dcampbell

I have read this whole thread and have resisted jumping in. Back in the 90's, a nurse I worked with had problems with driving home sleepy. She was a single mother with two children and worked full-time nights (eight hour shifts). She was either not taking the time to get enough sleep or her sleep quality was poor. One night when I was just coming on my shift in the nursery, I found out that my coworker fell asleep driving on the way home, got into an accident, and died. Her two children were sent to live with their father and his girlfriend. So long ago, we did not know about the dangers of driving tired. PLEASE deal with this problem. Now there are some treatments that are able to help. I was happy to read that you are seeing a doctor. I pray things work out for you.

So you would talk to a family about not having peds experience? Have you ever gotten in trouble from admin. about it?

I am guessing you couldn't use as a defense (if something terrible happened) that you were floated to an unfamiliar unit. I am still amazed that hospitals are willing to expose their staff and hospital to such potential problems just to save some money.

DebblesRN: Thank you so much for addressing the visitor situation. Really, that is the big problem that I see consistently. Number two would be lack of staffing/time. I wish I had a nickle for everytime a baby was just starting to latch on well and eat and there would be a knock on the door and visitors arriving with gifts and squeals of delight over the new baby. The pt. usually stops nursing to greet everyone and let them hold the baby. Also first time new moms have visions of relaxing in their beautifully appointed post-partum suites, receiving visitors and opening gifts, taking pictures, wearing gorgeous nursing gowns with perfectly applied makeup and styled hair. Many are not prepared to do the real work that is required to initiate and maintain breastfeeding. When latching on or other issues occur it really seems to throw these young women for a loop. I hate to say this, but in many ways I feel that breastfeeding is a "head game". Women need to be educated, supported, AND have the focus and determination to do just about whatever they need to do to make BF work. I KNOW that for a good number of women, they did everything possible and things still did not work out. (Including myself with my firstborn.) But I think that many of us can tell as soon as we walk into the room to assist a mother, we can "feel" the difference between a woman prepared to do what is needed to be done to make BF work and the new mother who probably won't be able to go the distance.

If these problems occur (and I think they will), who will we complain to? We won't be able to complain to the government. Who regulates, oversees, or disciplines the federal government?

So this pt will probably be going home soon? How will the family deal with her care at home? (When she falls because they get her up.) When she becomes injured at home/or needs to be readmitted due to her dx, does your facility HAVE to take her back? Can it be suggested that she go to a facility with bariatric equipment? I don't need to tell you, but you DON'T want to have to deal with this family again, or have any more staff injured.

"They can make immunizations from these donors." Please tell me more about that.

How about restraints for the family members! Geez! They are interferring with the pt's plan of care and with hospital policies, they need to go.

What good advice. How can you find a "good doctor" to get your tyroid checked? At the practice I go to I can't even get to see the doctor. They will only let you see PA's unless you are dying. The PA's, God bless them, seem unwilling/unable to do or order anything. And I know how much practitioners love it when you ask for a test or suggest that you might have something that needs to be checked out. Before anyone says to change practices, you then become a "doc hopper". Even with good insurance it is hard to find someone to take new patients. Not asking for oxy, just want some blood work done. Please? Even a familily history of low tyroid gets you nowhere. sigh....

Could the father somehow be the cause of the boy's problem? The father doesn't want the boy to say anything or anything be discovered by a Dr.? Possibility of drug use? Or, Dad could just be the kind of guy we all know that thinks a boy should just "walk if off", whatever the problem is. Financial concerns? Leery of getting a big hospital bill. How is the boy now? What is our OP's responsibility, being a nurse, if she does not call 911 to at least try to get him care? The hospital would then have to sort out getting consent from Dad. Our OP does not necesarily have to have consent to call 911, does she?

Anyone care to share how they injured their rotator cuff or did they just start to have symptoms (shoulder pain) that required a repair?

You are right. You need to stay away from those boards. It will just drive you crazy. Those people usually don't know what they are talking about so you won't be able to change their minds. Besides, you are one of "those nurses", they won't believe you anyway. You already have enough stress in your life, being pregnant. I hope all goes well with you and your baby.

As JoPACURN mentioned, she/we who work in the US Health Care System, have many concerns about being sued. If our US Health Care System becomes run by the Government, where will patients go to complain about the care or lack of care. You can't really sue the US Government--can you? In other Health Care Systems (Canada/ UK) how are complaints handled?

I am not very familiar with "Safe Harbor". How could our OP have initiated it to help her on that shift? Would it have helped her and her pts. enough, and in a timely manner? How could she initiate it without putting her job at risk? Has anyone here ever used "Safe Harbor" and what was the outcome?

That's great. Every unit that I have ever worked on seemed so h... bent on getting the baby bathed in an hour. Another thought (please, I am NOT starting a debate), I wonder what effect getting the Hep B vaccine in the delivery room has on infant temps? There seems to be alot of septic workups that are thankfully negative, initiated due to temp issues. The effects on the immune system might still be unknown from receiving Hep B vax so soon (high temp/low temp?). Could an alteration in temperature just be an immune response? But I agree that it always needs to be checked out with a thorough septic workup. Having a peaceful two hours is a good idea in the delivery room (free of bathing and unneccesary stimulation--just nursing and cuddling). What about having a vaccine free week before stimulation of the immune system occurs to let the baby stablize, and not complicate things with high temp/low temp/feeding issues, ect.?

What if you have a "gap" in your resume due to taking time out to stay home and raise your children? Any employer will understandably ask about such a gap in employment. How should you respond?

I am so sorry for all that you have been through in your life. You have mentioned much about your plans for your next birth. PLEASE, prayerfully consider not getting pregnant again until you are able to sort out all that has happened to you in your life, and you are in a better place emotionally. The fact that even looking at your sweet daughter's belly button is so upsetting to you means that maybe you need alot more time to sort things out. To bring another child into the world that you might also have negative/traumatic/scary feelings toward their birth is not fair to the child. Your children might pick up on your negative feelings even though you try your best to suppress them. I am glad that you are getting help to try and process all of this. I hope you are able to find peace.

Can a security guard escort and observe these pts smoking? Does the policy require that only a nurse can watch the pts smoking? If so, that is silly and can/should be changed. I say let them smoke. But there needs to be a policy change if there are only three nurses per shift and there is a chance that none of the nurses are smokers.

Thank you canoehead for your comment. You said that she had these spasms for six years, does that mean that she got better? What seemed to help her get better, or did it resolve on its own?

Thanks for your concern. I did just what you suggested. I wrote out my thoughts about how things were going for me and gave it to my PM doc. Things went very well. He wants me to be able to say "yes" to more things, and prescribed tramadol for several times a month. It has been very helpful and I feel happy to be able to participate in more activities. I am still amazed at how shy I felt talking to my doc. I felt like I was being "wimpy". I would recommend to anyone to write things down like I did. The process of writing things down, helped me to gather my thoughts. Plus, I think the doctor probably liked having the details written down for him. He read it before he came into the exam room and it saved him some time, plus he had, in my own words, how I had been feeling. The office has me complete various forms on my pain related to different activities, but by having a letter from me, I think it gives them even more information on how they can help me. I appreciate those of you who work in PM, it can't be an easy area to work in.

To the OP: I wonder how much you were charged for this "examination"?

1) So from many of the above threads, I am hearing that we should have 4WD vehicles? Some people cannot afford these type of vehicles, not to mention the extra gas required and the impact on the enviroment. 2) If on the way to work, one is injured (in a car wreck or just walking down their driveway) on the way to work, are they covered by workman's comp? Will the hospital pay for your damaged car? Increased insurance rates? 3) If a hospital will fire someone for not coming in to work during a blizzard, do you think that the hospital will REALLY stand by them if they are injured coming in to work? Will you lose your job if you are unable to work anymore due to an injury? I would like the hospital to put --in writing-- that they will cover you for doing "whatever you need to do" to get to work.

These phones can really be a bother. I think that they are another way for management to get out of hiring enough people. How many med errors occur because a nurse was distracted with the constant ringing of the hospital cell phone? What about the breaches in sterile or clean technique because the nurse is rushing to answer the phone? Interupted assessments? Disrupted communication between the nurse and pt due to the ringing and constant stepping out of the room to answer a call?

It seems to me that being a visitor is a privilege and not a right. By her being noncompliant maybe she should be told to leave. It would be a PR nightmare but what about the other pts? Maybe an extended (healthy) family member could come and sit with the child. A visitor (even a mother) is expected to be compliant with the agreed upon treatment plan and not interfere with the infection control rules of the hospital. Seriously, she should have not been given more than four or five warnings before something was done. It sounds like this lady is bored, maybe she needs to go home. She does not have a right to infect other pts. If another pt caught whatever it is the poor girl has, I think the innocent pt would have a right to report the hospital for not controling an unruly visitor who was not abiding by the rules.

The OP makes it sound so easy to just wear a mask for the next 48 hours at work. But I would feel that I should also wear a mask at home too and whenever I am out so that I don't infect my family members or others with the LIVE virus that I just had shot up my nose. Many of us don't just come around immunocompromised people at work but we are also with many different people in our everyday lives. We have pregnant friends, neighbors who are receiving cancer treatments, and we spend time with infants at church. Plus we ALL go to the grocery store:)