KatzchenLSW

According to the Colorado Revised Statues 27-65-105 Bolding mine. Full text can be found here. So it sounds like a to invoke an involuntary hold as a nurse in the state of Colorado you would need to have additional education/training beyond a BSN.

I was a candy striper from 1996-2000 at a Catholic hospital. We didn't wear the striped jumper but we did have a red and white striped smock that we wore over khakis and a polo. I'm shocked what the hospital let us do back then. Between the ages of 14 and 16 I was allowed to staff the information desk, cashier in the gift shop and deliver flowers. From 16-18 I was allowed to transport patients being discharged in a wheelchair, pass meal trays and ice water, take samples to the lab, pick up meds from pharmacy and occupy pediatric patients who did not have a parent staying with them/answer call lights on the peds floor.

The same reason the nurse case managers and admin nurses at my hospital wear the same long white coats? I'm a social worker (psychiatric assessor) in a busy psych ER and wear per hospital policy have to wear business professional. Most of the time it is fine but every now and then there is a shift or two that I would love to be in scrubs as I often am spit on, have dinner trays thrown at me or have clothing damaged by angry or psychotic clients. I guess I don't see how taking people out of scrubs would limit role confusion. I've never worn scrubs but 9 time out of 10 the client will refer to me as "the doctor" or "the nurse" even though I introduce myself as a social worker when I come in to the room. I think it has less to do with clothing and more to do with the TV mentality that everyone who works in a hospital must be either a doctor or a nurse

That depends greatly based on the nursing program and area. I can think of several programs locally that do no require any prereqs beyond a high school education (and for some the 3 week STNA class) as all of the typical prereqs are included in the 2 year program.

I can only answer your question about the difference between sociology and social work. Sociology is the academic study of how people interact in groups and why. Social Work on the other hand is a professional field of study concerned with the practical application of techniques to alleviate the problems of individuals and groups in society.

Respectfully, I have to disagree with you on almost every point. At least here in Ohio, our unions tend to be very weak and administrator friendly. Class sizes in low income districts are horrible and as a teacher no one ever gave a hoot that we regularly had 30-35 high schoolers per class. And parents are the entire reason I left teaching. I couldn't take another year of parents calling the principal or the administration every time they or their student didn't get exactly what they wanted. The principals/administration always backed the students and parents and left the teachers virtually powerless. IMO, the parents at the schools are feel every bit as entitled as the patients I now see at the hospital (as a social work trainee) Honestly both careers have their ups and their downs, but as they are so different I don't think it is even possible to guess at who has it better. ( but I do I know that many of the teachers I taught with have gone on to become nurses :) In their words, better pay, fewer hours, same old ****)

At least in my neck of the woods, a newly graduated teacher with a bachelors makes about $32,000- $36,000 a year and a new grad nurse with an ADN makes anywhere from $19-$23 an hour (so, $35,000 to $43,000 a year, assuming a 36 hours work week) and BSN's generally make a dollar an hour more. As for teaching and working as a nurse part time, it would really only be doable over breaks. I taught high school Spanish for two years and while the 7:15A-3:00P hours look good on paper they are hardly realistic. Most teachers end up spending at least an hour each day outside of the contract hours prepping lessons, grading, completing paperwork, contacting parents and attending meetings. Even more time is required if you teach multiple courses, as each class will require a separate prep. I know I regularly worked 50-60 hour weeks when I was teaching 3 separate courses and supervising the required senior projects. Summers aren't as free as they look either. In my former district we had lots of summer inservices and team meetings right after school let out and a couple of weeks before school began as well. In the little "vacation time" we did have left we were expected to complete our continuing education if needed. But such is the life of a salaried employee.

If you want help with cloth diapers, PM me. I've cloth diapered two little ones now on the cheap and would be more than happy to let you know what has worked for us and where to find good deals. http://www.miraclediapers.org/ is a website that loans cloth diapers to mother's in need. As far as the corificeat, try WIC, the hospital or your local fire department. Our local WIC will sell a convertable corificeat to anyone who qualifies for WIC for $20 (and often for less if you truely don't have the $20) but in other states you can get free/ reduced price careseats at the hospital or the local firestation too. If you haven't already, call your county information and refferal line and ask about programs in your area for low income mothers and pregnant women. There may be other programs that you qualify for that could help keep you and your baby stable until you can get back to school/work. Good luck with everything :)

Yep because $5 per meal is so reasonable for some one who qualifies for Medicaid

Unless your city has no public transport or you have no refrigerator or the bus limits you to two grocery bags... Honestly if you saw the barriers to a healthy lifestyle that most of my clients faced on a daily basis you'd be amazed that any of them are relatively healthy. I'm not saying that clients like the one you referenced are blameless, but that a little understanding about the challenges of mental illnesses, addictions and living in poverty would go a long way. (Honestly, how would you feel if you knew that almost every one you know, including the nurse caring for you thinks you are disgusting, stupid, lazy and worthless just because you are obese, ill and couldn't get your life in order on their timeline? )

What an ignorant statement! Poverty can have everything to do with it. If you have a patient/ client living in a hotel without access to fridge or microwave or a car and the 7-11 is the only place to buy food, their choices regarding purchasing healthy food are severely limited by their poverty. The same is true for those who live in inner city neighborhoods with no grocery stores nearby and a limit on the number of bags they can carry on the bus. Food stamps often go much farther on junk food than on healthier alternatives. Here a single adult gets about $79 a month in food stamps. With that money they could buy lots of frozen dinners for lunch and dinner at $1 each (if you have a way to reheat them) and a box of cereal for breakfast or you could eat healthily for two - three weeks and then go hungry. So in short if we can't use a pill to fix it and the client doesn't overcome all of his or her barriers their life is worthless? Would you feel the same way about an anorexic/bulimic patient? Because based on the info in your post your patient most likely has an eating disorder in addition to several other mental health issues, not of which will be cured overnight or even over years with medication or dietary education.

And when their inability to comply is due to poverty? Should we cut them off then too? I understand your frustrations, but you seem to fail to understand that there is often much more at play in these situations than ignorance and inability to change alone.

Its definitely more than one person since we are hearing this on multiple floors and in areas that would not have nurses floating from floor to floor. I'm not sure where it started or why, but it sure did spread like wildfire!

...that (at least in my state) 'social worker" is a protected title just like "nurse" is. For whatever reason the nurses at the hospital I intern at have taken to calling everyone from the financial services reps to the case managers (who are LPNs) "the social worker." Not only is it disrespectful, it confuses the heck out of patients. I had one elderly gentleman get exasperated after I introduced myself as the social work intern because in his words I was "the third social worker that had been in today! So just a friendly request to try and use the correct title when you tell a patient that "so and so" will be stopping by. :) (And I promise I won't call the NAs, housekeepers or dietary "nurses" )

I'm not a nurse, but I work with lots of them and my husband works for one of the BSN programs in Columbus. I can tell you that Central Ohio is a very tight market for new grad RNs right now as there are many, many ASN and BSN programs (there are 6 programs in Franklin county alone, and several more in the surrounding counties) putting out class after class of graduates while the major hospitals in the area all have hiring freezes. The school my husband works for has had several angry letters from recent graduates who had great grades and glowing clinical reviews but are still unable to find a job. You may be okay if the economy turns around in a year or two, but I would not bank on being able to quickly find a job once you do decide to move to Ohio.