w/ the family. They pop in from time and watch me as I do my work @ which point the unit coordinator always come out to speak to them, ask if the need help, etc. The family does not speak to me at all and I have not heard any further complaints from up above. Ironically, the pt all of a sudden is super friendly w/ me. Which makes me wonder if she is using me as pawn to get attention from her family...she has a looong psych hx....

Hey everyone! I work in LTC, pretty good place w/ a good rep. We have a problem family whose loved one has been in the facility for 10 years now. I say "problem" because they are very unrealistic w/ their aspectations of how the unit should be run and how care is rendered. They have called the ombudsman and the board of health numerous times because the aide assigned to their family member didn't toilet her as quickly as the family wanted. Aides and nurses have been fired because of this woman's family and now she has been transferred to my unit. The family has already complained about me and asked for disciplinary action because I asked one of them not to follow her mother's aide in to a bathroom while the aide was rendering care to another patient. I do not want to take care of this person any longer. I feel as though I should just hand my license over to the family when they come in and let them decide wether or not to destroy it, that's what they're doing anyway as far as I'm concerned. I asked that I be transferred to another unit, and I was told no, I asked for the patient to be removed from my assignment, again I was told no. Legally if I feel that my livelihood is threatened must I care for this person? MY DON tells me not to bother w/ them at all..hello!! I'm the one taking care of their mom...how do I not talk to them?! What would you do?

Hello everyone! I'm a new LPN working LTC for about 4 months now...love it!! I have 10 years experience in Healthcare as a medical assistant and phlebotomist. I'm having a very hard time speaking to physicians (never happened before). Most of the time if there is an issue and I make a call I usually get "well, what do u want to do/give". How do I answer this?? He's the doctor....right? I get very flustered when I get a call back, even for the easiest things like labs! I ran a coumadin clinic for years and never had a problem speaking w/ any MDs, all of a sudden I forget how to speak!! How can I get over this!!!

Lantus was essentially made to be given @ HS b/c it doesn't have a peak time and it is used to level out glucose levels over an extended time period. You did the right thing reporting it anyway.

I've heard that for the last 10 years and its funny that both the LPN and RN programs around my area have 2 year waiting lists. In jersey, LPNs will most likely not get hired in a hospital and that really has to do w/ scope of practice and malpractice insurance issues. I know LPNs that have been so for 20+years. Just today I had 20 LPN nursing students at our facility.A dying breed? Yeah right

Hello everyone! Is it "legal" to take a med order via fax? There is an MD at my facility that will not under any circumstances give us a telephone order, and we hardly see him for a verbal one. To keep the peace, management is going along w/ him for now. I would hate this to be a new trend. Thoughts?

I've been in your shoes. I didn't come across one nice/decent nurse during my clinicals, so when students come to our facility I leap the extra mile for them. With that being said, I have run into students that think that they know it all, spend hours behind the nurse's station, don't want to get involved w/ anything hands on, and do not give very good care. We also have students that come in and are wonderful, both LPN,RN and even resp techs. I have 31 resis to pass meds to, do treatments, review labs, call mds, take orders, reassure family members, and thats before noon, on a full bladder and an empty stomach.... yeah sometimes I get testy and I'm pretty nice. Just go in and do the best that you can do and be a sponge! Ask questions and offer your help because there is always something that you can help with while learning at the same time! Hang in there!!!

WOW... thanks everyone. I have two offers on the table that I'm considering...very carefully. Great idea about an exit interview. I have already started to write down a list and can't wait to hand it in w/ my letter of resignation...w/ a smile on my face from ear to ear.:roll Thanks again everyone.

Well, I decided that the facility where I am is def. not for me. I work 11-7 on a pretty busy floor, trachs, Gtubes, etc. 3-11 leaves me all of their work and 7-3 blames me for everything that they can. Med times are changed at random daily so that they have to be given on my shift, even if the res has been on it for months.The aides are terrible. They don't want to be asked to do anything and disappear off of the floor for hours at a time. They are known to tell the nurses to "do it yourself you make more money". The problem is that this is my first job in LTC and even though I have gotten job offers recently I don't want to this anymore. I'm totally disgusted w/ the way that the aides' work, with how the res are treated and how the shifts spend more time fighting over who does what than actually working. I went back to nursing school to help people not sit in my car on they way home and get upset because I was accused of sleeping all night because someone left a sheet on a chair. I'm nervous to take another position in LTC, but as an LPN there is nothing out there. Everyone wants RNs and I can't afford to back at this point, I just graduated and wanted at least one year experience before going back, instead I'm bailing after 5 months. I'm very upset over this. Any advice?

Hello to everybody! I am a new nurse working LTC for 3 months, and I find that the aides are very rude. I work nights, but when I cover for someone on the day shift, it is horrible. We have 4-5 aides on 7-3 for 31 residents, which I think is reasonable considering half of the residents are self- care. Call lights go unanswered for 20 minutes, sometimes more. When I ask for help w/ the slightest thing I either get ignored or get attitudes. Half of the day the aides are gone off the floor w/out letting me know. There's only one nurse on my floor which is tough enough, but on top of med pass, treatments, MD calls, phones (we don't have a unit secretary) new orders, families, and making sure that each res is safe I don't have time to chase after each aide! I decided that I will not work another day shift on that unit again, but in the meantime, does anyone else have problems w/ their aides??

Oh yes, I'm having fun trying to remember everyone's names!! I got about 1/3 of them though. It's tough b/c we only 4 males~yup, I got those down!! So far I'm loving it and I didn't think that I would enjoy it this much. Today I got a a resident that always keeps to herself (as I am told and witnessed the past few days) to come out w/ me into the "living room" and join everyone for kareoke. Another resident took her meds for me, but refused w/ the other shifts. It makes me feel good to see them feeling good.

Thank you sooo much everyone!! I started today, and I think that it went pretty well. I'll be w/ a mentor for about 3 weeks, 2 of which I do during the day shift so I get the day experience. To be honest I didn't think that I would like this area of nursing because I thought it was too slow for me. What a wake up call!!! Busy, busy, busy!! Even when I go on night shift I still have to find a way to memorize all the resident's names!!

Hi everyone! I got hired *:wink2: * I start next week at a LTC facility 11p-7a. I'm not sure if I'll be doing sub-acute or LTC, that will be decided depending on how my orientation goes. I'm a new grad just passed boards in august (yeah!!) and I have never worked LTC, however I do have 10 years healthcare exp as an MA. I have a few questions: What can I expect on this shift? Is it going to be very slow? Any advice on my new journey? Thank you so much in advance!!!!!!!

:roll Funny!! I went to a job interview at a LTC facility and was told "honey, you will either sink or swim, and I do hope that you swim'". The concensus around here is 5 days training. Although some facilities here in Jersey offer up to 2 weeks w/ a preceptor and then you get a review. Good Luck!!

Hello everyone! I'm very discouraged and need an uplift. I'm having a tough time finding a job!! I'm a recent LPN grad (passed my boards in August :biggringi ), however I was a MA for 10years in very busy offices (GI and Family practice). I'm also a phlebotomist, EKG certified, with a lot of medication administration experience. I feel as though I have sent my resume and apps everywhere but I am not getting any calls.:uhoh21: It's only been about a month BUT I've been going to open houses and job fairs since before I graduated in Sept.Fellow class mates w/out any experience are already working. I have a family to feed!! What should I do??! Any advice would be much appreciated right now, I'm blue...

I feel your pain!! I graduated in July and got my license at the end of August. I have over 10 years experience under me as a medical assistant, phlebotomist/ekg certified. I have sent out over 20 resumes and apps w/out ANY responses. I opted for LPN instead of RN because I idolized the LPNs that I worked w/. They always seemed to know and do it all without batting an eyelid, and I could not find any RN programs that fit my home and work schedule. I'm not saying that I regret going to school but I need a job to help support my family and am getting nowhere. It is VERY frustrating especially since I do have experience and am willing to work. The truth is that no one around here wants LPNs, we are just not worth the money. ~sigh~:uhoh21:

Hi there! I must put in my two cents on this one!!:wink2: I was a medical assistant for 10 years~with a college degree. I decided to go back to nursing school for my RN but chose to get a PN license first because there were no part time RN programs in my area and I had to work. My friend entered an RN program around the same time and guess what~the PN program was much harder. We were both good students, my GPA was 3.80 and hers was 4.0 (she made Deans list twice) so that wasn't the problem. We had pharmacology~ she didn't, we had clinicals our first semester~she had clinicals her second year. We had dissection labs which helped for A&P~ she didn't. Yes she had theory which I did not, however after graduation I got a job and she is still looking... why? LPNs learn more skills hands on because they want us out there to work, RNs in a lot of ways, are educated for management. I still want my RN license and will get it, but I'm happy to have gotten my LPN license first. I won't be respected as much and definetly won't make as much, but I'm happy with the experience that I receive on the job. I'm not sure where you live, but in NJ doctor's offices LOVE LPNs~ Medical Assts are no longer legally allowed to give injections, which most offices administer. The starting rate here is 22.50 in offices. One of my classmates SWORE that she would never work in LTC, she is in charge of an allergist's office in the are making 26.00/hr. Not bad for just an LPN out of school. Good Luck to you!!

Hello and congratulations!! I started nursing school part time in Sept 2004 and found out that I was pregnant in January. I still worked full time and continued in school. It was tough and tiring~I never over did it though. My greatest accomplishment was graduating this past July and having my 11 month old in the audience. Seeing his face staring up at me made all of my hard work pay off. My school was great, they offered a medical leave but I wanted to see how far I could go. I had my son and was back in class in 2 weeks, although the school mandates that you take 6 weeks for maternity leave. I made up my clinical time and exams that I missed. My experience~as long as I showed that I was determined my instructors worked with me and the director of the program was amazing. DON'T GET ME WRONG!! It was TOUGH. But if you want it you can do it. Don't put yourself at risk, everybody helped me out in clinicals and in return I held study groups. Take as many breaks as you need, I swear that there is a groove on the classroom floor from all of my bathroom breaks during my last trimester. Listen to your body, if you need to rest, do it. You can always pick up school later. GOOD LUCK!!

Hello to all !! I'm sure that this has been asked before but I MUST ask again!! What is the average nurse to resident ratio at a LTC facility including sub-acute? I've been going on job interviews and open houses and this is a question that seems to go unanswered. One place did tell me that I would be responsible for 30 residents on the 3-11 shift but I thought that the legal number was 15. I don't know!! Thanks in advance!!

Thanks! They seemed very nice and the residents seemed happy, but they pretty much hired me on the spot w/ a great salary. I have 10 years experience as a MA but I just thought that it was too good to be true...

Hello to everyone!! Does anyone know anything about Briarwood care and rehab in Old Bridge? I keep seeing ads for them and recently had an interview. I thought that they were a little to eager to hire and they also slipped that they had just hired 4 nurses . Any feedback would be great. I'm a new grad and am not sure what I'll be getting into here, they sound too good...