aimeee BSN, RN

The Last Chance for Comfort: An Update on Pain Management at the End of Life This is a Medscape CEU worth 2.4 contact hours. You will need to register in order to do this but registration is free. When you complete the test online you will be able ...

Has anyone ever seen an order for cerebyx written as cerebrex? I saw this on discharge orders today and wondered about it, and then saw the actual scrip written by the doc and sure enough, it was spelled out cerebrex. It was for seizures. But he j...

Thought others might find this letter of particular interest if you have a patient with peripheral diabetic neuropathy who currently has an ineffective pain control regimen. I copied it from medscape.com. I would bet dollars to donuts many of our ...

There's a long list.... strong assessment skills, ability to "connect" with a wide variety of people and yet maintain boundaries, good listening and communication skills, teaching skills, time management and organizational skills, team player, critic...

There is no specific requirement to gather MAC in the new cops. What the new COPS require is a form for the gathering of data elements to be utilized in your QAPI program. It is up to the individual organization to determine what form will be used,...

We have some male nurses and age is only a factor as far as it correlates to limited life and professional experience. Each person must be judged on their own merits. Some people have more experience and maturity at 20 than some ever achieve in a l...

Yes, there is a core curriculum and a study guide. Your most economical alternative is to purchase a membership in HPNA and then the cost of the test is discounted and so are the study materials. If you go to the HPNA.org website you will find link...

I agree with the above... they should cut out the requirement to be at IDT's. 1 person per 70 is definitely justifiable at full time, especially on the weekend. We have a census of about 200 and have three people covering call. On the weekends we...

That sounds like a policy that is not patient service driven. In fact, your post shows the unintended effect... the difficulty of obtaining the medication is driving use instead of what would be the best medication for relieving the symptoms. The t...

We have standing orders that allow us to titrate the dosage up another 50% if necessary to achieve relief but after that we would have to call the physician to get an increase. If you are doing hospital nursing you will probably not have such libera...

Freedom? That's an interesting word I never would have thought of applying to hospice nursing. Autonomy maybe. It certainly can be stressful, or it can be delightful. It all depends on what comes about. Certainly every day is different as no two...

We cannot exclude patients due to full code status. It doesn't make much sense to be a full code when terminally ill.... but still... some can't bring themselves to sign a DNR. Sometimes it means no one has really educated the family on what runnin...

It runs the gamut from people who just need a little reassurance or have a question about a medication to a patient that has just decided constipation is an emergency to a family freaking out because they are suddenly confronted with the reality of d...

The small numbers may reflect that while few people actually MAKE the choice, they want to be able free to make it. It may reflect that we have deep taboos in our society and makeup about taking our own lives that keep us from doing that even when w...

I think it is just another euphamism for dying that is coming more and more into vogue. And like the word dying, it all depends on how you define it. Dying can happen in a day or it can be a lengthy process that takes weeks. We had a discussion ab...

I'm personally uncomfortable with it but I support self-determination. My father is a member of the hemlock society and I would want to be able to support him.

I have never heard of that one. I'm skeptical.

Hi Emilie, Guess you didn't get an answer in time for your interview. While a deeper and broader experience would prepare you better, your heart for the work and your communication skills, your honesty, and your outward presentation of confidence w...

I started as an admissions nurse in hospice care after experience in long term care. It worked well as a transitional role for me. As an admissions nurse the main focus is on the documentation of the baseline condition of the patient and the histor...

This article in Scientific American's Mind and Brain suggests that research has not found supporting evidence for a progression through Kubler Ross' five stages of grief, despite the theory's popular acceptance. http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=fi...

Evaluate and Treat is an open ended order that is used for the Nurse Practioner to make a Palliative Care visit. Perhaps they have some confusion and are working with multiple programs?

These are gray and much debated areas. You cannot discharge a patient for going outside the plan of care. There are only three reasons you can discharge a patient: 1) They are no longer appearing to meet the criteria for terminality....in other wo...

Its still rough for now but within a couple of years it should be much better....the conditions of participation for nursing homes are being revised just as the hospice ones have been and when they are finished (they estimate they won't be ready for ...

We have the standard kit from Hospice Pharmacia.

Not normal, but we do it now and then when it would otherwise be a barrier to them getting started on hospice. Usually its the young patients with ovarian CA. I don't think we have ever had a lung CA patient on TPN.