gitterbug

I feel your panic but please calm down, attempt to call the OBON on Monday, speak to that person, and refresh their memory. I was having some problems, spoke to a real person and they were so helpful and nice, I was ready to go in less than 5 days. I wish you luck on the boards.

I can only speak for what we do here. We leave the hearing aide in place until the patient is given anesthesia, it is then removed, placed in a container that is clearly marked with name and room number, it stays with the patients chart until the patient regains a LOC that the hearing aide is needed. The chart has a note attached to the front alerting anyone that patient needs/has a hearing aide, we sometimes write on a piece of tape and put it on the patients gown hearing aide in place to R or L ear, just a a gentle reminder to the OR staff. When OR calls for the patient we verbally tell them the patient has a hearing aide too. All of this is charted, so there is a chain of knowledge and protocal. We used to give them to family members but it was found that patients were too disadvantaged in PACU without their hearing aides to respond approiately to commands or instructions.

Overall my experience with our group has been good. They are competent, caring, and well educated. One left, his ego was just too big to be here. He was such a handsome man, so well educated, so wealthy and refined he needed to be somewhere he was appreciated (his words exactly). I guess he found what he was looking for in Mississippi cause West Virginia sure was not for him. LOL!

I agree with letting this person know you will not participate in the childish and mean behavior. Tell them to call you by name, if they persist in calling you names, make a copy of the harrassment policy, see the HN and report this behavior, giving her a copy of the policy, if the HN does not take action, go to HR and file a complaint. Even if you are changing jobs, others will be staying and they do not need to be subjected to this type of behavior. Prayer does help, so does counselling, and it seems that this employee needs some of both. I wish you a blessed day.

On any given day, on any shift, on any unit at any facility gossip can and often does rear its ugly head. It is practical to learn how to do a good job, be kind, caring, competent, and quiet. Learn to count to ten before speaking, it saves a lot of foot in mouth problems. I wish you luck and hope you have a blessed day.

Several times over the years I have been assigned to care for family members and ex-inlaws. I attempted each and every time to request a switch but I was denied every time except for twice. Seems their medical problems were such that an experienced nurse was really required. I made the CN and HN come into the room and listen while a plan of action was set into place. Thank goodness no problems ever came up. I did chart this whole situation in the chart and was later told I was not clear in explaining the relationship between myself and these patients. What is so hard to understand about this is my aunt, my ex-SIL, my ex-FIL? I attempted to act in a professional, kind, and caring manner. Guess it worked, I still get some ex relatives assigned to me, and they refuse to take another nurse. LOL. Stress is my middle name on those days.

Is it possible for you to work in another area part-time? Is week-end an option? How about a state job? This is a difficult and stressful situation for you I am sure, but visit the local employment office, sign up and start looking. Good luck.

Hi RB, Yes it did sound very bad to me too. I know there were rumors about a year or so ago that over 12 million dollars was missing from the Laird Foundation fund that was set aside to help the facility keep the doors open when times were rough. In the past 2 administrators were let go under strange circumstances. A person would think that a 12 million dollar deficit would cause a lots of press and comments but in this area it seems normal. We are used to hearing about big money coming to the area for improvements but by the time the money passes through many hands, we are lucky if much gets done. Living in the hills, got to love it! LOL! Have a blessed day.

I spoke today with an employee of this facility who will be directly effected by this strike if it happens. He said some issues have been worked out, but the wage freeze for 3 years and the increase in insurance rates and copays are the main sticking points right now. He says the facility has wanted to borrow money from the union to keep the place going, but that may be a rumor started by both sides in this dispute. Everyone is holding their breath, waiting to see what will happen next.

I would hate for some of the managers who I have worked under to actually have to work on the floor. Talk about dangerous, they were very dangerous and had no true understanding of what was necessary to manage some patients. It does not take long to know that too much rocking the boat will get a nurse fired no matter how competent that nurse is in their nursing practice. Reality of life is, take some things that are unfair and do the best you can, guarding your tongue so you can work to pay the bills.

I would ask for a reason, but not be surprised if there was a lot of "passing the buck" on this issue. Sometimes, agency nurses go into a place and are so bent on doing a good job, they actually make the regular staff look bad. I wish you luck on your next assignment.

As long as nurses have or are perceived as having no power, then wages, working conditions, and safety issues will always be a problem.

Why not just say because the personal rewards were greater for me and the family. I agree that it will take a long time for the public to accept male nurses as common rather than rare in the hospital setting. But, take heart, as more males enter the field, it will get better. Anyway, many of us like you guys, think you do a great job, and we are more than happy to share the load. Keep smiling, and have a blessed day.

No real dvice to give but wishing you good luck on the move.

Hi Noryn, Yes, the rumors are swirling around here regarding this situation. I just hope no one loses a home over this. Well, you already know I am in the Oak Hill area. It is pretty down in the Teay's Valley area but with all of the growth there seems to be lots of traffic. I have been down to the Flea Market a few times. My favorite aunt lives close to the Mall. I used to go more but with the cost of gasoline, I am a home body more and more. LOL! Hope you have a great weekend.

WOW! What a terrible situation for consumers and nurses. I hope you are not employed by this group now.

I have no official word on anything regarding the strike, but once again, word from the local bank is that today is one of the last paydays prior to the strike and the banks are expecting several of the employees to come in and attempt to either pay-off what they can, or attempt some type of refinancing of some loans. I was told that many of the employees who could retire have done so in the last month. The employees are expecting to lose their jobs, they say word is already buzzing at the facility that replacement travelling nurses are expected to be on the job within 15 minutes of the walk-out. There have been ads for LPN's and CNA's in the paper for a couple of weeks for the nursing home that is attached to the hospital. I do think the place is a sinking ship. So many of the physicians are older and have been saying they were going to cut back for the last year. Maybe this place will just turn into the largest nursing home in the area. Heavens knows there is plenty of need for one up here. We have the oldest population in the state and everyday we all just get older. As I said this is just gossip from a friend who works at the bank, but her sister had worked at the facility for years and she retired in March.

Years and years ago, on my first real job as a nurse, I was working nights and was working with a nurse who had a drug problem. It was an open secret to all of the staff even the supervisor. I was not advised of this, and freaked out when a whole pack of Demerol 50 mg IM vials came up missing at 0400am. My patient needed a shot, I went to the drug cabinet and no meds, I called the super and she calmly came to the floor and asked this nurse to return the meds to the drug cabinet, which she did. NOTHING was said or done to this nurse, the next AM I was asked to keep an eye on her when we were working together! Who were they kidding? I was new, green, and scared to death of being blamed for stealing drugs. I walked out and never went back. Now I realize I should have reported this to the boards, but at the time, I was so green I did not know where to turn. Today I would do things differently but that incident left a hugh scar on me and I am still paranoid if drugs come up missing. The nurse retired about a year later but I will always wonder how many patients suffered because no one confronted this problem.

I only know that this strike affects about 150 workers, not a large amount, but it will be devastating to the local economy. This place was supposted to be so far in the red about a year ago, employees were afraid to cash pay checks. That was a rumor that came directly from a local bank. The reputation of this facility is the pits, most people I know avoid the place but some locals have no choice. I have not been there in quite a long time and I was visiting someone then. The nurses work hard, in fact, all of the staff I saw was very busy and seemed to be very dedicated to doing a good job, but physicians in the area have terrible reputations. I seem to remember some problem with files not being disposed of properly at Man. I remember a few years ago when hundreds of files were found in the trash in Beckley from a physicians office who had left the area after a divorce. Anyway, there has been no comments or further news on this strike. I do not think we will know what is happening until they either walk out or settle the dispute.

Only you know what the money situation is with you and how much time you seriously want to devote to school and getting the degree. BSN is the thing now, but a job is possible with a 2 year degree. You can always go for the BSN online or part-time after you get the ASN. I do not have a clue as to what type of assistance there might be at either of these schools regarding a learning disability. Most people who have this type of problem develop tricks for association and coping skills in order to assist them in dealing with this disability. Have you spoken with anyone associated with these schools regarding any type of assistance for someone with a learning disability? I wish you the best of luck and hope you can proceed with becoming a nurse. Have a blessed day.

The spouse will make her leave. This is common here. She will have to make some sort of statement before action will be taken.

I say give him all of the support he has given to you. He sounds like a wonderful person. With his background he will have no trouble with many of the classes, I am sure he will make a good nurse. He should go for it. Good luck to all of you.

I was talking with a friend over the weekend at our reunion, she stated she is having trouble getting her license from there. She filed the papers weeks ago, she is sure everything was complete and correct but she still has no license and can't get a straight answer as to the hold up. Is this normal for the BON? I thought Maryland was a walk thru state? She wants to work per diem and visit with a daughter who is married and lives up there. I am wondering if nursing is in such good shape up there the BON sees no need to fill requests for license quickly? Any comments?

It was announced on the local news here a strike is possible at MGH. Any comments from anyone who knows the situation? I understand the employees have been working for months without a contract. Local gossip was swirling last year that this facility was on the verge of closing. I do know that many physicians do not accept consults from the ER at this facility. There should be some official word within a week.

Addiction is a disease, addicts cause themselves and their loved ones more problems than anyone can believe. As I write this a family member's ashes were scattered early this AM according to his wishes. Now, we are left to wonder if there was anything else we could have done, any way we could have been more caring, or helpful, or kind, or strong. His suicide note said he could not face another day of torment, so he blew his brains all over his bedroom. His was a mixed addiction, alcohol and drugs. So, even though I know He was in a downward spiral and would never really get well because he could not conquer his demons, I will miss him and wish there was some way we could have had one more day.