dauschundlover

Did you get a response regarding your survey? I filled out the form and I don't know if they received it or if it's lost in cyper space. Any comments would be grateful.

I never sign anything I don't agree with and they can't make u even if they say signing doesn't mean you agree with what's being said your only signing that it was shown to you. DON'T SIGN. If anything just write a rebuttal, but never sign their version. Ask for a copy which you are entitled to. I would also say that if you feel attacked and alone with no support in the room including your union rep, ask for the meeting to be rescheduled at a time when you can bring along someone for support, federal law allows this. I can't remember the name of the law but your union rep should if they are worth anything. Again good luck to you.

I never sign anything I don't agree with and they can't make u even if they say signing doesn't mean you agree with what's being said your only signing that it was shown to you. DON'T SIGN. I

I think if I were u I'd try to just forget out this till monday. Then first thing monday I thnk u should call YOUR union rep and find out what's up. It's my understanding that when you belong to a union the rep is there to help and protect u. I would then consider filing a grievance with the union regarding the actions of the rep. That person should know that the tactics used by your manager are inappropriate. What she did is no different,however is more offensive, then when a friend calls and says we got to talk but not right now. Now give me a break a tactic like that is for one purpose and one purpose only to unnerve the other person. How childish. Make sure to represent yourself professionally and stick to only the facts.

Okay let me get the facts right. Your presently working 2 jobs, one fulltime, one part time. You were scheduled to work both places and choose to call out sick to the full time job. If these facts r right then this is my opinion. You shouldn't have started the part time job until your obligation to the full time job was fulfilled unless you were willing to fulfill your obligation to both, which seems difficult. That being said why did you give a months notice. Although I think most would believe two weeks notice would be adequate, or whatever time you have left for vacation some people use as a rule, ie if you have 3 weeks vacation, give three weeks notice. My rule of thumb since have been recently shown the door is that I look out for what is best for myself. If I find another job and I feel no obligation towards my previous employer I give one weeks notice. Now I know I'll hear a lot about that but remember most in most states you are an employee at will which means without any just cause your employer can tell you to pack your bags. So seeing as an employer has no regard for my financial obligations I now do what is best for me. That includes not worrying if they have a relacement for me as I need to worry about my peace of mind and my families welfare.Enough said there. Now if you called out sick in order to honor your obligation at the other work place you may be in trouble but my question would be do they know this or are they going on a fishing expedition. In saying that when you go into this meeting be careful of the questions they ask you. If the question doesn't refer to exactly, and I mean exactly what happened you can answer honestly in your favor. For instance, did you call out sick? If you did then you have to answer honestly yes. If they ask did you call out sick in order to work your other job? Then you have to examine the question is that truly what you did. Or was one job an am shift that you called out sick to and by the time the pm shift came around you felt as if you could go to work then you could honestly answer no to that question. Many would say this is lying but it's not it's dissecting the question prior to giving an immediate answer. I myself have called out sick because I felt to exhausted to go into work that morning, but after having slept in for an hour or two longer felt as if I could now go to work. I've even been tempted to call back and say you know what I just needed a few more hours of sleep I feel much better do you need me. Of course I didn't, because that wouldn't have been understood. So anyway maybe this mess you caused yourself because your trying to satisfy to many people. You should have negotiated your start date with your new employer based in your notice date with your old employer, and again I'm sure I'll hear about this, without any regard for your old employer unless of course you felt you would one day return there. There is nothing wrong with putting your needs first, in fact that unfortunately is becoming the american way. Good luck and remember only answer the questions and don't expand on your answer unless prompted to. Keep it to yes, no, only.And if the question isn't asked correctly you can answer no without any guilt feelings.

In my comment stating that we all passed the same boards I was hoping to point out that to separate nurses by their education was for lack of a better word ridiculous. I should be united in the goal of bringing credibility to our field and if that means making a BSN the minimum level of education required then lets just do it. This debate has been going on for YEEEEAAAAAARRRRRRRRSSSSSSSS. In pointing out that we all pass the same boards I was merely stating the obvious that we must be equal to a point if the test required for licensure is the same given to a candidate no matter what education path they choose. Now as far as saying you can't get into grad school with your NCLEX yes that's true, so if someone who is a diploma grad or AD grad chooses that route to take then they would have to get those three initials behind their name. As far as being able to train just anyone to do some of the "tasks" involved in nursing that person is right. You can train someone to pass meds, put in an IV, draw blood, change a dressing, but what you get when a nurse does these "tasks" is the added basis of assessment. And what would separate nurses from just anyone else doing what we do is the knowledge of putting it all together and doing it right.

A good source regarding this issue is the INS, Intravenous Nurse Society. I believe u use bicarb for certain clotting factors but not necessarily blood. But check with INS.

I have to agree with everyone that your boss is a true example of what is wrong with nursing management. Any real manager would have called u in right away and taken care of the issue not put it in the manner she did and have you worry all weekend. It's easy to say don't stress but I'm sure difficult to do. If a union rep is there then you at least have someone on your side in the room. R u changing hospitals? Did u give two weeks notice? Take it in stride and be glad your moving on.

Your kidding yourself if you think a BSN carries more weight then any other form of nursing education. Afterall didn't we all pass the same boards?

Snoopd is right, especially when it comes to what abbreviations get you. Hats off to snoopd to realize those abbreviations are used only for marketing purposes and not for a higher regard for nursing. If you want to see how much CEO's value nursing just take a look at the money spent on lobbies that look like high class hotels, the push for higher educated nurses to achieve magnet status which truly is nothing but a marketing ploy. I would go a step further and say as nurses to become empowered we need to unionize. I was never much of a fan of unions but lately as I see "our leaders" selling us out to CEO's I'm a firm believer that without unions we will continue to be at the bottom of the pool.

In response to classicdame. How can someone, anyone stay in nursing and not adapt to new changes and developments. When I think of how medicine has changed since I graduated if I had not stayed up on things I'd be lost. The acuity level of the patient alone has drasticly changed. I remember when doing homecare, asking patients, "If they sent you home who did they actually keep." If Dr. O'Grady wants to improve nursing at the bedside then come up with ways in which nurses, doctors, and assistances can work as a team. Each member of the health care team should be able to promote ideas without being ridiculed. I recognize that a doctor has many more years of education behind his MD however it is very insulting to have your years of experience discounted because you became a nurse in 2 years, 3 years, or 4 years. I witnessed the melt down of many new grads because they are expected to function as excuse the term "experienced nurses" just because they passed boards. There given inadequate orientation periods, there preceptors are counted as staff, they lack the back bone to stand up for the patients rights. Experience assists you in all of these areas. If Dr. O'Grady wants to decrease the mass exodus of younger nurses from the profession then come up with ways to make hospitals mentor new nurses, because as a seasoned nurse I'm a bit tired of picking up the slack. And here I go again bringing up my favorite word equity. With the aging of the nursing profession I think those who believe they are our leaders and representatives should take a little bit more time before making a blanket statement.

I'm not sayng experience equals excellence. All I'm saying is that Dr. O'Grady with all his initials could have found a more eloquent way to state his point. Afterall experience has it's place in every profession. And although I wouldn't consider Liz Taylor an expert on successful marriages I certainly would have to listen to her advice regarding the failure of marriage. Besides the so called leaders of nurses need to start getting the AMA to respect our opionions. I can be credentialed and initialed up the ying yang but when it comes to who will have the final word in any decision regarding practice it will unfortunately be the MD. I speak from experience in my time as an IV nurse. I had the INS packing on many of the decisions I made as manager for an outpatient infusion company only to be told multiple times that "it's the doctors decision." Heck I didn't even have the backing of my immediate supervisor even though I could site the paragraph in the INS handbook regarding correct practice of care. I personally do not feel that the ANA represents my best interests within the work place and then when I see a quote like this it confirms my feelings. I would like to see nurses working as a team. I would like to see MD's truly acknowledge what we have to offer. I would like to see a manager tell a nurse to join in the fun we call work rather then surfing the net, playing games on a PDA, reading romance novels, taking 2 hour lunches. If the ANA wants to do something for me how about introducing a little thing I like to refer to as equity. If I'm required to work 8 hours for 8 hours pay then why then was I surrounded by nurses who worked 4 hours for 8 hours of pay. That is my problem with nursing management and people like Dr. O'Grady. Just a question nursing can't even come to term with the basic requirement for entry into the nursing field, why then without that fundamental core to the educative process being answered should I return to school for a hire degree. I am a diploma grad with a BS in business and very proud of it. When I look around at my peers and see how nurses with masters conduct themselves with the public and other nurses I want nothing to do with higher education. I'll stay at the bedside thank you very much.

OMG I think I met my long lost sister.

Don't get me wrong being in a profession for a long time doesn't make you great at what you do. However, don't make a blanket statement regarding those of us who have been around for so long. If you ask me what makes a person good at what they do is to always ask questions, always be willing to learn, always to admit maybe there is another way of doing something. But a blanket statement regarding experience is wrong. I entered the field of nursing with my eyes open and sometimes have not been very happy at what I've seen. Nurses discounting other nurses, doctor discounting nurses, management discounting nurses. In my experience those with knowledge sometimes choose to humiliate more then enlighten. As far as I can understand Evidence Based Practice is nothing more then not settling for the status quo. To always question Okay fine but what can we do different? What can we do better? Does that really make sense? In my day we called that common sense.

I'm with u. Nothing damages us as nurses as when one of presents herself or himself as knowing it all. It doesn't take much for a pt. to loose confidence in you as their nurse then when another nurse states or implies that another nure "doesn't know what she's doing". To tell you the truth I don't know how that nurse had the time to redress an IV just because it wasn't done her way. I was just using that as an example but the general idea is to remember we all put out own personal spins on what we do, the right thing to do is to accept that it's not wrong.

I'm with you that's where I draw the line. I can handle organs hanging out but don't even show me an xray of a limb and all the metal used for repair.

Thanks for your opinions. Don't get me wrong having just left a hospital where if I had received a dollar for everytime someone said "because that's the way we've always done it" I would now be retired. All I'm saying is that I have been a nurse for 27 years and I'm always looking for newer and better ways to do things but usually I'm met with the previous statement. Trust me I remember being taught practice that truly made no sense. But there is no replacement for experience. I'm sorry to say that when others impose their way of practice on another just because it doesn't agree with their's and there is no harm to the patient they are being rude. As long as the patient is safe I myself do not try to say "u need to do it this way", which basically means you have to do it my way. I just wish these over educated leaders would spend just a little more time in the trenches with us working nurses before making such an insulting blanket statement. I'm willing to learn and to be taught but I'm not willing to have someone tell me my years of experience mean nothing. It's attitudes like this that harm nursing. I've worked with nurses who r so caught up in how they do things, ie securing an IV, that they step on another colleagues toes just to impose their "standard". I've come to learn that there are many ways to get from a to b, as long as the standards of practice are maintained and no harm comes to the patient. What scares me most is that these people with multiple initials after their name feel they have my best interest at heart.

To all "experienced" nurses. Please help me with this issue. I need to know if I'm being overly sensitive or have I once again been slapped in the face by an organization that promotes itself as having my best interest at heart. When I got home yesterday I found the newest edition of The Maryland Nurse in my mailbox. In need of some light reading a bold statement on the front page caught my eye, "You can't take care of your patient if you don't take care of yourself and your profession." I had to read on only now I wish I hadn't. Tim Porter-OGrady, DM EdD, APRN, FAAN is further quoted as saying "experience is not sufficient for competence." "A nurse with years of experience is experienced in an age that we are now leaving behind." He goes on to profess the wonders of Evidence Based Practice. Now I have to tell you I was so mad at reading this seeing as I am a nurse with 27 years experience that my evening was just about ruined. This statement to me is another reason why I would be so disappointed is my daughter ever came to me and said she wanted to be nurse. Because this is such a blanket statement that those of us with experience have nothing new to offer. Anyway before I continue to vent I'd like to hear from others as to whether my anger was indeed out of place.

chloraprep is the preferred choice for cleansing prior to iv insertion. 30 second scrub on a dry area, one minute scrub on a wet area, allow to dry then insert the catheter.

I call the doctor whenever I feel he needs to be made aware of any issue involving his patient. It's up to him to decide what and if anything should be done. That way I can chart Dr.__________, is aware. That way it can't come back to haunt me. Sometimes you'll get yelled out which usually translates to I'm on the golf course.lol but if information is always past on in the best interest of the patient then you should sleep well at night.

I loved Angie O'Plasty's comments. I'm not insulted be these remarks in the least. And I take the time to educate the patient. They can't help what their perception of the nursing community is. Just look at the TV shows and it's no wonder that we are given little respect. And mostly it's because of the lack of knowledge the public has for what we really do. I was working in a CCU one day and a patient was starting to go bad, respiratory compromise. It was a private hospital so no teaching staff, before the days of hospitalist, so you had to rely on contacting the MD and the standard orders for particular situations. The patient made a turn for the worse and ended up being intubated. We were never able to contact the MD and just followed hospital procedure for what to do. When the patient improved and was finally transferred to the step down unit I went to say hello. She had nothing but praise for her MD for saving her live. Never once did she mention the nursing care that actually saved her life. In my head I was thinking oh yeah great doc, wouldn't even return our calls, probably on the golf course. It was a hard lesson to learn that no matter what the credit will always be given to the person held to higher esteem in the eyes of the patient. What we as nurses need to do is address our professional organizations to educate the public on what we really do. We need to finally put the rest the debate over the minimum level of education to become an RN. We need to get a voice to the public ear to stop turning hospitals into overpriced hotels with valet parking, and tremendous lobbies with cascading water falls. The trend in hospitals today does nothing to educate the public to the long hours we put in. When I walk into some of the hospitals in my community it's no wonder patients ask if we're their waitress. There treated like they checked into a hotel. It won't be long before we will be expected to place mints on their pillows at night. How many more nurses do you think a hospital could hire if money wasn't wasted on these extravagant renovations. Administration is setting the tone for how we are treated within the hospital and our professional organizations owe to us to set the public straight. Instead of finding more ways for the hospital to be recognized, ie magnet status, we need to find ways to promote nursing nation wide through advertisement. Patients will go where their MD's send them, they'll keep going back to that hospital based on the nursing care they received. Administration needs to wake up.

I've never been one to believe that the uniform makes the nurse. When I started out working in the ICU we wore hospital supplied scrubs. One day we started wearing white tennis shoes to work, they were comfortable and who ever really sees your feet. Well nursing administration had a fit. We were told we had to were the traditional white nursing shoe. To this day I can't figure out how any of my patients would have passed judgement on my ability as a nurse because of my choice of shoes. Another thought is that I have come in contact with many a doctor dressed in street clothes who if I passed them on the street would have probably given them a hand out, but no one ever mentions their attire and how it can be preceived. If your patients confuse you with housekeeping then maybe you didn't introduce yourself on first meeting. And yes the older population would still like to see their nurses in starched white uniforms, but again as long as I'm dressed neatly and in accepted professional attire and maintain the dress code I would hope that my demeanor and knowledge will indicate my role in a persons care. Respect isn't gained from what you wear it's gained by how you treat people and how your treated.

Got your reply. Sounds like this guy is a toughie. With a 02 sat of 50% he must have copd. I would question whether he is capable of making sound decisions on his own. Is there any family involved?

Tpa is most likely not the choice to declot a line suspected of clotting from dilantin infusion. TPA would only work if the line had a blood clot. Recommendations can be found for the use of NaHCO3 or HCL due to occlusion caused by drug precipitate particular mention is given to Dilantin.

If glass ampules are utilized filter needles should be supplied. This is a standard of practice and you should probably ask someone in the pharmacy what they do.