MedicalLPN

Congrats to you for finding your passion in nursing!! I think too many people don't realize that psychiatric nursing comes with its own valuable set of skills.

I did a very brief search to see if I could find TN's scope of practice for LPN's but was unable to find anything. If you are doubtful of whether or not you are legally able to mix the IV meds please contact your BON. Also check to see what your employer's policy is on who is allowed to mix the IV meds. Remember, it's never a good idea to do anything you're uncomfortable with doing by yourself no matter what your licensure is.

Well, one day when/if she's a nurse I'm sure she'll have a patient throw something at her when all she'll be trying to do is address their needs, that's just how Karma works.

I completely agree with you. It seems that are society has come to a point where death just simply is unacceptable as opposed to be being a part of life. Sadly I'm sure there is some hospital executive somewhere who believes that to allow a patient to die a comfortable and peaceful death is "bad customer service".

Whoa... what? So all you have to do to get someone fired is to literally cry witch? What century are we living in again?? Sorry... that just really saddens me that in this day and age that someone would get fired for something like that.

I agree. I think I'm at higher risk of developing an infection from exposure during patient care versus having a closed container drink at the nurse's station, hmmm maybe if I gloved and gowned before having a swig of my diet Dr. Pepper JCAHO would be happier?

A nurse in white? That's the most unprofessional thing I've ever heard of Some rules were made to be stupid, others like the "No drinks at the nurses' station" one are due to infection control although many people don't follow it. I'm sorry you're having a rough time, I think all facilities have their "moods" where everything seems to be against the rules.

Having issues with anxiety does not make you a weak person, nursing is a high stress profession and high stress professions are prone to contributing to anxiety. Keep in mind medicine is just one facet of treating and controlling anxiety, it is not the only treatment out there. Best of luck to you! :)

I agree that you should see your doctor since your anxiety is starting to interfere with your everyday life. I've had issues with this ever since I began nursing and when the anxiety is at work sometimes it can be a good thing, it puts you on high alert for any subtle changes that occur that can indicate a critical situation arising, in that respect the anxiety is actually a blessing in disguise. However, once you start feeling that way outside of work that's when it is a problem. Sadly, even for those who are used to working night shift and adjust to it tend to have issues with depression/anxiety over the years, just please take care of yourself and see your physician so you can receive whatever treatment it is that you require and retake control over your thoughts and emotions. Hang in there.

Go to work, do your job, and go home and live your life, turning your workplace into a chaotic soap opera for your own enjoyment because you are miserable with your life is NOT okay. No, I don't want to hear about your special connection with the baby Jesus while I'm charting, because honestly I could care less. Don't leave me pamphlets from your church on how to find Jesus in my mailbox, the sanctity of my soul is none of your concern. Don't be surprised when I respond angrily when asked to do an extra shift when you wake me up at 10am after I worked the night before. I know your sex life is exciting, but when I feel like I need to bathe after talking to you it's probably best to keep your stories to yourself. Kids are great, but I just met you five minutes ago and I have seven patients to go take care of, do you have to show me 53 pictures of them and tell me every detail of what has happened to your kids since they were born? Yes, I've been told that I'm easy to talk to but I'm not a licensed therapist. You want my opinion on whether or not you're pregnant? Really? Do we HAVE to go there?

While there are areas of nursing that doesn't have a lot of "bowel care" involved i.e. office nursing, etc. it would be a shame to limit yourself to one particular specialty just to avoid administering an enema or changing a brief. Just remember when giving care to someone, it's not about you, it's about the patient and when cleaning up a patient after an episode of incontinence it shouldn't be about your comfort level, it should be about getting them comfortable with dignity. Please remember too that we often underestimate our own potential, we believe that we won't be able to handle certain situations and yet when they arise we don't freak out the way we thought we would. Please don't take offense to this message, I just think that if you stop and think about it, it's really quite trivial to go into an area of nursing you may not even be interested in order to avoid one minor piece of patient care. One more thing, just remember you can always just refrain from breathing through your nose to avoid the smell or apply a small amount of vick's to your upper lip before administering care. Best of luck to you.

Awesome idea, thanks for sharing! I have an anti-stress kit that I use at home that includes a glass of wine, a cigarette, and a trashy romance novel, the stress just melts away! :)

Some of these managers need to be doused in water to see if they'll melt.

I would truly advise caution about letting your interviewers know that you have Asperger syndrome simply due to the fact that even in healthcare and even nurses have petty prejudices. This is a personal matter, and unless you feel comfortable telling them you shouldn't feel like you have to. Please, do not beat yourself up and do not blame yourself if you interview for a position and do not get it, competition for jobs is fierce right now for everyone and it's all to easy to become discouraged. Realize too that you live with this condition day in and day out and as such are probably extremely self aware which can be a good thing but can also lead to excessive self criticism. More than likely your "lack of personality" was simply believed to be anxiety related to the interview by those that conducted it and nothing more. Keep your head high, and do not lose hope, you WILL find the job that you want!

I remember a time of never being bored with nursing, how easy it was to gain experience in various settings and specialties and to continuously be stimulated with new and different information, situations, types of patients, challenges, heartbreaks, and the satisfaction of helping patients. Those days weren't that long ago, and yet I miss them dearly. It seems as though the endless well of various jobs is finally starting to dry up (in my area at least) and while I count my blessings that I have a job, a very good job, I find myself missing the patients (I'm administrative now and no patient care positions are available right now where I work) and becoming discontent. I love nursing, it's one of my passions, yet I still just haven't found my niche and I find myself growing frustrated by the ever growing hoops that surround finishing an associate's degree in nursing to broaden my career aspects and I'm too the point I'm thinking about switching tracks in school and going into something other than nursing. It seems as though each semester right when I'm ready to enter the LPN-RN bridge program, Aha! The required criteria changes and I'm no longer eligible, it keeps happening to the point that it's ridiculous, "Sorry, but there was no chicken in your yard when you filled out your application, and that's now a requirement.". Anyway, I'm just truly getting bored with wasting money on a degree that's always going to be out of my reach due to red tape, and while I love nursing, I'm ready to move on to something else. Anyway, I don't mean to sound so negative as that's not my intent. I guess I'm just wondering if there's anyone else out there that's tasting the bitterness of being discontent.

Nothing makes me feel better when lots of changes are occurring (new job, new home, etc.) or if not enough changes are occurring than to change my hair around. Been blonde, red, went back to my natural light brown color for a while and couple months ago when jet black. I love it. I'm trying to grow it out, I've never had long hair before but have always wanted it long. Very tedious and slow at this point. Good for you with the new do to go with the new job, go rock the place!

I think too often some health care workers forget that we should treat every patient the way we would want ourselves or a loved one treated. You're right, you have been through hell and I am happy to hear that you are recovering. Thank you for sharing your story with us, and please keep sharing it with others.

Nothing in her post indicates that she disrespects them, just that she feels frustrated at times while taking care of the more difficult patients. Sorry, I just don't understand the point of disrespecting the OP when all she's doing is expressing a very valid frustration. I agree with leslie you have to set boundaries with patients. Every patient population has its own unique challenges and geriatrics is a prime example of one of the most challenging and rewarding patient populations to take care of. Best of luck to you, make sure you take time to relax and take care of yourself.

Haha I love that

My issues didn't begin with nursing school, but as others have posted the stress certainly didn't help. I've been treated for Bipolar disorder for several years now and only until recently did I find a drug combo that worked. While I was in LPN school I was put on SSRI's and Lithium. The SSRI's made me manic and I developed Lithium toxicity due to the dose of Lithium I was on. I tried multiple drugs, Lamictal, Tegretol (to which I had an allergic reaction to), Keppra, Abilify (which made me tachycardic 140-150 bpm while at rest) I had overwhelming suicidal thoughts every day and on top of everything I was working two part time jobs as a CNA while in school. I think the real stress began when I started working as a nurse, the anxiety was just unreal and at times almost more than I could take. My moods began cycling even worse and there were couple times I had to have myself hospitalized. I finally found a combination that eased some of my symptoms and that made the suicidal thoughts less intense, changed jobs a couple times to help with the stress and it has helped. Doing all of this while plastering on a happy face for my patients, co-workers, friends, etc. was not easy. Most people thought I was one of the happiest people they knew, but boy were they wrong. I guess my point is that I don't think people can appreciate or understand how much work and juggling it takes for a person with mental illness to function as a nurse. Yes, I could do a job that was less stressful, but I love nursing and not even my issues can prevent me from doing what I love. Though it is challenging, in my opinion it is worth the fight.

This is just so disturbing all the way around. I know in many facilities on nights 1 nurse will have 60 patients, can't help but wonder if all these cuts take place how many patients 1 nurse will have, 120? More importantly, our elderly are getting the boot and it's not right, most of the people in NH have no where else to go. Geez... I know times are tough but this is just getting ridiculous and our elders are caught in the middle of it, not fair, not okay...

No, they don't. Everywhere that I've worked you just called the Doc, got an order for a sitter. If we were lucky the house supe had someone to provide us, if not then someone from our floor got pulled to sit in there and we just worked even shorter. Ultimately you're not going to be able to force the pt's family to stay there.

What a nightmare!

Haha, I'll second that

First of all, you're never going to have to lay hands on someone and assess their energy field when you get out in clinicals and on the job. Second of all, I don't think it's any crazier for someone to believe their "chakras are jammed" than for someone to believe their "faith is being tested" during illness. I think spirituality in whatever form it comes in (as long as it's positive) is great and really assists with the healing process. That being said, does "Disturbed Energy Field" have a place as I nursing dx? I don't think it does. But I can gurantee you that once you're out of nursing school, you're not going to walk into any type of setting where part of your assessment and documentation is spent on someone's "energy field". Mindlor, I hope something that trivial wouldn't detur you from pursuing a career in nursing, you don't know what you're missing if you do decide not go into it. Despite the BS, I couldn't imagine doing anything else where I could directly help so many people in many different ways.