tiroka03

I would be afraid too. Afraid enough to contact a lawyer. I would also be afraid enough to contact the next up in line, and anyone else you can think of in management. Keep copies, and make sure you leave a paper trail. I would start documenting, and blowing every whistle you have. Don't wait. That nurse by ordering a drug for you, I believe was meant to silence you. Then she went to the drug store and picked up the drug? That is pretending to be you as well. I would go to that drug store and talk with management as well. If this or anything else goes to court, they will eventually find you as well. Make sure the drug store knows what happened as well. Write to your pastor, write to anyone, and keep copies. Don't hide, you didn't do anything wrong. Get yourself a long distance away from her, don't even get in close proximity to she if you can help it. Make sure people aren't thinking that you and her are friends. Don't let her craziness rub off on you.

I agree with noyesno, when an employer assigns too much work, too heavy a patient load, and then one employee works off the clock, their co-workers are then expected to do the same. Management will say, "They can do it in 8 hours time, - why can't you?"

sometimes the answers are confusing in those reference books. I applaud any attempt to find answers.

Working nights, I take over carts from two nurses. When I get to work, they are whining about their jobs so loudly, it drives me nuts. Then they take their sweet time giving report. So slow. It puts me behind from the get go. I don't want to make enemies, but as it is I have no time for breaks or lunch. There is just no spare time anywhere. These nurses will follow me and whine, I suppose they think I feel the same, (and I do), but I don't have time for this. I just need to get moving right from the start. How do you deal with people like this?

I total understand this comic

Sorry it took so long to get back, The smell is sweet, yet kind of metallic, and very powerful. It isn't body odor. I will have to go look at his meds and see if there is anything you all have mentioned. I learned a lot from your posts. I will get back to you all later. Thanks again for all the info. He dosen't have any plants in his room. He isn't able to get up and stack anything anywhere as he refuses to get out of bed. We had him in the hospital once, and cleaned out the room really well, but as soon as he came back, the smell came too. I would really like to help. I know people are put off by the smell, and that doesn't really help him socially.

We have a patient in a long term setting. The patient is very clean, edges on neuotic he is so clean and everything has it's proper place,and the labels are turned just so. No Mess, not fility. Yet he smells really weird. We keep the door closed, because if you open it, the smell wafts out and nearly takes you out. I was wondering if it could be due to a fungus. Have you ever seen this before, and is there help for this man?

Eat? Break? Wow are you sure your night shift workers? I only work 8 hours, but on the off chance I get a break, and if I remember to bring anything, it's a 10min quick protein type snack. I own my own fledging buisness and after work, stop at Starbucks or Panera and get a coffee and work on my computer for a couple of hours. Then go home and I am too wiped out to eat, just fall into bed. This is an every day occurance, and I rather enjoy myself. Excercise - No, I walk a lot, our apartment building is 1 mile square to walk around, and .5 mile to walk one lap inside the building. To get the mail and back is .5 mile, to take out the garbage is a couple of (inside) blocks. To get to the business center is .5mile, so I am not looking for extra excercise. I usually take about 2 hours a week studying new things to improve my nursing, and again it's usually on the computer, or trying to figure out ways to improve my time spent doing different nursing activities. Which is good, and management loves to keep piling stuff on us lazy night shift workers. When I think I squeezed every spare second out of my routine, I usually find another 5-10 min daily savings every week or so.

I have been to the ER twice this past year. Once with my son, whose b/p was sky high and was starting to mumble. Turns out he had pneumonia. But, I am glad I was there. Some staff was really good, but some were so sloppy and didn't seem any more oriented than my son was. The Doc listened to his lungs and said, oh they sound ok, well, just before I took him in, his lungs were full of crackles and he had egophony on the left side. The doc said he's fine, you can go. Resp was 36. I asked for a 02 sat, can you believe they didn't even do that? It was 84. They finally took an xray, to find what I had already figured out, pneumonia. My son asked me to go with him on a follow up appointment, and that doctor listened to his lungs and said, "oh, there are some sounds in there" when I asked what the sounds were, she looked at me like she was inspecting a bug, and said, I said sounds, you know noises. I told her I had listened as well, and how the egophony was decreasing, and the crackles on the left were less, and there was polyponic inspiratory and expiratory wheezes, and was that what you heard? She turned in a huff, and the next person we saw was there resp therapist. The second time, it was me in the ER for my leg. I had sharp pains and couldn't stand on it. It was interesting to see how I was treated, as I didn't volunteer my employment. But, after being left in a hall way for 2 hours after an xray, while the nurse talked to several friends on his cell phone, and was rough and rude, I kindly asked when we were returning to the ER. I had wanted to see what it was like to be on the other side. One the ride back, I commented it was really different being on the opposite side of the w/c. You would have though I poked him with a cattle prode. He suddenly came alive, and for the rest of the stay, I was his new best freind. On discharge, the Rn was reading a generic form, and kept giving me cast care instructions, and I keep reminding her, I have no cast. But, that didn't deter her, from continuing. I had to stiffle a laugh when she told me if my toes swelled and turned black and began to dislodge to call back. I figured she was a lost cause. Good thing I was a nurse, she was pretty convincing and some people probably go home and check their toes frequently. I hope I never end up in a hospital, as this was one of the better ones in the area. I would be afraid to go to sleep. I am an lpn for 20 years, and hope I learned some lessons from both of these experiences. What it feels like to be helpless, and to depend on someone who wishes you were gone, and feels you are old and useless, and thinks they can treat you poorly. I pray God will keep me from those attitudes toward my long term residents that I face every day.

Isn't new management fun? Love being on night shift, because you aren't there to defend yourself. Eventually they will get to know you. But, I agree with you it is pretty daunting to have new management, and not to have met them. They can form all kinds of weird ideas.

dear spikey I do give the pills, however in this case, she wasn't even awake. But, don't play moral police with me either

There are some people I care for that like the feeling of being high, and they admit it. It isn't my call, but the doctors who prescribe. If they know the magic words, I give pills. Drug seekers do take up a lot of time, so I feel it's better to get it over with and give them their high. However, there are times a patient can have all the outward signs of a drug seeker and have actual pain. Is it my job to deciede, or the doctors. I don't really want to drug a person silly, what is it you do? The other day I worked hard to wake a pt for a scheduled med. Instantly and still slurring her words from sleep, she rattled off a list of drugs she expected me to fetch for her. I waited to see if she would fall back asleep, but she was instantly awake and mad for the 10 min. wait.

Good idea, I think I will try it next time I cath a larger women. Might save them a lot of tugging and leg propping. Thanks

I am sorry for your loss. But, I do know from experience you will be a better nurse as a result. You will probably have a soft spot in your heart for people who remind you of you dad. I know anytime someone reminds me of someone I love, I can't help but think of their feelings. It makes you a better nurse.

My daughter has seizures, the ones that you might stare for a moment, usually unnoticed by me, because they are so brief. But, she tells me during the time just before it happens, and during it, see will see and hear things that she knows are not there.