1OldDinosaurRN

Lexington Professional Associates are looking for an LPN. Try career builders.com as it lets you specify general locale you are seeking employment in as LPN. Good Luck. Also, try the agency nurses or home health, you may find something there!

I skip breaks and lunch alot, also. But that is by choice, sometimes. Other times it is too busy and there is no one to relieve me, and I am paid for "no lunch". If I was ever disciplined for not interrupting my lunch break for some useless matter...the case of the doctor charts (they can read), water pitchers, anything short of a code blue....I would immediately call whoever in the government that handled such things where I was working and notify them that the facility was denying my "duty free" break periods. We can't be expected to be able to remain clear headed and able to perform our nursing duties with low blood sugars/high blood pressures/and stressed out minds! If we as a group don't stand up and speak for ourselves, and demand the respect we deserve....then we will continue to be treated like second (no, make that third) class citizens. So, I think that if being polite and telling the person you are on break, someone else needs to handle the situation, doesn't work...then at the risk of being rude...state I am on break, don't interrupt me again. I soooooooo hate how nurses are treated in this day and age!:angryfire The only way it will ever change is if we as an entire group demand it.

well, there is a shortage....but it depends on where you are!! have you gone to the hospitals websites to see what they have available? have you decided if relocation is a possibility? have you decided how far you are willing to drive to work? sometimes it takes awhile for them to get back with you, but applying online seemed to get them back to me faster. if you haven't heard anything in 2 to 3 weeks, then a follow up call to the human resources departement with "hello, this ( ), i am calling to follow up on an application for "x" job. i am really interested in the job, and would like to speak with someone about the job if possible." sometimes a follow up phone call lets them know who is really serious about the job. keep your spirits up, you won't waste away at applebee's :wink2: (although the tips are better there, lol)

hi ledwards63! hope your 120 hours is going well. are you planning to stay at emrmc? i also went to eku for my undergrad degree. let me know if i can help you out in any way, hang in there...graduation gets here eventually!!!

By the way, as far as expense goes, when I took into consideration:tuition/fees/books/wear&tear on car/having to juggle work schedule&class schedule/having to actually attend a class (rather than working in jammies)/time spent away from family/ability to take classes when I wanted/.........I thought UOP was more of a bargain than the traditional classroom!

I earned my MSN in 2000 from UOP. I highly recommend going this route for education or management. They've changed alot since I was in the program, for the better I think. One other nurse from my hospital just finished the program, she said they have a lot more interaction with the other students in the program now. I'd love to go into nursing education...but can't afford the pay cut I'd have to take...so have yet to change out of management. UOP is the way to go as far as I'm concerned!

hi, i am an oldie but goodie, been rn for 26 years, in central ky, small rural hospital, have msn, work middle management in er/medsurg. love nursing. :welcome:

Well controlled seizures and asthma should not be a reason for denial to nursing school. If they do deny you admission for that, I would seek legal advice, but I don't think they will. It is probably more for them to know what accommodations they might need to make for you, or if in emergency, they will know any conditions that they can relate to the EMS,drs, etc. My advice is if you want it, then go for it and don't let anyone stand in your way!!

i just really think it all boils down to: "do unto others as you would have them do unto you." the first thing i told my students was that there are no stupid questions. i really believe that the educational preparation needs tremendous amounts more practical hands-on teaching. theory is great, we all need to know the why's of what it is we are doing. but...graduating from nursing school in this day and age without ever having started an iv, put down an ng, anchored a f/c, or given lots and lots and lots of meds...that is ridiculously negilent of the educational system. maybe we should all take the popular bumper sticker's advice and "luv a nurse". take the nastiest acting nurse you know and compliment them, say something nice to them, do something nice for them, and eventually (hopefully) the goodness will take hold. new grads, hang in there!

i've been asked many times where i am from, and when i tell them they all say "i thought you were swedish or something with that accent". (i am from both ohio and ky) no, i am just hearing impaired i tell them, that's where the accent comes from!! i never got offended, i always thought it was pretty funny in fact. but, i agree on the difficulty of understanding some professionals with thick accents of any type. especially for those who are hearing impaired, like many of our older folks. i love the diversity of the usa, that is what makes us "us". however, i do feel that since english is the national language, everyone who lives here needs to be able to converse understandably in it. i know if i were to move to another country, i would take any and all classes i could (preferably before i moved if possible) so that i could understand and be understood in my new home. that is a huge part of being human....communication!! i think we should all do whatever it takes to be able to communicate with our peers and patients effectively. that said, we do need to practice a little patience. i really appreciate that 99% of the people i've had to ask to repeat themselves for the last 43 years have been patient with me. just my 2c, having been on both ends of this!

hi, ditto on the advice about emrmc in danville. you can also check out their affiliate hospital 10 minutes from them in stanford, ky. it is a small rural hospital. med/surg, ob, or, er are the areas available to work. school systems in both are pretty good, (esp. lincoln middle, go lcms!!), my husband is in education, so i do hear that. hope you do decide to move into the area, i agree it is beautiful down here, esp now with everything so green. and fall is soooo gorgeous. log on to www.emrmc.org for more info. hope to be able to welcome you here. good luck with the job hunt.:paw:

i have also seen this, and agree it is a mistake waiting to happen. why not just not write the order until they have checked with the other doc? in my experience, these orders were written most often pending morning rounds of the surgeon. i don't feel it's my responsibility to call the surgeon and check to see if it's okay for the order to be put into effect. but, like others, i have done this as a courtesy call. i just think it would be much better if they'd do the consult themselves before writing the order.

hi, i think it's a wonderful idea---and ladies auxillary or volunteers should be the ones available to do it. we are usually just too bogged down with meds, txs, charting, calling doctors, etc. etc. to do this. it would be nice if we had the time to do it ourselves.

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: thanks! i needed that!!

In this area, clinical gets the nod. I work the floor now, but I got a grand total of about a dollar an hour raise for my administrative/education MSN. Did mine online, clinicals at a local clinic. Couldn't do NP this route, so can't offer any insight there. Considering transferring credits now to local university, need 13 to 17 hours for Acute Care Nurse Practitioner. I don't know, I don't want to move and there's limited opportunities here so would it be a waste?

rnkitty04 wasn't really needed on that shift. yeah, right:uhoh3: excuse me? what were the 10 other people doing? i hope you at least got some help doing this, or at least if they were swamped, they offered!

:angryfire now that's a good solution, just get rid of all of them.:angryfire as a mother of a male cna, and a master's prepared rn with 23 years experience in everything from babies to geriatrics, i find that attitude offensive. by the same thought processes, since the docs have complained so much about np's, let's just solve the problem by getting rid of all of them. then, everything will be more efficient because the docs of course know so much more and they never, ever do anything wrong or inefficiently . there are those in every line of work who have poor work ethics and all of the other things that were mentioned. the key is good managerial skills. i know where my cna's are, i know what assignments i have given them and if they have been completed. that is my job to oversee them, and they know from the start what my expectations are from them. likewise, if their job performance, attendance, etc. is not up to par, then administration needs to back up their personnel policies and initiate corrective measures up to and including termination. ever think about volunteering to help those people who have minimal reading and writing skills to become more proficient? hmmm, let's see, should we try and help others to be all they can be, improve their self-esteem. no, let's just write them off and do it ourselves . i've worked with many cna's over the years, some better than others (same goes for np's, docs, rn's, lpn's, emt's, paramedics, administrators, medical records techs, etc. etc. etc.). i personally regret the day they took away our lpn's in med-surg. i think everyone contributed something in our team approach. not to say that primary (total) care isn't just as good, just different. i went to a specialty area right out of school (cardiac). want to guess how many disimpactions and enemas i got to do on a cardiac unit?? when i went to med-surg, who do you think helped me the most?? right. the cna's. i agree that mutual respect is one of the answers to the problem. i respect my cna's for the care they give, the things they pick up on (simply because they've had much more time to spend at the bedside than i get to dream about), and the support that they give me. yes, there will always be some rotten apples in any barrel. that's no reason to bash the entire group. let's show some support and respect and maybe we'll get some in return. i value all of the medical personnel with whom i work because they all provide aspects of their specialties to improve the care of the patients. our emt's and paramedics are so great, there's a lot of people still alive in our community because of them. i love my np i go to, she's always there to listen and provide support. i love how the docs (okay, some of them anyway!:) ) listen to what i have to say about their patients, and act on it when needed. okay, i've digressed.... make the pct's feel like they are a valuable member of the team. find out what their real complaints are--and i mean really listen to what they have to say. give them the monetary reward that should be given for the back breaking labor they do for us. make sure they have meetings with management also, not just the licensed staff. show that their input is desired, offer educational classes, review policies and procedures, and last but not least, weed out those who are simply not cut out for the job and hire someone else. make sure management at all levels is doing its job. poor management is a frequent problem when staff are not in control. then, again, there are those persons who, despite what we do for them, are not suited to the profession and we should not keep them on in a job into which they cannot put their heart.

what about nursery? i know there'd be some lifting, but hopefully (for the new mom:chuckle ) nothing over 9 to 10 lbs. talk with your employer. do you have adequate help with turns, lifts, etc? do you have access to equipment that will help take the load off your back? at my facility, each employee is screened through physical therapy and the therapist recommends exercises, job modifications if any, etc. typically, our acute care cna's do basic patient care, no treatments, etc. however, we do get a lot of total care type patients from the nursing home and ltc adjacent to our acute care. the key is to be sure you have adequate assistance in doing your duties. p.s. i'd hate to see what would have been said about my profound hearing loss and my job as an rn. geesh! :uhoh21: talk about being mean to each other. i have not posted much, but have read alot in here and i am astounded at the amount of negativity and just plain meanness i've seen. no wonder there's a nursing shortage out there. take care of you--there's only one of you. hope you find the job that's right for you. cathy

shamrock--i tried that out too and killed my person over, and over, and over. guess i'll just have to wait until next week to finish up the bypass after i practice a few more times. :chuckle

yes, i am perfect. my 18 month old granddaughter says so!! so there!! it must be true!! haaahaaa (rotfl) :rotfl: boy, don't i wish. never for one moment think you are getting anywhere near it---something or someone is always there to humble you.

i too went to uop -- msn in 2001. the tuition is steeper, but once you figure in mileage, wear and tear on vehicle, time spent away from family, not having to be at "scheduled" class--i think it was well worth it. i especially liked the autonomy it gave me to work, have family time, and do my coursework whenever i wanted as long as i met the due dates. i think a person has to be more disciplined than in a regular classroom setting, since there's no one hanging over your shoulder. the support i got from instructors, etc. via email was excellent. i give the overall experience an "a". i am very hoh and this was much more suitable than trying to strain to get the info in a classroom setting. plus, i'm one of those who do better when left to my own devices! i'd recommend it to you.:)

congratulations on a job well done. like they said......now, the fun begins!!!!:balloons: :balloons:

:) well, of course, mine is my first name and bsn was the degree i had when i joined. now i have my msn and want to change it. how do i do that? i emailed a request but haven't heard yet. hope i emailed to right person. i love those imaginative names. i'm just not that creative on the spot!:chuckle

:imbar What in the world is perineal fallout?????:rotfl:

i've just recently come back to floor nursing after a long stint as adon/don (at same hospital). i like 12 hour shifts, and prefer them in a row. most of the other rn's like their shifts in a row also (do them and get them over with). i agree about the 10 hour "wind down" time. i usually try and schedule a walk/snack break around my usual down time, and that helps to perk me back up. personally, i don't see how a nurse can get it all done in only 8 hours.:chuckle my biggest problem is once i get my second wind, then when i get home i can't get to sleep for awhile. i usually keep a paperback beside my bed and read a few pages to help with that. avoid the caffeine as much as possible, especially in the late part of the shift. i think 12's would be hardest on the nurse that has a long drive. i only live about 4 miles (or less) from my hospital so i don't have that problem. we have traditional 12 hour shifts 7am to 7p and then 7p to 7a. i think i would croak if i had to work midnight to 12 noon, because the last 4 hours is the busiest time of the day--and i have already been there for 8??? no thanks!