jprn7171

Update. Don't bother with risk management. All they did was say sorry for the unfortunate situation but all they could do is have a talk with my boss and the charge nurse and ask them to not reveal what was in my chart. Risk management even talked with the CEO and that was their only resolution. So sorry, too bad. I filed a complaint with Global compliance. My next step is OCR. Filing out the form over this weekend. I can not believe this. If it was me I would have been fired on the spot. )*(&^^&$%^%#$) We have no rights as nurses. It is always about the facility. I am just a pee on. replacable. I hate this, crying...

I have worked 15 years night shift and it is hard. Great advice in prior posts. 1-No caffiene after 3am. 2-Make sure to bring protein as a food source instead of hitting the candy machines, your blood sugar will dive bomb on you if you eat just chips, soda and candy. 3-Get some valerian root from a supplement store. They also have a sleepy time hot tea with valerian root in it. Very soothing and puts you to sleep without side effects. 4-Get a nice set of black out curtains for your windows and use heavy duty tin foil to block out the light and heat from the sun. A cold dark room is the most important to getting sleep during the day. The tin foil blocks the sun completely and repels the heat. Wonderful little trick. 5-Make sure you eat something real light right before you go to bed so you don't wake up starving at noon and then you can't go back to sleep. 6-Sleep with as little clothing as possible. 7-Take a nice hot bath while you are drinking your sleepy time tea. When you get out you will be nice and relaxed. 8-Turn off phones, tell people your schedule so they will not call. Set your voice mail to pick up after 3 rings so the phone doesn't ring all day. That way if you have kids they will know to keep calling if emergency. Others will think you are not home. 9-Pace yourself at night, make sure you don't sit charting for any long length of time. When tired get UP! Move. You said you were worried about weight so walk around your facilty doing a couple laps, You will be full of energy when finished. 10-If ever you feel so tired you think you might be a danger to yourself or patients tell someone you are taking your lunch with your head down. See if someone can come get you in 30 minutes or buy a portable alarm clock and set it for 30 minutes. Hope this helps. I worked all night so I am tired and going to get some sleep. Good luck.

Thank you all for the great advice and support. I have contacted my risk management inside the hospital. She said she is going to look into this and speak with her boss and get back to me later today or Monday. I explained my fear of being fired and was told if I were to get fired after this was reported then the person firing me could get into trouble also. I also have called 2-3 cival rights attorneys. I have one appt. on Monday to speak with one and see what they say. I have started a log of all dates, times and person involved with each and every step since this started. I have a feeling I am going to be jobless here soon in the future because I know there are some toes I am stepping on. But I have to stand up for ALL of us. We gat crapped on all the time in this career, by patients, family members, coworkers, etc.. If I have to end up homeless and without a paycheck to put a stop to managers thinking they can do whatever they want to us then homeless in FL. is what I will be, gazing at the stars in the sky knowing what I did was for the best. Too many people put up with this because of fear of losing work. Well I am not scared . Thanks again! Sorry if this is worded funny I have been up since 4pm yesterday and worked all night, but I am in good spirits.

This is the only hospital in my town and my Dr. does have privileges. I used the hospitals lab as that is where my Dr. sends me for all my workups. I don't know what to do about this. If they did this to me I wonder how many other staff members they have done this to. I have 22 years worth of medical records in this hospital they they could have looked at. Should I go to the CEO of the hospital? How do I handle this to make sure it does not happen again without losing my job?

I am employed at a hospital. I called off last week due to a nasal infection s/p a nose job 4 weeks ago. When I called off the charge nurse told me would have to have a H1N1 test done or else I would not be able to return to work for 7 days. I had no problem asking my Dr. to add the flu swab to my testing. I went in the very next morning did my lab work and swab. I went and seen my Dr. at 4pm the same day for my results. My swab was negative but I did have an infection. So I went home and called my boss to let my charge nurse know that I would be out for 3 days. I went on to tell her that my swab was negative for the flu and she stated that she already knew and that my boss told her to look up my record to see if I had it done. She knew my test results without me even telling her. She also knew I had bacteria in my urine so she looked at other results beyond just my flu swab. I was not happy to say the least. I went back to work after my 3 days and decided to talk with my boss regarding this. She said yes she told her and that she can look up my results herself at any time. I told her she has no rights to my medical records and now I do not feel safe at my own workplace. She said she would talk to my charge nurse. I feel like someone should have a talk with her too. I really am upset with this whole situation to say the least. They violated my privacy. Do I have rights as an employee? My charge nurse should have been called in to the room and told in front of me that any disclosure of my medical records would be grounds for immediate termination. I have no knowledge how much of my medical history she seen. This is bad, bad, bad. Please give me input, advice. I am wrong for feeling like they had no right.

I hope this works. I added a resume as an attachment with my personal info deleted. I figured it out. The document is attached. regular.doc

No work still, it has been since Sept. 17th. I have been to several interviews where they are wanting more experience. One hospital had me interview 4 times. Each place has been at least 2 interviews. I dress up making sure it is appropriate, (no low cut shirts, cardigan, nice slacks, etc.) I have never had this issue. As a LPN I would go for an interview and be told come into work the next day for orientation. I have sent my resume to at least 20-30 places. I am willing to do nights even. Weekends are great. Holidays are even no problem. I don't know what I am doing wrong. All these RN positions seem to want a BS or multiple years of experience. I was an LPN for 13 years passing meds and an RN for 2 years, why is this not enough experience. I broke down crying after the last rejection. Any advice would be great. Thanks.

Thanks JustMe, but I was a LPN for 13 years and struggled as a single mother to become a RN. I graduated in 2006. I think that is why this is hitting me so hard. We as nurses go through so much to be in a professional career for what? The companies treat us poorly and pay us shockingly low wages. I took a decrease in wages going from LPN to RN, nursing home pay to hospital pay. They gave me 5 years credit as a LPN. I was thinking about going for my BSN but for $1 more an hour. Not for 2 more years worth of school and thousands more in student loans. Thank you all for the hugs, kisses and uplifting comments. I went on an interview yesterday to work with children in a psych hospital. I am excited about this position. The DON said she will call me Monday to let me know. They took me around the hospital though and were introducing me as the nurse that would be working on the children's unit, so I am hopeful that I will get the job. I have never worked with children but I think I would be good at this. I was approved for unemployment. Wow a whole $275 week. I should be thankful but that is a days pay. How am I supposed to pay my bills? Well I am pounding the pavement looking for work so I know I will get something. I love you ladies for be here. Thanks for listening again. I will keep everyone posted.

I need to vent. I was just laid off due to low census. I worked at this hospital for a year. I worked every weekend and all holidays. The census has been low for 4 months. Nurses were getting cancelled left and right. I never once complained about being cancelled. I needed the insurance. This same hospital just laid off every LPN in January due to 'Magnet Status'. They let go of 6 nurses alone on our floor. What is wrong with these hospitals thinking nurses are disposable. What are they gonna do when census goes back up. This is the only hospital in this city. I could see if all the nurses were complaining about being called off but no one was. We have low census because tourists haven't been vacationing this year, which is alot of our buisness. Is this happening everywhere or just this hospital. The city north of here is hiring like crazy. Thier census seems to be fine. I am just sick and tired of being treated like crap by this industry. I have been a nurse for 13 years and it just keeps getting worse. I already have interviews so I am not worried about work, but how do we put a smile on our face and go to be grinded up all the time. Thanks for letting me vent. I love my patients and this line of work I just want respect .