jesskalpn

Hi everyone, I am currently the Case Manager of Health Services for a steel mill. I'm wondering if any of you in similar settings utilize EHRs? Here's our situation: We do annual physicals on every mill employee, additional testing for certain OSHA regulated areas of the mill, general and urgent care cases, case management/fitness for duty determinations, drug testing for employees and annual drug testing for all outside contractors (this is billed). Currently, the amount of paper we are adding to all charts will cause us to outgrow the small space we have for storage, not to mention we actually need to move into modern methods of healthcare. Have any of you introduced EHRs into your facilities? What was the process? Can you help me? I know that this will be an uphill battle simply because our Medical Director isn't tech-savvy and he naturally wants to minimize spending for the budget. My goal right now is to get as much info as I can so that my presentation can't be ignored. Thanks so much!

This, or, they are unliked by management and this is simply the mechanism to eject them.

How did it go? Any news?

As long as you can live on the compensation from the full-time job, it might be a good move for your resume.

Does your company have a Medical Director? If so, then you are probably considered under the supervision of that person.

Congrats on landing an interview! I now work in an administrative position in occupational health (contracted to one company, but actually an employee of a home care agency) and my interview consisted of more general interview questions. At the time, I had been licensed for a year but was not practicing under that license. I remember that they asked about my thoughts on work attendance (Was it important? Under what circumstances is it ok to call off work?). They wanted to know if I was planning on continuing my education, how I prefer to handle disagreements with coworkers, what did I enjoy about nursing, and then a few situational questions. I'm not familiar with the Connecticut nursing market but I make a couple of dollars per hour less than I would if I was employed at a nursing home or rehab facility. However, I also have a regular day shift schedule (no nights/no weekends) and we have benefits and personal/vacation/educational time off work. The pay may be a bit lower in your area also, but definitely take into account the other benefits that may be available to you. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you, good luck!

Galen actually has an online hybrid program for LVNs/LPNs...I just started and all of our lecture/theory classes are online with clinicals/labs on ground in the evenings/weekends. I'm a working LPN also and I have to continue working full-time for the income. I had put off going back to school until I found out about this program but it seems as though it will really be doable with my work schedule (M-F, 8-4). I'm at the Cincinnati campus, but I think they have the online hybrid program at all the campuses.

I'm taking the applied math this quarter also...I've taken one math class online but it was lower level, so I'm nervous about trying to learn math that I've never come in contact with before. My coworker, who is a quarter ahead of me said it was pretty difficult. My schedule is A&P I (lab on Mondays), Applied Math, and the Information Technology class. They told us our online classes would be loaded into Canvas today but so far, nothing. I'm going to try to get ahead of my A&P reading this holiday weekend. I waited much longer than I should have (5yrs) to go back for my RN and now I can't believe it's here! Go us!!

Awesome, congrats on passing the PAX-RN! I'm also starting the hybrid program in July, but at the Cincinnati campus. Keep in touch and we can all help each other out!

Hope your orientation went well! I'm getting soooo nervous about class starting next Monday...I still have to buy a couple of books, but other than that I'm ready. I think...

Ok, tomorrow is orientation for Cincinnati Galen...I'm getting nervous and I'm way excited that I am finally taking the plunge. Trish, when do you have orientation for July?

Hi! I'm starting the online hybrid in July also! I met with all the departments and signed a bajillion papers yesterday. I'm a little overwhelmed today about it, though...going back for my ADN has been a long time coming. Good to know I'm not the only one here that's starting in July, though! We'll have to be support buddies for the next 18 months!

I hope you can find someplace but southwest Ohio isn't it, for sure. There are 4 schools in the Cincinnati area that each pump out 4 classes of LPNs per year. The nursing market here for LPNs is saturated, with most of the open positions being in LTC because the hospitals here hire very few, if any, LPNs. Good luck on your search!

Congratulations!! Yes, start looking for a job but take few days to celebrate all that you've accomplished...it sounds well-earned!

I work in an occupational health clinic for a mill, but I'm actually a contracted employee through a home health agency. The contracting mill prefers to staff our medical department with contracted staff because it's less money out of their pocket. I would imagine that a lot of other companies do the same thing, so maybe check out the home health agency websites for assignments that are marked 'occ health' or as 'long-term contract'. Our openings never list the actual company we work for, so you may have to do some calling to find out what the listed jobs are actually for.

Yeah, I'm with SlightlyMental_RN on this one...I take my shoes off at the door, and the only time I take a shower right after working is when I have been spilled on in some fashion.

I agree with the pp. The turnover rate in OB is super low, and on my OB unit we have only hired from the outside about 3 times in the last 2 years. If OB is where you want to be, working as a unit secretary or scrub tech(if available) will help you out beyond just getting a job. You'll have working knowledge of the unit and you'll learn so much about OB nursing. If you can't land a job on an OB unit, definitely try to shadow an OB nurse on a unit you'd like to work on. This could get you some face time with the manager, which will help when you apply after you've gotten your license. Good luck with school! :)

I am so sorry that you're going through this. All of the above suggestions are excellent. Maybe you could also look into RN transplant liason positions? We have an organ and tissue procurement agency in our area that utilizes RN's to guide patients through the procurement/transplant processes. I know several of the local hospitals also have such positions to coordinate things in the hospital... I hope that whatever you decide to do brings you as much fulfillment as NICU nursing has.

Hello all, I need some help from the wound care nurses out there. I landed an interview (to be held 12/16) for an "Administrative Treatment LPN" position and after speaking with the DON about it a little further it sounds like a wound care position. According to him, the position entails measuring wounds, veryifying/obtaining new orders, MDS inputs, new admissions, care conferences, etc. I'm a little hesitant as this will be my first LPN job since I got my license in July of this year but I've been a surgical tech/PCA for the last 8 years so I'm not a newbie to the healthcare field. I loved my rotations with the tx nurses in the LTC facilities where we had clinicals and am so excited to have gotten an interview! Should I find it odd that the DON called me initially late on a Tuesday afternoon and left a voicemail and then called me AGAIN at 8:45 the next morning to set up an interview? In my entire working life I've never had that happen. Also, what are some questions I could ask in the interview that are going to knock his socks off? I pulled up info about the facility on medicare.gov and also pulled up info about some of the facilities I did clinicals at (which, incidentally are part of the same corporation) to get an idea about some of the basics so I'm going to bring that up and ask some questions about that. I have a list of some other basic interview questions (orientations, performance reviews, what will the incoming nurse have to address immediately, wound care cert in the future). I've studied a lot of the posts on this forum and have found several websites as initial references and have a list of books that I will definitely be obtaining should I get this job. Sorry for the long post, I know you guys are awesome and can help me think of the things I haven't thought of yet. Thanks!

Hi ksow, I've worked as a scrub tech/pca in OB in the Cincinnati area for the last 8 years. As far as I know, all the hospitals in the area utilize PCA's in some way or another on their units. Do you have specific questions about the job?

as a formula feeder, i will tell you that i had none of the above problems. my daugther did well and is healthy and happy, and incidentally did not "smell bad". i'm sure i haven't scarred her for life because i gave her formula. if you're going to use examples to try to back up your opinion you should at least have some research to cite with it (although, i'm sure you can find something to back up anything on the internet these days). and you're right, your judgemental viewpoint about formula-feeding probably wouldn't mesh well in ob. i don't think that anyone here is arguing that breastmilk is not better, but to belittle the choice of women you don't know and whose situations you have not experienced is just rude.

Bring your own, huh? I find this to be a really narrow-minded and rude thing to say. I have worked in OB and I know what the benefits of breastfeeding are, however I chose not to breastfeed. To breast or formula feed is a personal decision and shouldn't be mandated by anyone(ie; withholding formula when a mother chooses to formula feed). We provide food for adults, we have to provide food for infants. Perhaps the reasons I chose to formula feed may seem selfish to you, but it worked for my lifestyle. I think a happy mom is a better mom, and if a woman is going to be miserable breastfeeding why should she do it? Everyone's situation is different. If someone wants to breastfeed, great, let's help them. If not, that's ok too.

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Thank you both for the replies! I'm still super nervous but I feel a little better knowing what could potentially be asked. I'll let you know how it goes :)