worldqueenie

I agree about vitamin orders. While Vit. C is certainly a good thing and is water soluble, labs must be looked at to adjust vitamin supplements as necessary, they can also have adverse reactions for some patients depending on their diagnosis'. Although the are "just" vitamins, they can harm as much as help too.

According to the free dictionary, orientated is a verb meaning to orientate and sontimeters is not even a word. My pet peeve word: irregardless

although I have heard "sontimeters" before, I googled it and looked it up in tabers and got nada!!

I bought a pair of dansko pro's and yes they took a while to break in. They still hurt my heels a bit after an 8 hour shift but the next day they are fine. I trade off and on with my Shox that have amazing arch support and that helps. I still love the danskos but prefer the Shox.

what part of FL? How much do you have to drive though? Sounds awesome!

I'm a 7month old grad. in the Tampa area. I work at a SNF and started at $18 with .50 for shift diff. I was offered a promotion to floor supervisor with a $1 raise to be eval'd in 90 days. The only benefits I get are PTO time which equates to about 2 days/month for me.

Never Underestimate Rectal Sounds Involving Noxious Gas OMG I cracked up laughing at this one. Thanks for the giggles!!!!!!!!!!! HYSTERICAL!!!!! LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!

needed under all conditions regardless of the case since we're trained to help everywhere you go it's the same thing necessity of the job is goodwill to man

I don't understand why you wouldn't just call the doc. At my facility, while it may seem silly to call to get an UA/C&S, when the resident has cloudy, foul smelling urine and altered mental status, it only takes a sec to call and it only takes a sec for the doc to say "yeah, sure". Just cya and call

any LTC/SNF that are LPN supervisors? Curious what the salary range is. I live in FL and have been offered the position that they are basically addding to our orificenal to help improve the state of things. salary.com didn't offer this info.

Thank you all for your insight. It is sad that it is such an universal problem. However, SUANNA, said it best "treat them like fast-food employees and they will act as such"

any good policies/programs in place to help curb call offs? Prefer something positive rather than a negative. Just getting written up after so many doesn't seem to work. Any creative ideas would be helpful.

I have tried many and for me it is 2 thumbs up for the new SHox!!!!

The new nike shox. amazing arch support. as sooon as you slip them on you will notice the support.

I too suffer greatly from plantar fasciitis. I purchased the strassburg sock. http://www.thesock.com/howitworks.html It helps but did not "fix" the problem. I have purchased dansko professional shoes, they were ok but I would still get flair ups. I also bought a pair of Brooks to help the pronating. Ok but not perfect. I just got off of working 5 12's in a row and needless to say I was in a great amount of pain. So I decided to try another pair of shoes. I bought Nike Shox and wore them 8 hours with no heel pain whatsoever. IMO, icing the foot helps, taking an anti-inflam. helps, the sock helps, taping the bottom of your foot helps, orthotics help, but nothing made it go away but the Nike Shox. I have learned though that everyone is different. I found the arch support in the Shox AMAZING! Right when you try them on you feel the support. I continue to wear the sock. Some where I read you should wear it at least 2 weeks. In addition to the sock, I would find the perfect pair of shoes! Good luck!

In my facility I would get fired for pre-pouring, let alone leaving it on top of the med cart and NO cna's can not pass our meds. Not even the one that is a med tech. I don't think pre-pouring is against state rules, they do it in jails, but it may be against LTC/SNF (AACHA) rules. I believe my state also has rules regarding nurse/resident ratios too. There is no excuse for pre-pouring, learn time management, quit chit-chatting with co-workers, don't go smoke a bunch of times. Pre-pouring is an accident waiting to happen.

First of all it's whatever works best for you. That being said, personally I did a LPN program (took a year because I could test out of the first quarter due to already being a CNA) then while getting my pre-req's (still working on) I am working and earning an LPN salary (vs. CNA). It will ultimatley take me approx. 3 years to get an RN ADN instead of 4. Whatever you do, Best of Luck to you!

He has none of the other c-diff symptoms like diarrhea or cramping. No weakness, dehydration, fever, nausea, vomiting or even blood in his stool / feces. Eats normal, keeps going in but it's not going out. I think they sent a sample, haven't heard results yet. thanks for the comments. Will keep you posted.

What do you make of this??? I am a new LPN working at a SNF. Have a resident that for the past few days has only passed clear, odorless, mucous like bowel movements. (Heard it has actually been going on for at least a week, he's not my resident) No diarrhea, no vomitting and pain has been hard to nail down because he is forgetful and often has pain. I immediately think bowel obstruction. I palpate his abdomen. He has a large, solid feeling mass in the upper right quad. He is a rather large man. Further research in his chart reveals that he has been losing weight steadily the past few months, however this month has gained almost 15#'S. No bowel sounds around mass but other quadrants have sounds. The Dr. is phoned and he absolutely does not think it is a bowel obstruct. He orders a KUB and enulose 30ml now (this was yesterday( and 30 ml BID. Today the results come back that show there is a possible volvulus. We send him to the hosp. where they do an xray and a cat scan (with the swallow). They send him back and say he needs more fiber, there's nothing wrong, colon may be a little looped. Within a couple hours he has a bowel movement. It is now mucous, oily tinged brown. (obviously the enulose is seeping passed carrying a little feces.) He has had intestinal surgery before so I figured there is an adhesion causing the blockage but the hosp. Dr. says no, nothing to worry about. Send back when he has pain etc. Abdomen is still hard. What the heck is going on? I like this guy, he's not that old. Could it be a paralytic ileus? Has anyone seen this? Does anyone else think this is a big deal? Or am I just paranoid? Any insight is appreciated. I always learn from this group. thanks

Surely you have an EDK you can get your narcs from????!!!!!!!!!! and I mean the kind that is behind locked doors, in a locked box with forms you have to fill out etc., not the in the bag under the desk in the DON office kind

This may be a "girl" thing but I'd get several pairs of really good shoes.

at 40 I went to a local tech school for 12 months and paid less than 4k. I'm at the community college for 2 years of prereq's and the LPN to RN transition program and may continue to go all the way to a master's for ARNP. BETTER LATE THAN NEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!

where do you apply for chocolate taster?

try home health. you can make your own hours and s ometimes choose which clients you want to work with or not. pay is decent, paperwork is fairly minimal, no boss over your shoulder.

I bought a couple books from Barnes and Noble and challenged the test. It's super easy. You could also try getting a job with a nursing home and they sometimes will pay for your course.