matt59

Thanks, that's more than I knew 5 minutes ago. I'll check "no" to the 1st block, I think I'll check "no" to the pro-bio block, enclose my resume anyway, & get the copy of my college transcripts they are asking for. Thank you/Matt

This is a VA application. 1) "Do you currently have or have you ever had clinical privileges at any health care institution, agency or organization. (if "yes" explain on separate sheet.)" Does this mean have I ever worked as a nurse somewhere? If so, would my resume or the following page of the application where past jobs are listed constitute the separate page? Or, does "clinical privileges" refer to something else? 2) "Is your professional biography compiled[?]" What is a "professional biography?" I first assumed it was a resume, however it is referenced later in the application, & now I'm thinking it is something besides that, which I don't know about due to my inexperience as a nurse. Thank you/Matt

Gosh, I guess I did, didn't I? I didn't mean to make that impression, but it's something to think about, because maybe that IS how I feel. I mean I was in the trenches with my co-workers. I did what I could to advocate for my patients, & after every scrap that I had to get into, no matter how bad I got clawed up, I always let know whoever it was that had to be manually restrained & taken to seclusion & shot in a glute with a ativan/haldol/cogentin cocktail that there were no hard feelings on my part & tomorrow was always a brand new day. But you are correct, it was my co-workers that made me feel like coming to work at a miserable job that didn't pay particularly well, not my patients; I agree with you -- that isn't right. I'm happy to hear that there is hope after termination. If you don't mind me asking, what were the circumstances like & how did you handle it? Thanks/Matt

Where I did my clinicals, CTs did the sticks but could not take pusle-ox. I was told that the rationale behind this was that O2 is considered a med.... In the 2 jobs I've had since as an RN, it was only nurses that took the sticks, but the aides did take pulse ox. Matt

Jonesy, I'm a tad shallow myself. I'm so hung up on my own problems at the moment I'm going to reply to you before reading everyone elses comments. (Which I will do, because basicaslly I'm just hanging out & moping inside today). 1) Personally, I think your insight shows that you may not be as shallow as you think you are. You've already said that helping people is part of your motivation. 2) What are you giving up to become a nurse? I had a pretty soft gig as an airline mechanic, & I had 18 years w/ the same airline; I don't tend to get buyers remorse often, but I've had cause to look back on this mid-life crisis career decision a few times. 3) I got into it for a lot of the reasons you did, I felt being around females in a climate controlled environment would be a refreshing change to working in cold hangars w/ greasy male counterparts. I've always been an empathetic person, but it was in nsg school I discovered that I was a compassionate (albeit lazy) person. 4) I discovered that I had to work way harder than I ever had in my life for way less money than I expected to. As far as the relatively short training, I don't call it Hell-School for nothing. I also discovered that I had quite a few hangups, including a social anxiety mood disorder. (I will say I got over that not long after thrusting myself into the real world of nsg.) 5) This next is not a crack at females in any way, as many have offered me support, as recently as today, on this board, & at both of the nsg jobs I have had so far in my infantile career. I will say that I now think it was eaier (for me) to work w/ males, because male aggression is usually up front (curse at each other & step outside) vs female aggression, which often is a knife in an unsuspecting back. 6) Being a germaphobe is a good thing. 7) Bodily fluids & feces (in particular feces)? I found that when it was a job I had to do, that was all it was. Anymore (& I'm an ex-mechanic), I'd rather clean up someone's excrement than go out in my garage & jack my car up & change my oil. (Hence I'm about a-thousand-five or so overdue on my work car.) 8) Ego? I've earned more respect from being a male nurse than anything else I've done in my life. It has been my experience that cops like nurses. When pulled over while weraing scrubs late at night, I usually only get warnings. At sobriety stops, they don't look twice. If I was still a big partier, I'd probably now wear scrubs to & from. 9) Nursing hasn't treated me particularly well so far; however, with that typed, I've gone home at night feeling more satisfaction more times than on any other job I ever had. (I've also spent more nights laying in bed wondering "did I do this? Should I have done that?") I often feel that whether anyone else cares or not, I was able to make some one or ones (as in plural) life a little more tolerable for a little while. (With that typed, I'm presently out a job & way too deep in dept. Hell-School was not free.) Hey, like a lot of other nurses have very recently typed to me, good luck with whatever you do/Matt

Thank you Twin Mommy, I intend to!! Actually, I had meant to do it before now, but I've just been so tired, lately, when not at work. One night, making the trudge to the pay-lot, an older gentleman suggested it to me. He had retired from the VA & now works at Hell-Hospital part time. He reminded me of my veteran preference status, my time in service as it R/T retirement, & vacation & sick time vs PTOs. I was planning on driving into the city tomorrow or tuesday to go to the fed bldg & find out what the procedure was. Thanks for your supportive voice! Matt

Thanks, Live To Learn; you are right, I need to stop using words that most people find profane as an integral part of my working vocabulary. It does give the impression of unprofessionality. I don't think it is automatically nontherapeutic, depending upon how it's done (& I always did it quite naturally & nonthreataningly), but it does set a horrible example, so there goes my role-modeling right out the window. As far as the ED & ICU, I always thought I was not wired right for that; I think my first choice should have been the OR interview I turned down fresh out of nsg school. Thanks for your advice. Sweet Sunshine & Lady, I'm appreciative of your advice. My up-front wide-open approach at being honest has always been one of my worst enemies. I worked as an airline mechanic way-long enough to know that. I will probably continue to slash my own wrists with it. It is a shame, however, that honesty is not always the best policy. Loritacus & Batman: thankyou so much for seeing both sides of the issue. This floor has the worst reputation in the hospital, & this is the biggest psych hospital in the area, so you know what that means. I am one of the few RNs that tries to spend as much time as he can on the unit assisting staff. The hands-on approach ingratiated me with the ancillary staff, did nothing to impress most of management (with the exception of a couple of immediate ex-management people, both of whom I feel will give me a decent reference), & also had me sharing assaults with the ancillary staff (moreso, I believe, than the other RNs). But I figured this is what I am good for, I am about as strong as I am dumb, & pain & scars don't really bother me. I've been bitten a few times, & a fecal digging ex-patient left fingernail shaped scars up & down both arms over the course of me restraining & medicating him (I will wear his claw marks the rest of my life), kicked, punched, & what have you. Two weeks ago I sustained a lower back injury on the adult side as a result of a tussle getting someone into seclusion (that I did file an incident report on). No, I did not file an incident report on this one (I elected to finish the 2P pill-pass), but I know that the two staff who took the boy down, do like & respect me, & will lay out exactly what happened, not that I expect anyone will care. Not accepting the offer of a union rep probably wasn't a good idea, but I've already fessed up to being as dumb as I am strong. My immediate instinct is to approach any interviews I can get, basically the way I've approached this paragraph (with the exception of the admission of being dumb) & just look at this as an experience. The (pre-termination) suspension letter states that I am not allowed on the property (unless I turn into a pt.), & honestly, in the 8 monthes I worked there, I've not once been contacted by the union, & I wouldn't know how to get a-hold of them. When I said, "let's do it," I guess I just was feeling to hell with it, if that's the way they feel. I think you offer a valid point, I could certainly claim that the trauma of the attack clouded my thinking, but truth be known, I've been assaulted so many times it was just another day in the office. It was the behavioral specialist reading me the riot act that had me most shook up. refusal of union representation was just a result of my own slow thinking. Thanks again, I really & truly appreciate your seeing my POV! Meluhn, you are absolutely right, I'm not nurse-nancy, & as I PMed someone yesterday, it got wayyyyy to easy to let my hair down. I guess that's what I found one of the few redeeming factors of the job. "Hey, I'll just pop a half-milagram-of-klonopin, park the car & walk the quarter mile to Hell-Hospital, sling a few pills (which I ALWAYS served with a glass of diet-soda, not tepid tap-water), break up a few fights, get assaulted once or twice, do reams & reams of mindless paperwork, maybe once a day or so have a conversation with a patient that I felt really mighta made a difference in that patients day, patch myself up, & call it a day. I guess I'm really not in a position to bargain right now, so I suppose I'll try my hand at what ever I'm offered. I still feel I was a good employee, whether anyone gives a crap or not. Right before last Christmas, in the middle of the 8P pill sling, my Rt ring finger got smashed (I mean SMASHED) by a heavy security door on the adult side. My ex-ACNM (who has already said she'd be a great reference) stopped the bleeding & patched it up. She then told me to go accross the street to the ED of the real hospital, I was like sure, but since it was my fault let me finish my pill-pass first. She looked at me, & basically said okay. I got across the street (by that time the pain had gone away & it was just numb) at 10P or so, the admitting nurse at the ED asked me what time it happened, I said 8 or so, she looked at me hard & said "well, it's 10P now," I said "I meant 8P," she said "what were you doing in the mean time (?)", I said, "finishing my pill-pass," she said, "you are either incredibly loyal or incredibly stupid," I could only smile sadly & tell her that it was the latter of the two options. The x-ray showed I had broke the tip of my finger, the nail-bed was lacerated, so the ED Docs said the best thing to do was remove the entire nail (that REALLY HURT, if I was getting tortured, I wouldn't stand up to THAT kinda pain for long, I'd sell a blood relative out), clean the laceration, sew a piece of dsg on in lieu of the nail, & then send me outa there w/ a hand wrapped up like Freddy Kruger. They were short at Christmas time, so I got a workman's comp doctor to lift ALL restrictions so I could go back to work WITHOUT a finger splint; they were all surprised (but happy because they were so short) to see me bee-bopping in on Christmas eve. I worked 12 for them that night & 12 again on Christmas. But you know what they say, "that was then & this is now." Hey, thanks for listening, it felt good to get some of that stuff off of my chest!

Thanks, Caliotter; I appreciate it. I'm thinking if they don't want me there, I don't want to be there. Hopefully I'll dredge something up. I'll approach the market with a straightforward attitude & see where it takes me. Thanks again & take care/Matt

Thanks Lacie, we will see where it takes me. I hear you, Caliotter, but I really think it's a done deal. I just typed to someone that there was a lot about it that I didn't like when mngmnt wanted me there, it's been a whole lot tougher since that mgmnt all left. Maybe I had a passive wish to get fired, not unlike the passive death wish I often feel I have. Dropping the f-bomb the way I did may be the equivalent of how I get on the gas hard when going around corners on wet roads. As far as the letter they had typed up for me, it was basically a "don't call us, we'll call you," but whatever, it's the bed I made & I'll lie in it. Thanks again/Matt

Thanks, Lacie; thanks, Sunray. Lacie, I was too young for Viet Nam & too old for desert storm; you have my respect. Thanks for the advice. Sunray, I'd have to say I already blew the union angle, & that may have been because along with a passive deathwish I feel I have, I must have had a passive wish not to be there anymore. Regardless, I was told before that the way the firing process worked there, was they sent you off the property with a suspension letter, & mailed you the termination letter.

Alex, I just really don't feel like being somewhere where I'm not wanted, & after practically the whole lower management team bailed out over the winter, I haven't really felt appreciated by anyone but ancillary staff. The will to fight it just isn't there. You are correct: the situation at that place in reality was not what the two psychiatrists & the behavioral specialist see in their mind when they do their short little walk throughs. I have a couple of ex-managers I can use as a reference, & you are giving me another vote for truth, so I guess truth with admission of "I was wrong, but learned from it," wins out. I chose that particular job, because I wanted to work psych (& the pay was miserable) & I stayed there because the manager who hired me (not my current manager) won my undying loyalty. It was a long haul, & not one I was particularly fond of, & once I was there, I had to pay for parking; ergo, the job was no cherry, but I just kept doing it, even when I was not crazy about the new management team, simply because I was always too tired to seriously look for anything else. I guess I resolved that problem, huh? Anyway, thanks for the advice/Matt

Well thank you, Altra. I don't know about being level headed all of the time, but I know that I feel true compassion (& where I was, it was for the people who couldn't wear their shoes & couldn't go home at night), & yes, I certainly have insight into my own character flaws & personality defects that are too numerous to list. I also think I am going with the approach you suggested. Assuming I can get in a front door for an interview, I'll tell 'em what happened right up front, & then I'll try to make 'em believe I've learned from it, & I REALLY hope I have. Thanks again/Matt

Yes, 2BSure, that is a possibility to be considered. I always did say that I am effed up enough without this place (this place alluding to my former employment), but then again, I always said one would have to be effed up to work there. Remember, bipolar w/ a couple of mood disorders is a self DX, but one that I feel is possibly acurate. Anyway, regardless of where I apply to, do have any suggestions about how to cover my last 8 months? thanks/Matt

Thanks, tencat. That kind of summarizes how I feel about it. There are a few people people who are out of touch, that I guess think their behavior plans actually work at that place. I think that the longer I stayed on that floor, the worse my mouth was getting, & regardless whether I practiced like a professional, I sure didn't sound like a professional, & that wasn't a good thing. Honestly, though, the vast majority of the patients liked me as did the ancillary staff, so for all the things I know I did wrong, I still must have been doing something right. Hey, thanks again/Matt

Well thanks, Erica & Mrs Nurse. Erica, I wish you were the employer I was going to interview with, next time! Regardless, good luck in school; I thought it was a pretty horrible, but if I could make it, anyone can. Got it down to the days, huh? I used to have it down to the months. I took a piece of paper & made 20 squres on it, gave each square its month, & Xed 'em off as I went. Anyway, I thought I'd drive into the Pittsburgh on monday & go to the fed bldg & get on the registrar so I might have veteran's preference for applying for a VA job, & then tuesday I thought I'd call or visit an agency my friend told me about & see if I can get some agency work going. I also though I'd fax a cover/intro letter to a LTC where one of my classmates got on with & see if I can start some communication there. Still not exactly sure about how to go about covering this last base where I got tagged out on -- my tendency is to want to explain that in the heat of the moment I just slipped & got caught (I do have a couple of references I can take from that place) & that I've learned from it.... There seems to be a split in the vote on how cover this, being totally honest or kind of just alluding to an issue that happened.... I've been feeling pretty tired for quite a while; I might just spend the wkend in bed, I'm not sure. Anyway, thanks again Erica & Mrs. Nurse, I kind of feel now like I'm not the world's most horrible nurse that ever practiced/Matt

Well, I was never crazy, myself, about the way things had to be on that particular floor in order to make things work. In a perfect world, I'd have done things a whole lot different on both wings, but I am here to tell you that this place is far from perfect.

[edited] Thank you, Canoe; that is kind of how I am inclined to see the situation; but, I also know that the sky tends to be a different hue in my world than everyone else's, or I woulddn't be in this predicament. Thnx again/Matt

Wow, Fire Starter & Even Star!! Thanks!!!! But I already did the Gary Gilmoure line -- I said, "let's do it." It's done. & at this place, i was always told this is how they fire, they take your keys, body button, & ID badge & suspend you pending investigation, then they send you your termination letter. I typed earlier that I am too honest for my own good; do you guys also feel I should just allude to "issues" on my ensuing job search? & BTW, Hockey Mom, I spent most of my time, when I wasn't getting the pills ready, on the unit & not in the nsg station. I ALWAYS knew what was going on when it was "my" unit. Hey, thanks again/Matt

Thanks for answering. I'm not sure if it was a good fit or not, Hockey Mom. There were sure as "heck" some days I felt it wasn't; then there were other days I was seeing everything with crystal clarity. The counselor thing is out, at least until I get a gig w/ benefits. As I've said, I usually had a pretty good raport with my patients, because I was real with them, as opposed to laying the phony lines on them out of my psych book ("You seem like you are angry about something?") With me, it was "What's up, man? You feel like not screaming in my face for a little bit & maybe we can talk about it?" Honestly, I was better at deescalating a crisis than most of the other RNs, & I'm not bragging, I just was, & it's not because I'm very smart, because I'm not, I just was not scared of any of my patients, & most of the other RNs are. I know that it probably sounds terrible to say what I said, & I'm owning up to it like a man, but if you saw or smelled that place, I don't think you'd find the cesspool metaphor a long stretch. I'm really not angry; I chalk it up to karma, & as I was once told, bad karma comes around full circle & lands twice as hard where it roosts. I'm sure I had it coming, & as I've said, on this floor, going out of the nurses station & through the locked doors was kind of like walking into a free-fire zone where you sometimes had to make up the rules as you go; I repeat that I almost find it comical that it was the F-Bomb that got me canned after all the rules I busted before to get the job done. My short previous stint in LTC made me believe it was slinging pills, & the faster the better. (I just wasn't keeping up with the poly-pharm involved for 30 patients, & I didn't feel that I was doing the residents justice, although my work ethic was never questionable.) I am just not built for speed, which is why I thought psych was working for me, because I found it easier to stand my ground than run. Regardless, honesty has been one of my great downfalls in life; ergo, I feel that heeding your advice & writing about "issues" may be what I should do. Thank you. Yes, Lenee, I guess I probably learned a lesson. it's just that after I got out of nsg school where I had pretty much cleaned up my act, when I wound up in Hell-Hospital, I just slipped. I mean, it just slides out without me even thinking about it. Kind of like most people would say "ouch!!!" when some kid was kicking the crap out of them. regardless, Lenee, do you also feel that I should stay away from giving a detailed explanation for being terminated & just go with "issues?" Karen, it's too late to get the union rep into it. I already passed on that hand. & to be completely honest, I really wanted to look for a new job anyhow. That place just sucked all my energy, & I didn't have what it took to start seriously looking. What is your opinion of how I should handle being terminated on interviews &/or applications? Disclosure, or just kind of allude to issues? Oh, & by the way, Hockey Mom, this is also comical: psych was my favorite rotation, & LTC was my 2cond fav. Just goes to show. I probably should consider driving a truck for a living. Thanks for your input, & I'm wide open & receptive to anything else that comes my way/Matt

My situation is as follows: I have only been an RN for a year; up until today I had been employed on the MR/autism floor of a large psychiatric hospital. I will make no bones about it, I am not a brain surgeon, nor was my job brain surgery; I passed meds to either 13 adults on one wing, or 11 children on the other wing -- what everyone has in common is aggression as a targeted behavior. I am also not delusional about why I was employed there; I am stronger than the patients, & I have a high tolerance to pain. I was good at what I did, however. By being a real person, I was able to successfully deescalate crisis situations on many occasions. My ancillary staff loved me because, unlike some of the other RNs, I treated them as equals with all of us striving to successfully make it through a shift; although the place was/is a cesspool, together, we truly attempted to provide quality care. And those are the reasons I enjoyed the job, regardless of the 40 mile drive. The reasons I felt like sticking the barrel of my 12 gauge in my mouth are too numerous to mention. Here is how I got fired today. I am a bit rough around the edges, & that may be why I was able to achieve success with most of my patients. I was working an 11a to 1130p shift on the kids side today, & in the course of adminstering 1400 meds to a new (to me) patient this afternoon, I was unexpectedly attacked with an unexpected ferocity. I would have never guessed this little guy would have had the ability to hit or kick so hard. All I could do was take a butt kicking while I held the med-laced applesauce up high enough so it wouldn't become part of the crap stained carpet & I wouldn't have to wait for pharm to bring me down some more. I had good ancillary staff today & they all like me because of what I previously mentioned, & they were on this kid & took him down. I'm like "geez, let's try it on the floor, then." This kid was writhing like a ***** off aligator & he wasn't having none of it. It might not sound nice, but many times on this unit, the only way to get meds into a patient is the hard way. I wasn't even mad at the kid when I conversationally asked him to please just take the ******** meds. And honestly, that is not the first time I've conversationally used the term, & just as honestly, I'm truly cognizant that this is not an appropriate manner to speak to a patient, but equally as honestly, I gotta tell you, that is the very least of the problems on that floor. Okay, but anyway, regardless of how many times I slipped up in the past, this was the first time it happened when the PHD Behavioral Specialist was just coming through the door in the hallway where I was attempting to get this boy to take a mg of Tenex. I won't go into how ballistic she got & how apologetic I got, but the long & short of it is that I wound up getting a letter of suspension which at this place, is simply a formality prior to getting fired. They asked me if I wanted a union rep as I wrote up a staement, & I was like, nah lets just get it done, so we did, & I wrote up what happened pretty much the way I wrote it up top. All right, it doesn't kill me to lose this job, it was hardly my dream job, 80 mile roundtrip, I was serving time in a tribe with way too many chiefs & not enough Indians -- I had no aspirations beyond throwing pills or being part of the goon-squad. But what does concern me is getting fired. I just got through submitting an online application to another psych hospital in the area, & when it got to the part about why I left my last job, well, what could I say? I wrote it like I wrote it up top. I also wrote that I felt that I learned a life changing lesson, & hopefully I have, but who knows? I've already confessed to being a tad rough around the edges, I'm possibly on the fringes of being bi-polar, & this was a mid-life career change; I spent 30 previous years in airplane hangars working with men who used the F-Bomb as a noun, verb, adjective and adverb. (It's almost comical that this is what I got fired for when I consider all the rules I used to break to get the job done.) Regardless, how should I handle this as I search for a new job? Will I even get through the front door once I write on an application what i wrote up top? I have a friend who use to do agency work; he gave me the name & assured me it wouldn't matter if I was a convicted serial killer, but the benefits aren't there.... I'm a veteran, & I'd really like to try to apply that to starting a career at a VA hospital, & I also know a girl who graduated with me who told me previously that where she was working (way closer to home) was always going through nurses, however she said she was not infatuated w/ the DON.... I mean, I honestly think I'd rather sling pills at this LTC & drive 20 or 30 minutes as opposed to the 1.5 hour drive I was making.... But assuming they even are truly hiring, once again, how do I get past the getting fired part? Anyway, I'm open to all suggestions & advice. Thanks/matt

Thanks for the info!

can a potential employer search your rn employment history by your rn license #? in other words, if you had a brief employment encounter somewhere that you'd rather forget about, is it accessible, regardless, to an employer via your license#? thanks.

Can a potential employer search your RN employment history by your RN license #? In other words, if you had a brief employment encounter somewhere that you'd rather forget about, is it accessible, regardless, to an employer via your license#? Thanks.

Can a potential employer search your RN employment history by your RN license #? In other words, if you had a brief employment encounter somewhere that you'd rather forget about, is it accessible, regardless, to an employer via your license#? Thanks.

1) Is one nurse passing meds to 30 residents the LTC norm? 2) As a brand new RN, is LTC a bad place to start a career? By that, I mean that although I am fine with the work (except for being told I am way too slow getting meds passed), in the future will prospective employers see me in a less desireable light? Thank you.