melsman1904

30/ week SOC = 2.75 pts Recert = 1.75 Roc = 2.25 Oasis D/C = 1 Routine SN visit = 1 pt

I second Aviators. I'm in home health and give my scrubs a thorough beating sliding in and out of a car all day. They are some of the most comfortable scrubs I've ever owned. Also, you can customize them to practically any configuration you could ...

If the drainage is r/t edema, you would need to control the edema. What is causing the edema? Venous insufficiency? Do you have a current ABI? From what I read, my next step would be to discuss with the Wound MD the possibility of utilizing somet...

Most others have mentioned it already... The #1 reason we all work: MONEY. I challenge anyone who disagrees with that to do any of our jobs for free while maintaining the (sometimes) unreasonably high standards required of us for 12 hours. Don't ho...

Just out of curiosity, how does your agency handle on call responsibilities? 1. How many on-call shifts do you have each week? 2. How often are you required to handle weekend on call duty? 3. What hours are considered on-call/afterhours? 4. What's th...

Thanks for the responses. Very interesting to see the differences from agency to agency.

During nursing school, I had the Lightweight II S.E. and it worked ok. In fact, I used it for probably a year or so after graduating. I had the opportunity to use a Cardiology S.T.C for a while and the difference was night and day to me. I got a M...

I get to be the primary on call nurse for ~200 home health pts. Oh, and since Tuesday is my normal call night, I get to be primary on call for New Years Day as well. I must've been extra good this year for Santa to bring that shining nugget of coal ...

What is this holiday pay you speak of??? For us, it's just another Sunday. No weekend diff either. I'm not complaining though. I could be asking "What is this job thing you speak of?"

It could be considered a stepping stone. I hired in to a hospital on nights and was able to score a day shift position after some time because I was already an employee. One distinct benefit is that you may know about an open position before it is ...

Like mofomeat and Bortaz, I got the short end of the stick on facial hair. I can grow in a decent goatee, but the rest just grows in thin ans splotchy. Lately, I've been wearing the goatee as Mrs. Melsman seems to enjoy it.

I see this situation a lot at my current facility. Some take PTO, some take unpaid leave. I really don't know what others do, but I usually volunteer to pick up a shift later in the pay period if needed. Also, I budget accordingly so that I can ab...

Please understand that I'm not asserting that unprofessional behavior is acceptable, no matter the circumstances. Now, let's look at this a little more in depth. We've all heard about patient rights and responsibilities, right? Well, a lot of atten...

I've only been a nurse for a little over 2 years, so my experiences are somewhat limited. However, most (in the neighborhood of 95%) of the rude pt behavior I've experienced has been over things out of my control. Examples are giving pain meds earl...

I rarely see OT on my unit. Usually, I get called in on an off day and then get canceled later in the week. It's not ideal, but it will do for now. It really makes it difficult to plan things on my off days. I guess, working with a great group of...

I've taken care of a professional athlete's mother. He was there with Mom all day and was a pretty nice guy. If anything, he struck me as a little naive. He walked all over the unit barefoot. I told him that it wasn't such a great idea to walk ar...

I've used #22s a lot for blood admin during my time in ortho. You have to work with what you have. Some pts are just impossible sticks and a PICC isn't an easy order to get on a pt who is probably being d/ced in the am.

I like the "pay for using the call bell" idea, but let's extend this idea a little bit. Instead of tacking it on the bill (which won't work for those folks who don't intend to pay anyway) any use over 2 per hour requires cash. Kinda like a vending ...

Done. If it had pertained to my last 6 months of work, my answers would have been dramatically different. My last shift was a Sunday and was much "slower" than a typical M-F shift.

Gay looking? No. I don't think you chose the right profession if you're worried about others questioning your sexual preference.

I've never had a female completely refuse me as their nurse. Toileting assistance/ peri care is where I usually get refused.

Verbal offers are mighty hard to prove, whereas that written offer is not so hard to prove. If I were in his shoes, I would hold them to that $32/ hour.

In my experience (2 diff. facilities), many of the pts still can't tell the difference. I get things like: "That nurse that mops the floors is such a nice lady..." "That nurse that brings my meals is so nice..." This is primarily from the geri popul...

Regardless of how "stupid" the reason for the call, it's better to call than to wing it. As others have already mentioned, it's unacceptable for a doc to yell at any of the staff. The way I see it: If you don't want to get calls in the middle of t...

Petty write-ups **** me off, but petty write-ups for new nurses is the worst. Instead of writing these folks up, we should be coaching them up. I mean, that's a great way to teach them simple things that will make them better nurses.