slinkeecat

I guess i am just feeling sorry for my self... I am off work due to a foot injury. I have had partial amputation of my right foot and i am recuperating very slowly and I am feeling so stircrazy and I miss working.... I cannot believe that a month ago I thought I would love to be off work and watching TV.... how wrong was I !!! I am sorry to vent!!! I cannot stand being waited on . My hubby and kids say they love to help me and take care of me... but I just feel so helpless.... I guess I am a big ungrateful baby. I just am bored out of my everloving mind.... I hope everyone is doing well.... I pray God gives me the strength to get better and a big attitude adjustment that does not require a pill!lol....

here's a topic...access to health care... sometimes you are screwed if you have health insurance....

It is crap like this that makes me want to tattoo my advanced directives on my chest w/ capital letters of giving me pain meds around the clock even if I am not screaming, I want it to be assumed that I am in pain....I promise you, I won't get addicted and if I am terminal, and going to die anyway then give me the freakin' pain med. I swear I will come back somehow and haunt the nurse who doen't manage my pain....gee whiz!!

Good for you!!! It is time for a change!!!! Always listen to your inner voice!!! Good luck on your new adventures....

Well, I have read all the the posts and just have to respond.... I have been a diabetic... since I was 18 mths old. I am currently 38 yrs old. I remember growing up w/ a glucometer that was the size of a breadbox... It was the devil in my eyes. I have vivid memories of being slashed on my little arms/fingers to get a blood sample and crying, promising that I would be good, begging my momma not to check me, waiting 5-15 minutes to get the result...hiding when I saw her going to the cabinet....because it meant the needle. I also remember constantly having to pee in a cup to dip my urine... I was like 5ys old... We lived in rural WV and the technology was and still is behind the times...(poor dear, bless her little heart, she's got the sugar...) I remember thinking momma and daddy were the devil because momma would sit up at night and sterilze needles and take a flint stone to shave of the burrs on the needles to sharpen them so it wouldn't rip my flesh.... I remember thinking my parents hated me because my sisters got peach ni-highs, and moon pies, and I didn't. I remember running away w/ a sack full of penny-candy and eating every bit of it @ the river. Waking up in the hospital w/ momma and daddy crying, thanking the good lord and the sherrif for finding me... I remember being afraid to eat / not eat in social situations like at school as a teenager, because I did not want anyone to know that I had diabetes. My life changed when I went to a camp for diabetes and found out there were others like me...Support can be life changing. Coping skills that I learned there made all the difference. I remember growing up and being excited about all the countless hours my family have given to raise awareness and money for research... I sat here reading all these posts and some really tick me off. You have no idea how traumatizing diabetes can be when you are a child... I am so grateful for the AMERICAN DIABETES ASSOCIATION for all of the research and resources... I am so glad that technology has come so far and there are glucometers that measure serum blood in 5 seconds... Thank god for tiny little disposable needles.... thank god for lancets that don't rip the hide off of your finger...Insulin pumps, pens... gotta love them I have had 1 complication...I lost my great toe after stepping on a nail that went clear thru a boot and after 3 months of ABT/TX's ... It just would not heal, and I chose to amputate my toe instead of letting it eventually take my leg... hair grows on my nub and that indicates great circulation.... I am compliant and God knows I despise that word... My point is that there is more to a diabetics health than just the blood work and glucose levels...it irks me that people fixate on a number, rather than symptoms... I read alot of posts that were interesting and thought provoking. I have enjoyed the discussion... Some one asked about gylcemic index... I have a little book I carry w/ me called "The POCKET PANCREAS" You can goggle it.. it is the size of a checkbook and has a wealth of information about control and I highly recommend it... Just wanted to share....

Hey!!! Stop being so hard on yourself... You will do these things once and will probably never repeat it again.... you will make it!!! The phenergan thing is unfortunate because it really hurts, but you'll probably never do it again. in time you will work the bugs out... You will be your worst critic... you will learn from the mistakes.....

This just happened to me yesterday.... Freaked me out...and then I laughed... I went to assess my pt who was receiving Packed RBC's....The offgoing nurse told me that she had to put the unit of rbc's in a pressure bag, because he only had a 22g iv access and the previous bag took forever to infuse...he is a bad stick due previous hospitalizations for various gi problems requiring phenergan so his veins suck... she also told me the pt was a&ox3 and she did alot of pt education about the infusion process, why she put it in a pressure bag....etc... well, apparently the gentleman wanted to go smoke very badly and she told him he could after the last unit infused.... Tells me all of this in report.... Soooo, after report, I go into his room to check the infusion and etc... just as the gentleman is squeezing the bladder on the pressure bag to infuse the blood quicker and....boom!!! the bag explodes and I am drenched in blood, I jump backwards and the meal tray table falls over, making a loud crash noise, my co-workers come running from hearing the commotion and they thought I had been shot in the head and chest....lol...I am grossed out and I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror... I look like I am in a scene from the movie "carrie"... I walk out of the room.... a pt ambulating in the hall swoons at the sight of me, the PT aide catches her, I go to help her and I slip and fall from the urine of the lady who lost her bladder as she swooned.... I then had to go to the staff bathroom and shower and change into scrubs... Luckily, the nurse Iwas releiving stayed and took care of my patients until i got cleaned up and she kept apologizing....totally not her fault... She is a nonsmoker and had no idea of the lengths a three pack a day smoker will go to when they are jones'ing for a cigerette. So there you have it.... Just another day in paradise....

I have to say that this is a practice that is risky business. I have to say that if I was aware of a nurse doing this, i would report her/him to the board. This is why.... You are jepordizing the safety of this patient. We had a patient who was in pain. The order was for 12.5 mg Demerol w/ 12.5mg phenergan IV. A nurse thought that because the Demerol vial dispensed from the accudose was 25mg/ml Demerol prefilled syringe, she would give 25mg..charted that she gave ordered dose, but wasted into the patient We would never have known as waste was done in the accudose w/ another nurse's badge. The other nurse did not actually observe the waste , but saw her toss a glass syringe of demerol into the sharps @ the accudose and beleived that she wasted properly., but she actually gave 25mg, her reasoning was this was a difficult patient and she ( nurse) was tired and she thought she was doing the oncoming shift a favor to settle her down... Well, she pushed the iv Demerol w/ phenergan in this patient and left the room thinking everything was fine... A nurse tech entered the room and found the pt not breathing well. Resperations @ 8 per minute, diaphoretic..she called our rapid response team this pt was a post op hip fx 68 yo female. w/ dementia & diabetes.. We followed our protocol and assessed her, finger stick was 110, so it was not a diabetic crisis so, w/ our doc who came up w/ rapid response team, we adminstered narcan. She survived...but was so frightened she refused any pain meds the rest of her hospitalization. The nurse, however... after investigation..... was fired for obvious reasons...and has been reported to the board. When you step out of your scope of practice, you better be ready to take the consquences.... I call for orders... I do utilize our protocols and standing orders and when I need something for a patient i call... I don't give a rat's tushy if i am "bothering a doctor"...

Gee, We have Huge NAME TAGS... picture ID w/ credentials and then another tag that has RN in Huge letters..... Blackletters on a Yellow background... White uniforms look great on me at the beginning of the 12 hr shift ... about 2 hrs in I have coffee spilt on it, and some ink, and whatever else... so, I prefer my colorful scrubs and my patients like them to, as i wear alot of unique patterns and fabrics...I have a girl friend who sews and makes my scrub tops for me...I buy scrub pants...in every color and prefer "DICKIES" scrub pants w. the elastic waist and mutiple pockets.... they look great and are wrinkle free....

I was an LPN for many years... loved it and the opportunities I had...Never regretted my choice to be an LPN.... Until I moved to West Virginia, my hubby's home state and the transition was sooo very hard.... I made $23.00 an hr as an lpn and when we moved from another state to WV...LPN's were paid $9.57 hr.- $16.00.. and the scope of practice was limited and the medical technology was 30 yrs ago... imagine using metal bed pans in 2005-2006. As an lpn...I could not even take a telephone order in WV.... I was so upset... cried everyday, because I was a clinical ladder III lpn and had all these skills that I ws not allowed to use. So, I decided, I will become an RN. I attended college, while making crap wages as an LPN and graduated with my BSN- MAGNA CUM LAUDE.... Even as an RN, salary and opportunities were limited. I then asked my hubby to put in for a transfer to any state, as I wanted out of WV.... WV is beautiful, and I miss the mts...rivers... but I am happy to have relocated to Florida... I have a great career. I think I would have remained a happy LPN if we would never have crossed the WV state line. As an RN, I am busy all the time with freaking paper work. I do not have as much pt time as I would like ... It is a double egded sword. I love my job... I work w/ a great group of nurses, techs, and they tease me all the time about WV... every morning they sing "Country Roads" the WV state song to me and yesterday the doctors making rounds joined in. I have been there 3 months. Last weekend, my co-workers included me in their after work plans and invited me to a bar they go to once a month for a "unit Meeting" LOL It was awesome to be included, and they gave me a review of my performance... like a roast/ lovefest... It was so much fun and I now truly feel a part of the team... so, I am at the moment grateful that I did get my feelings hurt enough to pursue my RN.... great job, great money, and my hubby is happy w/ his new position as a project manager. I no longer worry about him as i did in WV...going underground inspecting mines scared the hell out of me for him. Also, I realize that eventually my health will cap certain positions in nursing, my legs are killing me... I have been a diabetic since I was 18 mths old. I am currently 38 yrs old. My career path will hopefully go into EDUCATION... that is where my heart lies... I have always have been proud of me. I was a awesome LPN...I was proud to be an LPN... I am proud of my accomplishments. I think it is a personal choice, dictated by one's circumstances, and whatever the choice, it should be respected... We all ROCK!!!

I just started taking LYRICA for the neuropathy I am experiencing down both legs and feet. I have been on it for a month and I am so pleased w/ the results. It has helped me so much. I am finally feeling my toes for the first time in years... I have diabetic neuropathy....

yes it does and that is why we use labels....

I saw a nurse sniff and then lick her finger and exclaim... "Yep, it's Jevity"... she touched goop that was around the stoma of a G-tube.... I damn near stroked out

oh, and yes you will get another job.... The need for nurses is endless. Good luck to you finding a dream job....

I can sympathize w/ you and the horrible job, HOWEVER..... Quitting like that w/ no notice is a very unprofessional thing to do. I understand that you felt stressed. You had an opportunity to tell your Nurse manager why you felt the need to leave abruptly. She may not have been aware of the problems and you could have been the voice for yourself and your co-workers... I am in no way "judging" you, I just think that you made a rash decision that you could have handled better.