Fancy Face

I am in school FT M-F and work 13-16 hours on the weekends in LTC as an LPN. It sucks, but doable. I also have made Presidents List each semester thus far. I have 2 kids and a stay at home husband. I did hit a point last week where I lost my mind for a few days, was emotionally flat-lined. It's just stress. I took 2 days off to regroup and I am back at it tomorrow. I'm having trouble making ends meet on my income alone minus all the OT I used to work, plus my husband isn't working as much as he used to...our kids are little. It is very difficult, but I have been allowing myself times for break-downs which are healing in a way...then it's back in the saddle again. One more year. God be with me. Short term sacrifice for a long term pay off!!!

I too feel your pain. I am losing my mind because I can't make ends meet. I am so overwhelmed.

Yes, it was because of a no-call no-show.

If this is a normal practice, how is it SAFE to count off on first unit (one hour into med pass) and go to second unit (after that hour has passed) and start from scratch??? The meds would all be passed late, it doesn't seem like safe practice. I refused on the grounds it was unsafe and was told I did not have a choice.

Nurses, Have you ever been pulled from your unit ONE HOUR into your med pass to float to another unit... (40 residents)

I know all of this. Yet I get so nervous to float, I am slower at meds/treatments/charting when I don't know the patients, My whole day gets thrown off, and I am so nervous I may make a mistake. How can I deal with it.

sorry, posted twice in error!

I love this post, it made me feel better!

If you assessed the pt after the fall, no c/o pain, ROM norm, no immediate s/sx of a fx, assisted the pt back into bed and documented your findings, monitored the pt, etc. I don't think you did anything wrong. You did your part to the best of your ability/judgement it sounds like.

Somebody please help me accept the reality of LTC nursing. Is it normal practice for a facility to float an LPN to an unfamiliar floor (when that LPN is the only nurse) on a 40 bed unit? Is it normal for the facility to not give 2 sh**s that the LPN has never worked that floor, doesnt know the residents and has the responsibilities of meds, tx, charting and MD visits, not to mention any emergencies...

At a company party recently, a fellow nurse had way too much to drink to my standards. When it was time to part, I couldn't believe he was going to drive himself home. He insisted he was fine and refused a cab or another ride. I told him I was worried and didn't think he should drive, tried taking the keys but he wouldn't let me at them. He ended up getting mad, saying he was fine and driving home, despite all of my attempts to get him a ride. He made it home safely, but how could I have better handled this?(as a nurse) Never been out with anyone who would do that.

Hi, I work as an LPN in LTC, 40 bed skilled floor. I am so flippin busy with meds/tx/documenting/nebs/tubefeeds/family members/ MDs dropping in/unexpected changes in condition/residents concerns... It is hard to manage the floor and keep track of some CNAs who need babysitting to make sure the care is being given. For instance, I did not give report to one CNA who was an hour late and floating. I do not have time to give report twice as it is usually a big ordeal and by that time I was up to my eyeballs in the med pass, didn't even see said CNA come on the floor. Got reprimanded by supervisor cuz the CNA complained she didn't get report..CNAs are constantly complaining that one another disappear on an hour cigarette break and I am to busy to care/notice. I feel I am fighting a losing battle and these residents deserve better. Any tips... I am not a good charge LPN obviously.

I am an LPN in school for my RN. I really want to work in the OR. Now I just saw a program at my local college that offers a Surgical Tech program that world take me much less time to complete. I wonder if I should have just done that! What is the difference (if any) between a Surg Tech and an RN in the OR? Thanks!

Nope, working the evening shift.

This post really caught my attention. I work FT as an LPN and am going to school for my RN, I will graduate in 2 1/2 years. I thought I could get by on student loans and working PT but it was clear after one semester that wasn't going to work. I dropped down to PT in school because I needed to work more. Plain and simple. We were getting calls from the mortgage company and banks routinely looking for their money and I knew I just wasn't cutting it working 25 hours a week. Not only that, I was going further into debt trying to make ends meet. So now I work full time and go to school part time, and I still am never home! But at least now I can pay my bills. What kind of life was I giving my children: never knowing if all the bills were going to be paid, etc. I felt guiltier by not working because I wasn't providing for them. I feel happier now that I am back earning a pretty good living, and can afford things for them. Just my 2 cents from the other side...Someone said it best: work and feel the "mommy guilt" or don't work and feel guily cuz you might lose your house. My husband is a stay at home dad and works from home, provides all the child care when I am home or at school. Its really hard right now, but life will be easier after school! I agree: Damned if you do (work) POOR if you don't!

Hi, I am an LPN and also RN student...My husband is seriously considering RN school. He is hard pressed to find a job in his field with this economy, and nursing is such a great field. So, he is very excited about the idea of becoming a nurse. He has Psoriatic Arthiritis and now is in remission and off the Methotraxate and Remicade he was on for 2 1/2 years. His rheumotologist advised him not to go into nursing because of the exposure risks, also that his immune system sucks due to his disorder, and I would assume it still sucks off the meds. My question is this...are there any nurses out there that have autoimmune diseases? Are you able to work without contracting every disease you come in contact with? Do you experience difficulty in your job because of your disorder? Thanks for your time...:redpinkhe

Blood Sweat Tears :redbeathe

Who cares what they think/ say about you. Go in, smile and give 110% for the residents, do your job and they will back off. Everyone loves complaining about the new person, how slow they are, they don't know what they're doing, etc, etc. Soon they will find someone newer than you to bother! I feel your pain!:redbeathe

15 mm induration, had a CXR, negative findings. So I have to go to Dept. of Health and take another blood TB test and then, if positive, start 9 MONTHS of antibiotic therapy. Had a neg PPD 6 mos. ago! Very stressful. Health dept says these TB bacteria basically lie latent, waiting to strike without warning if you get run-down for any reason and can turn into active TB. Anyone else have this happen to them? MD assures me it happens to nurses, and I was prob. exposed at work or maybe in the community!

Yeah, no problem. I will try and post them on Ebay. Maybe I can get some of my money back! Good Luck!

Hi, I signed on with TCN in Jan. 07, here it is April 08 and I have only completed Ethics Theory and Developmental Psych for my LPN to RN. I think it is a good program if you are a self study-type of person. I did OK with the above mentioned classes, but once I started Biology, A&P and Micro I threw in the towel. I thought about taking the Sciences elsewhere and transferring them into Excelsior, but that would take a year plus. A&P is a 2 semester class at my local Community College. So, I enrolled into a Nursing College in my city, and will be done with the whole thing Spring 2010. I am chalking it up to a loss, the 6,000.00 I am still financing thru TCN. My work now as an LPN will cover some tuition costs of my new school, then finacial aid, so hopefully I will not be out much. Bottom Line: TCN is good for those who can breeze thru study modules and test out. I know lots of people who have done it this way. You will find their success stories online. For me it did not work. You live, you learn. The easy way out was not so easy for me. Good luck. BTW- there are lots of negative opinions about TCN on this site. Like I said, it does work for some nurses, but NOT all. Cheers.:cheers:

It's not that I am unmotivated, I am lost beyond words. I commend you for working and having kids and going to school. I have never heard of Kaplan, is it like Excelsior? I am going to Google them...

Thanks, everyone, for all the replies. I am going to apply to the CC. I haven't enrolled with Excelsior yet anyway. I will let you all know how it goes! :redbeathe Fancy

Hi everyone...well I gave it a good try, got most of my humanities credits out of they way through Excelsior, but when I got to the Sciences (Bio, Micro, A&P) I don't think it is possible for me... WAY too indepth...I am LOST. So, I am applying to a local community college to finish my RN. (I am now an LPN, going on 6 years). I don't think I can do it. Worse yet, I singed up with TCN last year and still owe them a monthly payment for the next few years. Please give me your experiences, anyone find the sciences impossible to do independantly thru EC? And I still don't GET how you can complete the sciences without labs...esp. A&P. I have talked to some RN's and they said it sounds too hard to do self-paced without instruction and labs. Thank Goodness my work will pay for my school at the college, so I am not paying TCN and the new school... Good luck to all of you, I don't know how you CLEP/test out of the sciences.

I am going to do it, if you all have any other books to use , please let me know, thanks!!