newtress

Hi yall, I see now all over town that the meningitis vaccine is available. I currently work in a hospital and teach at a college at night. Is there any good prophylactic reason to get this; I admit I am paranoid about contracting this and if I heard more cons than pros I'd listen.

I have an interview in the morning and then have to slide directly to work. Is is totally and completely unprofessional to do the interview at a hospital in scrubs. Most likely answer will be no. I didn't want to have to do the quick change artist in bathrooms thinking about how limited my time will be. Yay or nay on that.

I'm glad feeling for a pulse has been brought up. I'm a certified CPR instructor and those who are certified and know CPR you wouldn't start chest compressions on the individual with a pulse. Again as I mentioned earlier I can't understand why the "nurse" on the line with the 911 dispatcher didn't give some better info on the situation, like stating she's barely breathing but has a pulse/weak pulse etc. A non licensed person who observed this person in distress could have given better information to the dispatcher than this one did per the 911 recording. If it had been established that resident did have a pulse, I don't think the dispatcher would have been as frantic as she became.

I wonder why the individual being called a nurse did not quickly state what their facility protocol was or if the resident did or did not have a DNR to the dispatcher. She spent more time than necessary bantering with the dispatcher which I can see why she was practically pleading for someone to respond to initiate CPR. I hope there is more clarification on this story later on. I can only fault the "nurse" for not utilizing CYA in this situation.

I was a nail biter and cuticle ripper for a long time. As a youngster the parents tried many stabs at trying to get me to stop. All methods did not have any effect on me and my fingers continued to look like light bulbs. One day out of the blue, I told myself that if I continued to do this, I would get finger cancer. It worked.

A Jazz Singer.

I swear I don't know how the guacamole got on there.

Thank you all for your replies. I was feeling apprehensive about this and your descriptions validate this. After being off an ortho neuro floor for 3 yrs, I doubt this would be a position I could "ease into." I only had post neck and back surgery patients in the past and it was very demanding, and all those PCA pumps! I don't think I'm ready to go into this. I so appreciate you sharing.

Good evening to all, curious about this specialty. I have an interview this week and this is the unit for the job posting. I had previously worked on an ortho/neuro floor in the past and wonder if it might be the very same or quite different. You know they don't divulge any information what so ever when you are contacted for an interview.. and don't ask them any questions either! Just go.

I agree with Jory here on that. Those in management or supervisors seem to just quickly swoop down on a nurse and only regard the paperwork/documentation side of a situation ONLY, without backtracking the events that led up to the error. A nurse buddy of mine was fired right on the spot down a hall, standing at her med cart, for a delay in giving an a.m. Rocephin. Didn't matter she had been there for several yrs and was a very safe nurse. I know I don't and haven't presigned for any of my meds, and was bashed for being slow, while others were clocking out right on time, but they were presigning and some have pre-pulled. Both being wrong to do. But the OP's predicament placed him/ her outside of the facility, so time wise that worked entirely against the nurse. Quite a few facilities allow for a nurse to go back and attend to correcting her paperwork on a MAR. Didn't happen that way for this nurse. Hope this gets smoothed out for you.

So what was the documentation/med error? Those who have made some mistakes have fessed up on it, so the degree of the mistake I would think carries the degree of importance or not. Malpractice insurance representation would certainly be helpful for your situation.

Please tell us what a GPN is. Is this in the US?

Hey mcperry, I felt badly after reading your post. I can understand your frustration after spending far more time past a traditional RN program only to have limited positions available to you (as we all are experiencing). So my question to you is if you are considering relocating out of NOLA to perhaps further north. I live in Louisiana as well, and I continue to see more BSN positions posted for the LSU Health Sciences Center here in Shreveport LA. I'm kind of thinking you may find better opportunities outside of N O right now. Hope you might consider.

If I am ever working a day shift, I always ask a patient if they slept well night before. So much can be revealed to me and a good starting point and help me look for any areas of concern. Then I press on and tell patient what I'm going to be doing, but yes always introduce yourself first. With family members there in the room I don't disregard them, and make some small chat with them and always good eye contact. They are watching every single thing you do. And some of them I find out later are retired or active nurses themselves, so I always carry myself as a professional, but also quite personable.

I believe nursing licenses should just all be national. I am also a Certified CPR instructor and it is national, such as Radiology Technicians ARRT is national. There's no logic to me at all, except for the real reason simply being revenue. Endorsing to California was a rodeo.