JustMe

I was divorced, no kids, when I graduated from nursing school. I went out with my girlfriends & dated a few guys but nothing seemed to come along. So I decided I would be comfortable living alone. Also I was open to the possibility that the guy I met might be divorced with kids. That HAS to be a consideration--otherwise you eliminate most potential mates. I had high standards & only compromised on one, but I met the right guy & we just celebrated our 33rd anniversary. Good luck! 😊

Nurses have a lobbyist in Washington, DC. The American Nurses Association is NOT a union. It is the professional association that represents ALL nurses.

I hear what you're saying, but unfortunately it is not nurses who manage the purse strings. Even nurses who sympathize with our plight are stuck in positions that do not allow for improvements because if they try to improve the situation--hiring more staff to allow for breaks, training and mentoring new hires and new grads, etc--they are replaced with someone who will tow the corporate line. I've seen it happen time and time again in my 35 years at the bedside. I even saw a nursing CEO get fired because she sympathized with her nurses during contract negotiations. I can't see the situation getting any better until EVERY nurse stands up and says no more. They can't run the hospitals without us but there are too many nurses who will back down and "suck it up" to prevent rocking the boat.

How hard can it be to stand quietly with your patient and/or family while prayers are being offered? Regardless of religion we need to empathize with our patients (read: not sympathize). Nursing is an altruistic profession. That means we do for our patients what they can't do for themselves--including prayer--without qualification.

Looks like the MD never learned that the chart is a LEGAL document! Nurses need to document EVERYTHING but always objectively. That guy's going to end up in court one day and you don't want to go along for the ride!

I'm wondering why you need to do an EKG competency. Aren't you all ACLS certified? Doesn't that qualify as your competency? I wonder what would happen if you'd written on the test strips "unreadable." The point of being able to read a strip is that---TA DA! You can read it!! And any educator will tell you when 55% of students fail a test there's something wrong with the test.

Just attended a pain management conference with speaker Chris Pasero. It was wonderful!! I learned so much! Chris is published in numberous journals. Pain relief is not as complicated as it sounds. Ask if your Education Dept can get her to come and speak at your facility. Even the Docs don't know as much about pain relief as she does!

Honestly--I don't think the neuro check that you didn't chart will be on a priority list if your pt isn't BREATHING! We all have to prioritize our work. But the best laid plans will go to s**t when your pt circles the drain. No one should fault you for saving your pt from dying!

I like your insight that after 3 years you still don't know everything. After nearly 30 years in critical care I still don't know everything!!!

In our hospital we don't pay extra for specialties (ER, ICU, etc). We pay extra for degrees (BSN) and national certifications (CCRN). Makes more sense since I think we all work hard and paying extra for the specialties drives a wedge between groups. I wish they'd pay extra for my master's degree but at least I get the extra pay when I teach clinical for the college.

We're just starting with MediTech and I agree with the previous poster--it is certainly NOT user-friendly. I've used another system at another facility and it was great! MediTech is very cumbersome--when vitals, labs, etc need to be charted for meds you have to click to four different areas just to chart all the info needed. At my other facility all the info required was right there on one page. Still clicking but not to different pages. What a waste of time when I could be caring for my patients!! :-(

During VietNam (I know--that was a looooong time ago) corpmen and medics were allowed to take the NCLEX (at that time they were the State Boards). BUT--their license did not have reciprocity with other states. Meaning, they could only practice as RNs in the state where they took the Board exam. I see no issue with continuing this practice. The only problem that has arisen with this practice is that these nurses cannot attain their BSNs since they have no previous formal "training" ie nursing school. Perhaps something could be worked out with the colleges to have them challenge ADN status so they can pursue their BSNs. I have worked with these nurses and they do excellent work--after all, they are veterans of our US military!

I used to take my shoes off before going into the house--but then realized that whatever my shoes were walking on out in the parking lot couldn't be any worse than what's inside the hospital!! So unless you ALWAYS take your shoes off before going into the house (ie Japanese style) it made no sense. I also agree about antibacterial soaps--overuse is contributing to resistent bugs and hampering our children's immune systems. I'm pretty old school--it's still hard for me to put on gloves before helping patients.

I got my MSN from Walden and--yes, I had to find my own mentor for my project. I got the specialty in Nursing Education and asked one of the faculty for the ADN program to mentor me. She was happy to. Go to your local nursing education program for a mentor. I'm sure you will find many teachers happy to help you. Good luck!

I had an interesting thing happen at a critical care CE class. One of the speakers was a pharmacist and the first thing he asked was "Who doesn't understand their Insulin Protocal?" Every hand in the auditorium went up!! :rotfl: