Don't underestimate the value of your experience. When you have handled the skill and responsibility of nursing you are very competent to do something else, either for a change or for a new direction....
Good luck. You are right about this. If the employee has carpal tunnel they need a doctor, and if they don't it's a waste of a splint. If the company considers a splint protective equipment for the...
I've had patients with MS who had extremely difficult personalities. These patients were not demented, but I thought that the disease was affecting them, beyond the stress of having such a condition...
Working as a per-diem nurse in the field in a home health agency where the nurse supervisor is on sick leave. It's a strain if one of my patients is sick and their doctor is not accessible--if he does...
spectral_ev replied to spectral_ev's topic in Home Health
thanks for all the responses. one thing I'm trying to figure out is-- how weird is this situation? I don't have any support right now in trying to make sure all the nursing bases are covered, or...
spectral_ev replied to spectral_ev's topic in Home Health
right now there is no one at the office to follow-up. one of the doctors is not willing to answer questions on the phone and won't answer faxes. I like the patients, and I like the job, but I feel out...
spectral_ev replied to spectral_ev's topic in Home Health
Right now the path is a fax to the doctor which is not answered and no one to back me up. I'm wondering how to protect myself, and whether this job is going to be
spectral_ev replied to spectral_ev's topic in Home Health
LuLu, I never had to work in the field with no one to help when doctor's orders are needed and the doctor does not get back. It sounds like that's what you're dealing with. Can anyone tell me how...
spectral_ev replied to pcbnurse's topic in Home Health
I always thought that the assumption is that patients are homebound-- that's the justification for sending a nurse to the home. I try to accommodate my patients but if it messes up my schedule I tell...
spectral_ev replied to spectral_ev's topic in Home Health
yes, it's the lack of help with case management. it's tough to do all of it when you are on the road, any office time I put in is unpaid extra. I wonder how much case management is assumed when you...
spectral_ev replied to pcbnurse's topic in Home Health
A lot of home care nursing is not that acute. You have great skills and you are way ahead of a lot of nurses in that. In my agency we don't even do the IV's, another agency handles that. You sound...
spectral_ev replied to spectral_ev's topic in Home Health
In my previous job when the doctor didn't call back I would just note it in my report and the supervisor would take it from there. I worked weekends so the supervisor would call the doctor's office...
My home health agency wants me to collect diagnoses on admission and put them into the OASIS form using a program that is supposed to bring up the ICD-9 code. It doesn't work too good. And isn't this...
spectral_ev replied to spectral_ev's topic in Home Health
Thank you. I think it is pretty shaky to have a nurse putting diagnoses into the record when we don't diagnose. Our office staff used to be better about getting the diagnoses and putting them into the...
spectral_ev replied to spectral_ev's topic in Home Health
I've asked for a 'cheat sheet'. I've never yet found COPD in the program. When I started at this agency it was all on paper. I love computers, and being able to see other nurse's notes makes it almost...
If you went back to the 19th century, when women actually wore those 'victoria's secret' camisoles and petticoats, most of the body was not considered available for public viewing and judgment. as...
Well, I'm a child of the sixties (meaning I'm kind of old now). In my day they said that facial hair on men was disgusting and unhygienic, but I like it when my husband grows a beard. It looks good on...
Personal style is not trivial, it's how we present ourselves to the world, and small things can matter a lot. I don't like the shaved mons style, but how would I ever know in a normal acquaintance?...
I'm going to be very counter-culture and say that we are beautiful just as nature made us. But then, I'm an old hippie. I work in geriatrics, and losing your hair is a symptom of aging. I'm not happy...
i just used mesalt for the first time on a patient and she says it stings very much. that makes sense since it's salt. she's going to make sure to take pain med before the next dsg change, but i would...
I had a patient in long-term care who had a rash that wouldn't go away. It turned out that she had undiagnosed diabetes, and when she was treated for that the rash cleared up. They should have...