gr8greens

Geeez, that's scarey........H5N1 sx that only include a fever w/o respiratory sx? . Thanks so much for keeping us informed, Indigo.

Agreed. I think Indigo girl is doing a fantastic job keeping us informed on an almost daily basis. Now only if more of our profession would open there eyes and read! A very curious thing is happening at my facility........maintainance has hung hardware for privacy curatians in our hallways on the units???? They were told the space was for hall beds for pt. overflow from the ER. Hall beds were banned about 12-15 years ago by the fire department....as fire hazzards. So what's different all of a sudden? And what about HIPPA?

Good post, Cactus! I lurk alot......but I read more. The doubters of this topic should take a little time and search the Flu sites. Prove to themselves whether or not a pandemic is worth worrying over. I for one.....know that my hospital does NOT have enough PPEs for any lengthy battle of flu pandemic. We've got a total of 12 negative pressure/ airborne isolation rooms.....about half of which house TB pts. at any given moment. Haven't a clue what happens if we get slammed w/ flu pts.

In my facility, we are allowed 6 call-ins in a certain period of time.....a year. We are treated like little children. If we dare to be sick that 7th time in a year....we start w/ one verbal warning......the 8th time we get a written warning and G-d forbid you call in that 9th time. Then we are suspended for three days w/o pay. We are allowed 12 sickdays a year. Now tell me why we don't call in sick when we really need to!

Thanks for your continued reporting on AI. Seems even the MSM isn't quite aware of how it's spreading around the world. But let's not stop reporting the saga of Anna Nicole...or Brittany's new hair style.

PPE's are a BIG component of whether or not a majority of HCW will stay on the job. I like to believe most will stay on the job until those masks, gloves and gowns are gone. Then, personally, I'll take my chances on losing that job and go home to care for my family. On another note.....how many negative pressure rooms are available? In my 225 bed facility, we only have 20. How many vents does any facility have at any given time? We have approx. 30.....but not everyone is qualified to care for vented pts. For those of us that are curious about how prepared our facilities are, we should ask the nurse/ MD in charge of infection control. The answers may scare you.

I've been reading these Pandemic flu threads for a while........Indigogirl has done an excellent job of posting relevant links. Some of the best info on the flu....avian and/or pandemic.....can be found on other forums for one's own education........I mean some really good stuff. Try PFI.com, Fultrackers.com. The one called Fluwiki is tough to navigate for me, but great info is there. As hospital nurses, this thread should be relevant to us. Trying to get the proper PPE's to the floor for your occasional TB pt can be a hassle. Imagine needing multiples! I've approached our ID docs about a flu pandemic....and was told that it's only a matter of time. As for avian flu pandemic....he didn't say anything definate....but shook his head as if saying, "who knows"? Personally, that's some pretty eye-opening stuff.

I was thinking the same thing. We are all aware of HIPPA and the limits it places on people.....and as I was told in another forum....the local health dep't was handling the necessary contacts. That doesn't comfort me much. The child probably was in contact with more children the family is unaware of.

Indigo, thanks again for all you do here. And as for the "retraction" by ommission by the media re: the original statements made by the doctor. All one can say is hmmmmmmmmm. What aren't they telling us. Ohmygosh, please keep us posted as you seem to be the only "feet on the ground" we have here!

We get time and a half for working a holiday. But you cannot call in sick either the day before or after.

We actually have an "IV team", a few RN's whose job is to just start IV's! They will sometimes bruise upon insertion too......but the line is still patent. They just add "bruised on insertion" to their charting. Seems as though your co-workers had patent lines too. That poor patient!

My facility has used Philipino nurses for the last 2-3 yrs. and we are glad to have the help! That being said, unless you are coming to the USA to do community/ public health nursing, why do it back home? Use your time at home to do some bedside nursing if that's where you'll be working here in the states. I'm precepting a youngish lady from the Phillipines now. One thing that would be EXTREMELY helpful is that they have an excellent grasp of the English language....and a good grasp of the cultural differences they face. It seems very hard and at times unsafe for me to try and show/tell her how to care for a fresh MI or cath lab pt....when she doesn't really understand me.

dbl post, sorry.

NEVER GIVE UP! We narrowly missed a strike here in NY last month. I thought most of us were fired-up and ready to walk......but DAMMIT...apparently the "majority" voted to accept our pi$$-poor contract. I thought we were so ready to go......seems like our union just gave-up and rolled over at the last minute. Those of us who want out of the union were told NO. We are bound until this new contract is up. Those of us hurt the most are seriously looking into another union....one with ba!!s. NEVER give up!

We have two admit/ dc nurses for the whole house at the present time. It works out very well....when they are on. They're only part-time, and the days they're not here really stink! I work a 32 bed, very busy tele unit....high turnover every day. We'll be asked to take report from the cath lab or ER even before the bed is empty! Paperwork is just unbeleivable. More staff would help but we all know how that goes.