graysonret

I've done CPR twice, in my life. Both times, I didn't think about it, or decide what to do, I just started and kept going. Adrenaline and training kicks in and you don't think about it. Both times I was exhausted when finally relieved. Better to do something than nothing at all.

I guess it depends on what office and where it is, plus your own personal experience. I worked out of a Maxim office for 10 years. They always had work for me, and pay could be negotiable, if you were unhappy. I moved last year and hoped to transfer to another Maxim office, but the new one treated me pretty poorly. I went to another agency.

I was 37 when I decided to enter nursing. Never regretted it.

As an agency nurse for the past 19 years, I can tell you that it has its "ups and downs". You're basically in business for yourself. You can accept or turn down assignments as you wish. Some places you may want to promote yourself, in the hopes of getting requests back. Others you do the job well, and DNR the place. Just like a small business, you want to keep your skill levels up. It's part sales and part professional expertise. If it's been 10 years, since you've done nursing, you may need a refresher; that, or get into home care nursing, via agency. Good luck.

I took both LPN training and RN training. I'm sorry, but taking socialogy, psychology, a foreign language perhaps, and English Comp. for an associate degree doesn't qualify as superior to an LPN with 22 years experience. I remained an LPN because the place I worked for, wanted to cut my salary from an experienced LPN to a rookie RN, out of training. I couldn't afford it and loved the work at the time, and still don't regret it. I've trained RNs over the years, because of their lack of skill in certain areas (Ex: ventilators/trachs., wound care). We're all rookies at first. But to say that LPNs are somehow inferior to RNs and need to be done away with, is total insanity. If you must get rid of LPNs, then take your experienced ones and grandfather them in as RNs. I remember in nursing school, we all snickered at the RN students who did nothing but observe for 4 hours, while we LPN students did 8 hour nursing care in hospitals. We were much more capable, on graduation, to care for patients than new RNs.

I've been a nurse now, going on 21 years. I'm 59 shortly. Of course there are days when you want to just give it all up and get a nice desk job somewhere, pushing papers, and not having someone's life in your hands. But, whenever I'm on duty, work and patients always are priority. There are days I just drag myself in, but as soon as I'm working, it's all business. I hope it is that way for a long time to come. But, if I see myself, short-cutting, skipping treatments/meds, or just being "lazy", I have my own "standing orders"....quit. The only one who benefits from that type of work is the trial lawyer.

McGrawNut, I don't believe that the Hannah Harrison bldg. is still around. The school is now named: Harrison Center for Career Education. (Sorry, Hannah). It's located on G Street NW. At one time, I was the treasurer of the Alumi Association, but we never could get the Assoc. off the ground. Repeated e-mails asking about the alumni, have never been answered. Oh, well....Personally, I think it was a darn fine school. Strict, but fair. When we graduated, we were quite prepared for whatever the nursing field had to offer. Barbara Shuler RN was the hardest instructor (a regular USMC D.I. :) ), but, in the end, she had more influence over my nursing abilities than any other instructor. She was a "by the book" nurse. I learned the "book" first, then learned the shortcuts, though, even today, I tend to be like her. I graduated in 1987.

I have had a Garmin now for the past 2 years. They are really a necessity when doing agency work and HH visits. I just moved into a new city and I would have been lost without it directing to the new office, patients and back home again. Well worth the cost.

I checked. 100,000 could be prevented, according to a campaign. Antibiotics aren't effective as before too. Can't blame that on nurses. Again, I doubt all those deaths are caused by nurses. Oh, I'm sure it is, when it comes to campaigns and money raising. More of the usual, that you see on the news all the time.."We're all going to die, send money."

Edc1951...I wasn't insinuating about med techs and LPNs (LVNs). It is just convenient for the ANA and other organizations to immediately blame them to advance their own agendas. I know excellent techs and LPNs. But, if there is a problem, it seems to filter down to them, in the blame game. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

I really can't accept the story that U.S. nurses "kill" 100K patients every year. If we did we would have Congressional committees, people watching us like hawks, more and more regulations and the doing away of med techs and LPNs. This would be a political "hot potato" that politicians would love in an election year. Maybe we should dress in black, instead of white. Sorry, if this is some sort of "study" like the "studies" I see all the time...more to score points and get grant money...I'll skip it. It is much easier to blame nurses than to blame others, with more power in the workplace.

A sign: "Nurse Quiet Room. No work related conversations, please."

2.5 patients? I've been a nurse now going on 21 years. Gee, I better get on the bandwagon. I haven't even started to meet my quota! Oh, the shame of it all...

FYI...for those supporting UHC.... http://www.freemarketcure.com/brainsurgery.php (not a sermon, just a thought)

I haven't heard about very many Americans going to India for surgery. Try England. Oh, if Americans were going there, you could guarantee that CNN, NBC, MSNBC would be all over that story. This site might help: http://socglory.blogspot.com/ If Canada's system is so fantastic, why are they coming here for medical treatment, instead of the other way around? Even if you could afford treatment there, you go to jail along with the doctor for trying to pay for it. You have to wait in line like everyone else. Tax Bill Gates? A young man with a friend who both had an idea and started it in the garage. Years later, it became a billion dollar business. Is that wrong? That is supposed to be the American dream and why this country became so great. Average people with ideas. But, apparently, you think people like that should be punished for their success. Well, if you become a successful nurse, maybe the government will take your suggestion and tax you more than some other nurse, based on your "success". Welcome to socialism and the Soviet system.

So we have the "entitled generation" coming into nursing with all sorts of ideas for better work places and better patient care... Gee, now I wonder where I heard that before? Hmm. Same question my mother (RN) said to me. Many of them think we "older nurses" came in without kids, mortgages, bills too. They are the first generation to have these things. Well, welcome to the real world, and not the one you think exists based on tv shows. Change what you can, but don't be surprised if you meet resistance. We did, and so did our parents who were in nursing. I've worked lots of nights, weekends, holidays, and some pretty long shifts (32hr was the longest). Nursing isn't about me...it's about my patients. If you come into nursing looking to make lots of money on a 9-5 M-F job, you're in the wrong career. Sickness and injury don't take holidays...neither can I. Years ago, I was told..."take the cotton out of your ears and put it in your mouth". I listened and learned. There are some fantastic new nurses coming in that I've seen. But, some...come in with 2 ideas..."I'm entitled" and "It's not my fault".Everyone starts at the bottom and earns their way up.

If you have been following healthcare in Canada, England and Australia, etc., you would notice how it is overburdened, politically correct and failing. Brits are heading to India to get their operations now...less wait time. MRIs are now at least 8 months. Want to wait 8 months after hearing you may have a tumor? Just recently premie twins were born in a small hospital in Montana. The Canadian mother couldn't find a place to have them properly. Government control of any industry is a failure...history proves that. Socialism just doesn't work, like the free enterprise system. Deregulate and let the market compete. Always works. As far as being a nurse under government healthcare....no. I respect my patients too much to have to see them suffer under such a system. There is even some talk about reassigning nurses into areas that are understaffed...whether you like it or not. Sorry, I'm out of here, if that comes.

I've never turned down an assignment, once I've shown up, in all the years of agency work. Some had me pretty overwhelmed sometimes, but I've gotten through. There are 2 places that I won't go back to work, simply because the staff "used" me in order to get out of their own work. Most places have been fair, assignment-wise. I always try to build a good relationship with any new place...hoping to foster a long term friendship with them.

Well, for some reason, I didn't show up for work, I would be glad if someone, even a police officer, showed up to check on me. It shows they care about me.

I've been with agencies full time since 1991, except for 3 years with Hospice. Keeping in contact with 2 agencies works well. Many times if 1 agency is slow, the other can pick up the slack. Sometimes, I can pick up a contract that will last a few weeks. All in all, I found agency work better than FT at a hospital, etc.. Though you don't get paid if you don't work, you do set your own hours and pick and choose your assignments. Once you have a good reputation established, places will call and request you too, which increases your standing with the agencies. Pay is better too, though that can be offset by periods of quiet. I like the freedom.

Some people haven't taken a serious look at socialized healthcare in other countries. I guess they assume, somehow, it's going to be different here. Nothing like having a bunch of politicians, looking for votes and power, and bureaucrats, interested only in finishing their day, managing healthcare. Good thing we have private healthcare here; Canadians would have nowhere to go for their healthcare. India likes the British socialism, I found. Thousands of Brits are going there for surgery. Nothing like a 6 month wait for a specialist and up to a year for surgery. Sounds like a much better plan than what my patients are getting today. /sarc

It's a product of our society these days. "It's your fault, never mine". Instant gratification. I said years ago, that some people don't see white lab coats and scrubs, they see dollar signs.

I worked as a medic in a homeless shelter of 1800 people. After being encouraged to pursuing a nursing career, I won a scholarship to school.

Unfortunately, with government healthcare, we will see long waits and rationing, just like every other country that has nationalized the care. That's why the English leave the country to get care elsewhere (India is No. 1 for surgery), and Canadians come here for help. Some of the patients I work with, would not have made it, if they had to wait 6 months to see a specialist. Yet, they were able to see a doctor right away, and get the proper care they needed. Universal health care sounds great....another entitlement from the goverment. But, in the end, as a nurse, I cannot support such care to patients. I have looked and can't find such entitlement anywhere in the Constitution. And, no, don't quote the preamble's "promote the general welfare". That's why the founders had the 10th amendment included. To prevent the goverment from doing whatever it wanted under the clause.

Being "too cheerful". A patient complained to the supervisor that I was too cheerful on the floor. A incident report was done and I had to be "counseled" by the supervisor. Well, it didn't change my personality. The patient got another nurse and the rest of the patients enjoyed my smiling and words of encouragement. I think the supervisor was actually a little embarrassed by the whole thing anyway.