WingsEarned21

You are right they woulda saved more money sending home one of the R.N's but we know we are the lowley ones and they sign off or do the admissions so that is probably why they kept her and sent you home.Just like my last job gave me the telemetry training and I was reading my own strips then all of a sudden they said the R.N. had to sign off on them .Then why bother having me on that floor or giving me the training.Right now I can't use my I.V. cert. where I work so another wasted skill and time for the D.O.N cuz she has to hang em and stay over due to teh timeing of them.

Thanks for the info .I have been wanting to purchase my own as well for work.We have one ,that is just it 1.When we have over 30 residents and you are doing pulse ox on most of them and need to do certain charting certain days then you spend all day catching up with your vitals that shoulda been done as you passed your morning meds.I hate it.

I made $28 and change for working a weekend program at teh hospital.That was weekend bonus for just working weekends and night shift.We also got a bonus every 3 months.If the holiday didn't fall on the weekend you didn't work it.After 5 years though the 45 min ride one way bout killed me.Northeast ohio.

I heard the clinical failings in that program were for minor things like not wearing or changing gloves and washing your hands,not pulling the privacy curtain,etc. If your comfortable with all those minor things then your good.

MA's can draw blood and do billing.I feel your frustration and am once again contemplating trying to come up with the money to do excelsior.

All good suggestions if you can find the certifications or someone willing to train or give you a chance. Been nursing as an LPN for 24 years and am having the trouble I listed .I have wanted off the floor for at least 10 years and can't seem to get anywhere.

You will find the politics in administration anywhere you go.It sucks big time.If you are lucky enough to find a company that actually gives a hoot anymore then they will welcome ideas otherwise you will see them let you go or make your life hell.Been there done that.

They just cut our pay 4 percent where I am. Don't know what we are going to do.Hubby works too ,but a lot of his paycheck is on comission.I just heard yesterday that an administrator form our sister facility was supposed to go to a new facility that is opening but changed her mind because our company offered her more money ,but we all took a 4 percent pay cut.Yeah right!

I hope your hubby can make that kinda money .My hubby did it for a while and there was no money and he was gone from his family for a week at a time.They cut our pay also where I am.I am used to doing my own tx's and orders and Dr. rounds so it was an adjustment for me when I started where I am and have a supervisor that handles calling the Dr. and orders and problems with sick pt's.I wouldn't do all their work too.We have too much to handle on our own assignments as it is.I do try to help out if I have time.Good luck with your interviews.

You can get an MDS certificate, also a telemetry certificate.We can get just about anything an R.N. gets even though they may say R.N. only .That is because an R.N. still has to sign off on those things for state reemursement issues.Drives me crazy,thinking about going back to school .Been an LPN for 24 years and am tired of no one willing to train me for something else .Good luck.

You have to give it time.You will find yoru own routine that works for you,honest.Just remember LTC the patients usually don't change too much so you don't have to worry about getting a new patient or hsving all new patients for your assignment.You will get to know their little quirks and when they like their meds and how and that will make it easier.Like I said the insulin thing is usually night shift's thing or day shift and if it is day shift then night shift usually does the accuchecks so all you have to do is give insulin.You have to trust your fellow nurse's also and do not be afrais to ask for help even when you are on your own.They need to remember they were there once themselves.Just be patient with yourself adn let yourself get a routine..

Well dressing changes get done after med pass.Not really important as to when they are scheduled as long as they get done on 7-3.Also pass 8,9 and 10 a.m's at once.Accuchecks are usually done by night shift adn insulin is either given by day shift or night shift as the last thing they do.Charting usually doesn't get done till end of shift unless something dire happens and you want to take the time to chart it if you can't remember everything or make notes to yourself while it happens or right after so you can chart later.Learn or make yourself notes as to who gets accuchecks and insulin in the morning and do them first also while you do that give them their a.m. meds at the same time.

I was told by some STNA'S that they no longer teach them how to take a manual BP.I feel they surely do not or did not teach them proper parameters or how or why it is so important for these to be right.I have had the same thing happen andI do not get to look at the board where they write it down till the end of my shift when I have time to chart.Then I get irritated because I see really weird readings that should have been addressed sooner .I then have to stop my charting or whatever I am doing adn go do a BP myself manually.(not that I care about doing it myself ,I just wish they would realize that a BP of 70/30 or lower needs addressed as well as 180/120).

A sleeper is a sleeping pill.Ambien,restoril,etc.Also know your pain meds.Lyrica,vicodin,tylenol with codeine aka t3's,percocet,darvocet,ms contin,etc.

You should carry the med reference book that is available through many nursing supply stores or even college bookstores.It is kinda thick but very quick looking up meds and right to the point.Nothing like a PDR. It usually contains the year in the title.Also always have a bp (manual ) cuff on your cart and a stethescope,pulse ox machine if available.You will need to check bp's before a lot of your meds especially in the am and before bed.Tissues on hand also.Of course make sure your cart is stocked before you start your med pass(cups,applesause or pudding for crushed meds,insulin needles and plenty of accucheck strips and alcohol wipes).Remeber too that if these people were at home they would NOT be going back to the kitchen every hour to take a pill.You need to combine your 4,5, and 6 meds at your 4 p.m med pass and your 8,9,and 10 meds at your hs pass.If you know a particular patient takes a sleeper every night then ask before pouring their meds to save yourself a trip back to the cart and more time from your pass.As you work LTC and get to know your patients and have the same patients all the time it will get easier and faster.:wink2: hope this helps.

I believe in using wrist or electronic cuffs but I also believe that a nurse should have enough common sense that if she gets a weird reading to take the bp by manual cuff not just take the reading for granted.The electronic cuff's have had a tendency to give false readings if not held properly or applied properly or the batteries are dying.

If you are truly a nurse the ot will be automatic .You will not be able to let go and pass on things for fear they won't get handled unless you come across a few that are like you to relieve you and that you can trust to follow through.I can't remember the last time I left on time.Our administrator said he would rather we stay and finish our charting or whatever because a lot can happen while your gonne and then no documentation to back it.Love that man.Finally an administrator that cares.

LPN'S in my area are making $16-$18 for a new grad.I know it took me 18 years experience before I saw 30,000 on my w-2 for a year .I made that working my orifice off in OT.I now make 32-34 year.Hopefully I will get it together and get my R.N. within the next 2-3 years by the time the youngest graduates high school.

I have found this to be facility specific .Hospitals usually no,LTC depends on their policy.I remeber asking the board and they e mailed me the policy/jargon they wrote up which is gray.I was able to decipher that we are allowed to hang I.V. bags (atb's,nss,d5.45 etc.) if it is the consecutive bag on PICC lines and triple lumens.If I am wrong please let me know.

bluegeegoo2 hit the nail on the head.I did the same thing and have been a nurse for a long time.My CNA'S respect me because I help them and rely on them for changes in my patients.They say a lot that I am the only one that has done anything about that .I told a nurse days ago about that.Makes me angry and sad that I was the only one that cared enough to call the doc or whatever.I have also not had to write up anyone until about 1 year ago in my career.You reach a point in your career where you have had enough of the young whipper snappers trying to get away with stuff and talk to you with much disrespect that you write them up and make a copy for yourself because you will get some superiors that circular file things and do nothing so you have the write up when you need to go up the chain of command.

Luckily when I was in the hospital setting my charge nurse and the leaving nurse always reported to me that I was getting another pt. and I got a face to face report.It does happen at times though or you have one pt. on the other side of the floor and have to keep reminding yourself you have that person because the rest of your pt.'s are all grouped together and you don't want to forget that one on the other side of the floor.You definetly need to make your NM aware and say something to the nurse that left also.If you do make an incident report or ever write someone up for something (anything) you should make a copy of it and keep it for your records.I have had too many writeups and incident reports make it to the circular file and nothing ever be done about it.

I thought about quitting seriously in the last 7 years many times.I have been an LPN for 23 years and all of that has been floor nursing in one aspect or another.I love the hospital and the long term care.The hospital because it used more of my Quick thinking and assessment skills,the long term because of my residents and the staff that actuall cared about them.I think the nursing schools these days glorify the profession and do not give you a true picture of what it is about.I had been told that a good majority of new grads quit within the first 5 years also because of deception.They thought they were going to make exuberant amounts of money for sitting on their butts and when they finally found out they had to actually do something and more because of shortage and short staff they get burnt out real quick.I have found that it really does make a difference in my job if my co workers are awesome.I have now been given an opportunity to make a difference off teh floor which is what I wanted for a while and I am loving it.I still at this moment have a couple days on the floor and have found I get frustrated very quickly on these days .I am trying my best to adjust but I think it will take some time.Sorry for so long but I felt I needed to address this issue.

I worked in a hospital setting on a 32 bed telemetry unit and we were lucky if we had one cna on 11-7.They were responsible for helping us get our vital signs and patient care as much as possible but we did a majority of it ourselves.In the long term setting I work in now we are getting ready to go to patient centered care where our cna's will have like 6 patients to care for but they will do it all from personal care to activities and housekeeping for these six.If you went into nursing thinking you wouldn't have to get dirty or do that stuff again you just wasted your time and money .You better check on being a wal-mart greeter.

Everything I see states over the thigh and below the bladder.If you place the tubing over the thigh while on their side wouldn't there be backflow which is what we are trying to prevent so we can prevent infection.I thought it should go between their legs and either out the front or the back depending on which side they are lying on.

You have to call the state board in Michigan and ask for reciprocity papers.Fill them out and send your money and paper work off and they will send you your license for the state of Michigan.