callmekipling

I picked it at random... or so it felt. I was in the process of dropping out of a Music Education program, and one of my frat brothers (yeah so dont ask why I dropped out, ahem) mentioned he made good money as a CNA. And then I became an EMT, and then a firefighter, and have worked in LTC, hospitals and home care, and am now in my third year of school, and may well end up as a PHRN. So you have your pic in my story according to your beliefs. Either I ended up liking what was a last-ditch pick, or call it the hand of God :)

You will be a gofer. I sure am. You will help lift heavy people. To quote eddie vedder.. it's evolution, baby! Whether you are "just" a gofer or "just" a lifter depends, quite frankly, on your willingness to stand up for yourself.

Hey, some of us fill out a large okay There is one ICU doc where I work who has really huge hands, like ironworker big. He has to go to supply and draw out his own XL gloves. Poor guy, it's a running gag with him, and it seems to come up whenever pts ask about him!

I like to play the straight man. "Good to meet you, sorry it's here" is my favorite opener. As a tech - "They don't let me play with anything fun, but if you need a soda or something I'm well qualified to get it." LOL's come in with bruising/ raccoon eyes - "You're the tough old bird came in from that barfight huh?" If they say "at least I'm alive," (and I stole this from a little old lady).. "they say the devil takes care of his own" Worse yet, if they're clever too, it's usually worth a smile to admit that I've spent the day's allotment of one-liners!

I always get a kick out of people asking me for health advice. "My ears and my nose have been hurting so bad" "yeah, you should see an ear, nose and throat doctor" "but how do I know if its bad enough?" "is it bad enough to call a doctor for?" (in compliance with the thread topic, that was an ex asking me.) Sure you could hon, you just gotta push a little harder

Forgive me if this is too brief a treatment of a very involved question, but - I think it depends on what your goals are as a nurse, your philosophy and the field in which you practice. Realize you are working in an imperfect medium, with imperfect clientele and an imperfect process. Not to be a downer, and I have not worked everywhere or know everything by any means, but I feel this job is less about success outright and more about compromise - with patients, the economy, human mortality. Often, for just a little more time. I say, care as best you can. As far as that mother/father bit, I'm not so hot for it. Too much caring *will* make you crazy.

I have had this happen to me. I prefer to say, and you may quote me on this:smokin: "The details are technical and boring to someone uninvolved in the field.. Needless to say it's more involved than you may think." And then maybe wow them with a discussion of clotting factors, electrolytes, fluid balance, and the massive monolithic migraine that is med administration. Though lately I've been thinking (channeling betty neuman here) that doctors focus on treating an ailment, where nurses promote wellness in general. We double check what the doctors do, while keeping an eye on everything else. Is that legit, ya think?

artless, but a compliment. maybe Yogi Bera is still floating around whispering in people's ears. Uncondensed, it would read, "I think it's a respectable profession though I bet you get laughed at by other people." Just grin, and don't make excuses.

Did you know your managers are *required* to find room for improvement in your eval? True story. If that's all s/he's got to say about you in the negative, I'd say you're pretty awesome. I mean, that's culture today. If you can do it well, maybe you can do it well a little faster? I got an eval once, it said I'm great at life and all, but I could learn to be more of a self-starter. When i asked my boss to elaborate, she shrugged and said "You're doing everything, the only thing I could think was to have you do everything sooner." (let it also be known I really, really like my boss :wink2:)

Aahahahaha! happened to me once. Of course I'm a tech, I don't talk much to attendings (I know the house docs, but who's gonna drop THEIR names?) So a little old lady came in insisting she knew such-and-such CEO of our company... I could honestly say - "Do you? Because I sure don't. If he stops by, ring your call bell!"

From "The Modern Gentleman" by Mollod and Tesauro - a really great read, by the way, one that I cannot recommend enough. The passage begins on page 70.

I think domestic violence falls generally under elder abuse for most LTC settings. I have to say, the only domestic abuse I've ever witnessed was verbal and addressed towards a deaf demented woman. I don't even know if that counts.

classically it's referred to as a "great big s-- eating grin" you may find yourself having this reaction I'm one among maybe five or six guys in a class of about a hundred. We're all being broken up for asmt lab. My advice to the bros. here would be, get used to it, learn to thrive in it. Unless you're going to the only men ward at mantown hospital (mansville, manitoba, in the fine northern country of manada?) you're gonna be dealing with a lot of estrogen until about the day you retire. Think of it this way- maybe it's jealousy? Take it as inspiration to be unassailable - that is to say, know what you're talking about when you open your mouth. Harder to get shot down when you're right.

pat if you're taking a pretty nurse type there, getting emotional may be just the thing.. tell her about your deep and abiding inner pain they eat that up! i'm kidding, but hopefully dealing with people at their most vulnerable all the time she won't be the kind to go for John Wayne!

YEA SON I'm a heavy hitter myself, 6 ft 0 in shoes, 230lb. Bench 315, squat 425 deadlift 480. Do I wish I didn't have a pooched out gut? sure, but all the crunches in the world won't save me :chuckle besides, it's not supposed to be about how you look so much as how you help slide up morbidly obese people haha

Another big danger - you're seen as stronger than women, physically, because as a general physiological thing you probably will be. So make sure you ARE strong before attempting to ACT strong.. just lost a brother in arms to home hospice for this very reason. Otherwise, I'd say this is right on the money :pumpiron:

:yeah:completely and entirely true.

Books. Books on tape. Jazz music, if he's a classy bloke find stuff from his era. Tell him about your life. Babble endlessly. Tell him about his family, if they won't come. The same sorts of conversations you'd (hopefully) have, now you keep up both sides of. You will feel like a lunatic. Worse, you'll feel like nothing's there to hear you and you're merely deluding yourself. Almost everyone who does what you're doing gets the feeling. If it helps, shut the curtain. Personally, I will sing to vented/dying pts, but i've already got a rep for having a screw loose.

kuku, i bet it was acute kid

CNA = complete cna program tech = incomplete nursing program around here we all do the same job, but techs are expected to do EKG's and draw blood for labs. Also, depending on the technical skill of your nurse, sometimes they do IV starts. At my hospital a person can work as a tech without a CNA so long as they've completed their first round of clinicals.

Norway, greenland, ireland, england.. because I plan to spend some time touring europe, and if I'm gonna die sooner than I planned then darn it I'm bumping the vacation up! oh and: when I die I wanna be cremated and used to fertilize a flower garden (very brave new world.. at least my phosphates and such will be put to use)

1) Airway, breathing, circulation (thank you, emt school) 2) Holler for a nurse, any nurse that's free. Call bells are non-emergency. State the room number. Something like, "Need help in 13!" Once the nurse gets there, stick around and help. Stay with the pt unless asked to do otherwise. After that, wash off, incident report, etcetcetc.

Call me pessimistic, but expect to have to cope with short staffing. Either occasionally or all the time, depending on the hiring and retention rates of the facility you're joining. Been a bit since i worked LTC, but here's how I recall it breaking down: Mornings: breakfast and lunch, AM care, (later) morning showers Evenings: Dinner, evening showers, pajama time Nights: Incontinence care and a few early morning showers. Not only that, many facilities have shift differentials - Since 7-3 is compatible with kids' school schedules, generally, it's the most asked for shift. Thus incentives are provided for working evenings or nights. I guess it all depends on how you like your work, your company at work and your pt routines.

Don't spray them in the face :-P Seriously, tilt the head back so water stays off the breathing parts. When you have to do the face, do it quickly. Custom products are great. Look into cheap hair stuff too - depending on how often they get bathed, a little gel (or some brylcreem! haha!) can make the difference between LTC hair and the runway look :) If your pt is ambulatory and confused, consider leaving the shower head where it is and gently moving the pt around in it (yes, this is tough to do without getting wet!) Still others I knew (working lockdown'd alzheimer's unit) simply could not be brought to go in the shower willingly. At which point you grit your teeth and accept the fact that if they had their own best interests in mind they wouldn't be hanging out with you in LTC. Ugly, but true, and if they're really that confused I've found they'll forget about it soon enough. But don't use that as an excuse to skimp on diplomacy.

I was gonna say, you blurt out "hold on, I'll get your nurse" when someone unattractive asks you out Wearing the same pair of jeans twice might take you three weeks. or, your basket on laundry day contains one pair of pants, two shirts, seven sets of scrubs and 387 alcohol wipes.