Bear92

Hi Klone. People's job satisfaction and effectiveness often coincide with being in a position conducive to one's gifting. In nursing, that can be precarious. A person with a high level of mirror neurons will be stimulated by crisis and can create a dependency on the adrenaline rushes they receive. But they also tend to cause burnout and reduce effectiveness. A person with a high level of mirror neurons is in a bit of a nursing conundrum. They have often chosen this career because of their deeply caring nature. That same profound caring nature is highly vulnerable to nursing burnout. Selecting an area of nursing with less death and suffering will help nurses with a high volume of mirror neurons to be more emotionally stable in their work. However, they will also tend to have slightly less satisfaction. There is an excellent book called "Boundaries" by John Townsend and Henry Cloud. It can help. Another study revealed that M.D.s tend to experience a reduction in mirror neurons during med school! The exposure and clinical focus do help rewrite our synaptic selves. However, the overall amount is not going to create a new personality. Your friend needs wisdom, emotional awareness, and perhaps the discipline to adjust to a different specialty that would be less stressful. If we were all wiser in this, we would have fewer nurses leaving the field and more changing to complementary specialties. Best wishes to you and your friend.

Dear Unitedemclub- There are a couple of problems with your perspective that I'd like to touch base on. First, A family member has no place or basis for making a clinical diagnosis of ASPD. It would be best if you were NOT evaluating yourself by someone's amateur and most likely errant perspective. Only a professional can or should make such a serious diagnosis. If this is a concern, go to a clinical psychologist and take an MMPI2. Second, just because you don't share the same empathy as someone else does NOT mean you have ASPD or are a sociopath. Everyone has variant levels of empathy based on the number of mirror neurons-[1] Discovery of "mirror neurons" throughout the brain work together to make up the somatosensory association cortex- emotion/empathy center. In the post, you indicate you are a male. Biological males tend to have fewer mirror neurons than biological females. Empathy is not a have it or don't have it emotion. It is a spectrum. Third, having a lower volume of mirror neurons can help you be more effective in a clinical setting. You will tend to be calmer in crisis. You will tend to be more objective in assessment. You will be less drained from the emotional wear. Being aware of your place on the spectrum is part of emotional intelligence. In my 30 years of clinical work in psych (RN, Ph.D.), I have studied this extensively, written and spoken on it. I find many who have a lower volume of mirror neurons struggle with the same concern as you. Many also have to deal with family members making an inappropriate diagnosis. I wish you well on your journey. [1] How Does the Brain Feel Empathy? by nadeevasm77 | Jun 14, 2019 | Hope Centers https://www.tripurafoundation.org/brain-feel-empathy/

There is so much wisdom and emotional intelligence demonstrated in this post. As a fellow male RN, I appreciated it greatly.

I sympathize with this nurse. School Nursing is no fluff job. The demands and amount of work is most often far beyond realistic time frames. Adding on pill identification for every med brought in is not in the job description. If they want to add to it, they need to add more hours/pay. I cannot understand the motivation of the supervisor in reporting to BON an incident that was clearly not the fault of the nurse. Item 2 in the requirements puts the responsibility clearly on the parents. This incident was either an error by the parent or the pharmacy. Yes, I understand that the nurse is the final wall of protection and the medication rights are essential. But, this is clearly an issue where the follow up should have held the parent or pharmacist responsible. Why would a nursing supervisor use another nurse as the scapegoat?

I think it best to let the individual patients make choices that involve issues from peri-care to catheters. Certainly, culture plays a role. But, patient choice in these matters seems to me to be the highest in consideration in areas that involve these issues. I also appreciate what InHisImage just stated above...

I sympathize with this nurse. Beth sure contributed some great thoughts. I would add another thought to the first rule of the "Right Patient". In LTC people are appropriately treated like being at "home" and not in a "facility". But that comes at a price to the first rule of "Right Patient". In most LTC facilities, they don't wear ID bands, like in a hospital. The nurses are usually dependent upon a system like a picture to ID the "Right Patient". About 10% of the time, I have found that pictures were sometimes not taken or not updated enough for realistic identification . And if you floated between wings, you could end up with 30+ patients you've never met and a huge challenge for identification. I found the following helpful (1) CNAs were awesome help in verifying ID, although they were very busy, being courteous to them reaps courtesy and help in return. (2) Discussed the ID issue with my DON who updated camera supplies to make pictures easier to get accomplished. (3) When in doubt, care for the patients you can ID and come back to those you need assistance with. I sympathize with fellow nurses facing these challenges. I have seen many break down in tears over the incredible stress of a highly complex and populous med pass. Be nice to yourself in the learning process and realize that it takes time and you'll get better and faster at it.

I enjoyed the varied responses and can relate to many of them.

Hi Fellow Nurses. I am filling in as a volunteer Camp Nurse at a Jr High Camp next week in the State of Wisconsin. I am an RN (BSN with PhD in Counseling). The other "nurse" is actually an EMT (The camp is calling the EMT a "nurse"). Having an EMT as co-worker is wonderful for emergent situations. I have a couple of questions concerning delegation of responsibilities. Is an EMT allowed to distribute medications? To what extent am I responsible for his/her actions? I will of course foster a good working relationship. I am just appropriately concerned over license and liability issues. Thank you in advance for your thoughts.

I seldom write posts, although I find reading allnurses interesting. I appreciate the helpful thoughts here on possible programs and the wisdom on the lost art of financial stewardship. I earned 5 degrees with no loans, working full time and paying as I went along. Yes, I realize that is rare and requires self discipline (another lost art). My take away is this... 1. Wongshuwei has accumulated too much debt for the return, since BSN pays no more than ADN. BUT - 2. At least Wongshuwei has wisely taken a degree which is employable rather than someone graduating with $60k in debt and a degree that is worthless for gainful employment. I wish her well and encourage wise stewardship in an economy that can be stacked against moving ahead. My final advice is to see a good tax accountant. You are furthering yourself in a field to which you were already employed and therefore the tuition would be deductible. We also need legislation that allows the repayment of loans taken for the purpose of advancing in the field you are already employed in to also be deductible. Best wishes Wongshuwei.

Dear LPN9200 you are not alone in that. In fact I know an RN in a small LTC unit who is also scheduled to fill in as CNA one day a week to make sure she gets her full time hours. She is still paid as an RN as I'm sure you still receive your LPN pay while doing CNA fill in. I thought she would be bothered by the situation. Instead, she approached it with such a positive attitude it really stuck with me. She reflected that for both her and the patients it was a real win win. The patients received the care level of an RN as she was doing the CNA work, and she was able to give the more concentrated patient care that nurses appreciate. Instead of seeing it as a negative, see this as it really is... you are being truly valued as a skilled LPN with very valuable and extensive CNA experience and skills. You are in the "float" so go with the flow and enjoy the variety.

Hey Ericka! A word of encouragement. Yes, it is tough and seems impossible BUT please give it a couple of more weeks and you will find that it gets easier. You will craft a routine that is effective. You will also become aware of priorities such as insulin etc. You are on a huge learning curve with multiple areas. But you will get it and even wonder why you stressed about it so much. Be patient with yourself. Those of us who have worked LTC sympathize and understand. It is tough BUT it is also very rewarding.

I can't adequately express my appreciation for both the article and the comments. I appreciate knowing I'm not alone in this. Thank you.