Mars

I don't think our constitution allows our government to force us to buy anything. I think the forced auto insurance is wrong too. We are becoming a society that wants everyone to take care of us and then we wonder why we don't feel good about ourselves. Self-esteem comes from mastery and mastery from doing, not waiting for someone to take care of us, protect us from our selves, or create a risk free existance for us.

Sure. Lots of nurses are working in their 60s and 70s. And, there is soooooo much diversity in nursing positions, I know you would be able to find something if you developed health issues.

I think nursing can work, you just need to manage your career not the other way around. I raised four children just 6 years apart formt he oldest to youngest and worked full time the whole time. A support network is essential (would be any way with 4 kids in my mind), a good list of childcare options (12 names at one point and I never missed work because of needing a caregiver) and lots of patience because when you come in the door they all want you. LOL Check out the variety of nursing positions - school nurse, hospital with varied shifts available, legal nuse consultant, home care, nursing home, etc.... Then also check out the employer to see who has policies you can live with as a working mom.

Yes. This is something you could get in trouble for because your relationship is based on your meeting them as a nurse, then becoming friends. There is a film, I believe called somthing about a thin line. It came from the national association of boards of nursing I think. It speaks to the fact that you can't establish friendships with patients. The challenge is even harder for those of us who live in rural areas because we are already friends with our patients. The problem is largely related to the earlier post that said they will expect you to act as a nurse even though you are not currently serving as their nurse. There is at least one court case I have read about where it was almost the exact situation here. And the nurse lost.

I have heard we should expect to see nursing positions opening up after Jan because they will be in new budet year. Lets hope and pray it is so......

Clearly many of the replies are from people who live in populated areas. When you live in a very small town/rural area, the patients are your friends and you can't change that. Many of the patients who seek care from our facility are my family. When I was the only RN working on the inpatient floor then of course I had to care for family even. I think you do need to talk with her to assure it is not an inappropriate relationship in things mentioned above, sexual, currying favors in care, or that type of inapropriateness. But I think you need to be very careful about this one.

The hematology, diabetic patient had multiple attempts to restart his IV. By 5:00 am he started sounding a little funny- slow speech, a bit disoriented. The Dr. told the new grad that he had become pshchotic because of the trauma of multiple sticks. The real story was - he usually went downstairs and raided the vending machines during the night, so was receiving relatively high dose of insulin to cover that intake. On this night he didn't make it downstairs. When the lab drew the am sugar at about 5:15, the result came back at a very low number. It was quite incredible that he was even still with us. But, that was the real reason for his disorientation and slowed speech. He was fine again when we treated the hypoglycemia.

I am not sure why we think it is okay to be mean to our colleagues. I have a friend whose husband had a sudden, massive MI and her CPR was unsuccessful. Her employer worked with her for counseling when she couldn't do her recertification. She now is recovering from her loss and is an extremely valuable team member who is CPR recertified. On the side, I did have a physician one time who tried to tell us the patient's problems were psychosis due to the difficulty of his IV start. The new graduate actually listened to it, until the blood sugar came back in the cellar. I think she would have been quite traumatized if she had left the unit believing she had caused a patient's "mental illness". Now it's almost funny. I think we will all be better off when we use the nursing process to support a nurse who clearly needs it in a time of difficulty.

I'm not sure if the facility you work in is that bad, or maybe the view from your position is so bad. Unfortunately when I was an educator, I also witnessed those who did not do their nursing job well. Does that mean you think they are not nurses????? I think that using a poor performer to justify a belief is poor logic at best. You are certainly right that some persons get a position (even staff nurses sometimes) for the wrong reason, and some individuals even fail to perform the responsibilities of a position. However, a qualified nurse educator MUST use knowledge from both the nursing domain and the education domain. A compenent educator IS a specialist as they have additional knowledge beyond the basic nursing education. I sure hope you can share your concerns with administration at your facility. If you look at required compentencies for nursing and nursing educators, your organization has a long way to go to achieve quality care. If things are as bad as you indicate, I hope you can steer them in the right direction. What a wonderful opportunity! :balloons: Mars

The original documents did not mention a separation of church and state. That concept was added much later. The original founding fathers did call on God's blessings for the new nation. The idea of separation of church and state was not to prevent anyone from expressing their beliefs. It was to prevent the state from controlling the religious expressions. Unfortunately now many times we call it toleerance when we are trying to limit someone's expression. After all, we might offend someone. So, the person who chooses to be offended ends up controlling (and limiting) the expression of others. The original settlers LEFT England in search of the opportunity for freedon of expression. The rest of us need to be respectful and allow each the freedooms that were intended. I welcome the opportunity to hear of others beliefs as long as we can carry on a resptectful conversation. Mars

There are innumerable scientific studies that demonstrate children living in two parent homes with a mother and father are better off than the other children when you look at population groups. Of course there are individual exceptions, but the value of families is actually a value to the long term existence of a society. Look up the studies and you will find that it doesn't just reflect on religious beliefs. And, since each of us has a spiritual nature, why would one assume that laws based on religious beliefs are wrong? Just wondering-

Freedom of expression must include the opportunty to share ones faith as that is a critical tenet for some religions. Separation between church and state never applies in health care as we do have a responsibility to support a patient's spiritual needs as well as phycial, emotional and educaitonal needs. Our best way to meet the spiritual needs is to work with the patient's beliefs and if invited share our ideas. Have you seene the studies that show the patient outcomes improved even when they did not know someone was praying for them? Why would we not be allowed to pray? Tolerance is being respectful of others expression, NOT controlling them by demanding silence because I choose to be offended. I can accept anyone who is praying for me, because by definition prayer is a good will gesture. Mars

Just because an individual is not a good educator doesn't mean it is not a speciality practice. In fact just the opposite is apparent. Just being a nurse does not a nursing educator make. As for the very good educator- In the BSN program I attended there was a very heavy emphasis on education of patients, families and co-workers. I feeel blessed that we received so much instruction in education as I feel that has greatly enhanced my own nursing practice. There is a whole body of information and research on how to teach, how to do it effectively, how to evaluate the results, and how to be a great instructor. Yes, unequiviocally it is a speciallity.