HangTen!

Are you comfortable in sharing with your co workers your hx with ptsd? My employer knows of mine, and they also know I do Not deal with violence or the threat of it by a patient or anyone. This is also was my trigger. I have been able in the past years to tell myself over and over again "he (perpetrator) cannot hurt me like that again. I Am safe". Now, it is most rare to experience a trigger. My co workers step in for me when an situation arises that I will not place myself in, due to what I view as potentially harmful. It has worked for me, and it is Rare that this happens. I am empowered by being able to do this, and by giving myself permission to protect myself first, even IF it would mean walking out the door (ie leaving a job) to do that. Of course, the later has not happened. My PTSD was in 1994. Keep pressing forward, you should be proud of your achivements and obvious steps towards healing. I hope this helps and ecourages you, it is true, that this too shall pass. I'm living proof of that.

In all seriousness, couldn't family nurse have action taken against their licenses for operating out of their scope ie giving a med in a hosp, not properly documenting etc etc and for the other issue of disconneting a chest tube. If this type of thing would occur, I'm sure we'd see less super nurse wanna be a dr type and ain't no body gonna tell me what to do's, keeping their paws to themselves ie their truly assigned patients.

YES! There is hope.... Run, don't walk to your closest Al-Anon or Narc-Anon meeting. There, you will find loving support for yourself. You will learn about this thing, addiction, and gain tools to help you get your life back. Peace truly can be yours once again. I understand your dilema of being a nursing student at the same time as well. Know you aren't the first, and won't be the last. There are also on line meetings available as well, google "online alanon". Some helpful thoughts: "This too shall pass" "Let Go, and Let God" "Three C's. You didn't Cause it, you can't Cure it and you can't Control it." "Stinkin Thinkin".....has to go! "One day at a time".....sometimes it is on hour, or even one minute. Breathe................

IF nightmares are mental illness....IF painful memories are classified as mental illness....IF being afraid of the perpetrator is classified as mental illness....IF almost being killed and not emerging with a smiling "oh, I'll just dust myself off and start all over again with a skip and a whistle" classifies me as having a mental illness................................................ Count me in :thnkg:! I definately had PTSD from being assaulted at........work! My heart goes out to you. Hugs, Hugs and More Hugs to You! There IS light at the end of the tunnel, please do not give up. We care here, therapy is not fun.......BUT the trauma that has sent you there CANNOT EVER happen to you again. Tell yourself this over and over again. My therapist suggested putting a rubber band on my wrist (I used a hair tie), and when the "thoughts and painful memories intrude, pull it and snap your wrist". It will help bring you back into the here and now. I have to say, it worked. I recall even doing this in church. PTSD is not covered by workmans comp in my state. Pathetic isn't it. Just today, the Unicameral killed a bill to cover witnessing violence at work. This makes my blood boil!!!! What IF we all just QUIT! All law enforcement, EMS, nurses, doctors , firefighters that are the ones most affected by this? GRRR!!! :madface: To the OP, although yours is not work related (I digressed there).....PTSD is PTSD. I had nightmares, startle reflexes in the most unexpected of times for years afterwards, panic attacks. I locked myself in my house, closed all window coverings (SOOOO NOT ME!!!), locked all doors and retreated to the basement. I thank God Almighty! The years the locusts had eaten Have been restored unto me in more ways than I could EVER have imagined! I believe this is for each one affected here too, I truly do. I PROMISE you! The work, is More than worth it. More than you can imagine. As one poster stated, do Not isolate. Relationship is key and such a reward, as you cannot imagine. Peace be with you....know you are Not alone.

This is a Very Good question! I look forward to hearing the rationale behind this. I read plausible responses already, ie not all trachs are 100% respiratory in nature, the nasal canula May trigger the breathing reflexes (interesting theory! If this was a game show, I would buy that:)), capped trachs etc. Was your patient totally vent dependent?

That I would LOVE my Job IF you would kindly leave your family, bowels and doctor at home (Sorry doc, no offense to you intended :sofahider)

This EMT was Totally out of line, and as the doc says, I would have called and reported this. His behaviour was completely inappropriate! These guys (gals) are Fully aware of what the regs are and are trying to sweet talk someone into letting it slide "this time" for their own curious gain. Geesh! For what? I worked closely with EMS, was an EMT and have seen my share of "nosey" folks. Smells like that to me. I came upon a woman on the street once who was in sudden death. I truly didn't expect her to make it......this was some years ago. Imagine my delight to know she survived without any neurological deficit-AND! She was the mother in law of one of the nurses I worked with on MICU. In that situation, all I had was my hands, breath and my ears to her chest until EMS arrived over 5 minutes later. I labored over her, anguished for her husband watching hopelessly and plucked pieces of gravel out of my knees from working on the asphalt in summer. Yes, I had a deep need to realize the final outcome. Nothing more. This, could be possibly the ONLY type of circumstance I believe a paramedic/EMT should have their desire to know the prognosis fulfilled. Diagnosis? No, absolutely not. Or me as a nurse who was the unfortunate one to do compressions on a 90 yr old non responsive woman in a fetal position for over 5 yrs with no next of kin and broke every rib in her frail body and ambued her for over an hour until transport arrived to take her to the city (years ago when I lived in Mayberry USA with a little bity hospital and no vent besides in the OR used for appys and sections etc with a CRNA). I was happy, relieved to learn later that the woman I lost sleep and anguished over finally made it to the other side....and prayed for God to forgive me for the horrible thing I did to her (of course required to do by law!). I don't think it is breaking HIPPA in these instances to let those intimately involved in life saving measures to learn the final outcome. Other details are unnecessary. IMHO........ To the OP, you did well! I hope you Know that in your being now

I plead ignorance to the details of Magnet Status (a local hospital I worked in has this status, so I know all I need to re that:)) and I did not bother reading this articl - with due respect to the OP. My husband has had his own business for years, he is a designer and engineer. My observations b/t his business and my decades of listening to the "newest fandangled technological cutting edge staffing and improved patient safety/efficiency measures", equals but one thing. More cuts and increased demands in work load to myself and the rest of the nursing staff (those that remain after the hiring freezes that invaribly followed even if not spoken outloud-newly vacated positions were simply not filled). It is another political ploy to increase the money coffers for the CEO's and shareholders of the nonprofits (That is the biggest joke) all on the backs of nurses who are supposed to be brainwashed into buying this current bucket load of soap suds. I seriously recall my first impressions of hearing "Magnet", and what it was to imply. That was, "MARKETING!". My lovely opinon, for what it is worth! (Wasn't there a thread somewhere else here for nurses who have become "hardened" or some such thing? Maybe I should go there! LOL) Seriously, my heart goes out to those of you who have been negatively impacted by this. I remember "believing" the powers that be once upon a time!

Interesting thread, although I don't understand why you as an EMT is questioning the nuances of nursing as a job along with pay issues and trying to "understand" that which you cannot know, unless of course you became a nurse. I was married to a firefighter. I Guarantee my job has FAAAAR more stress than his Ever did on a daily basis and was more "dangerous" (again, on the daily basis) from the unexpected actions of individuals than my husband encountered on a daily basis. (The 90/10 factor mentioned) While he may have occasionally (rarely) was IN a blaze (Dangerous to me!)-he Always had backup, to include the services of law enforcement and EMS. While my ex husband was at work, they played poker, read Media (had a huge closet full of it from the floor to the ceiling ....yes this is for real) after 1700. They watched tv, played pool, had visitors, cooked/ate, slept.......... We nurses, we are lucky to have the chance to pee-let alone have the opportunity for substantial nourishment. Fire and EMS 24 hr shift workers are paid for all the time, whether on their feet doing "fire related/ems related duties" or not. You do not say whether you are a 24 hr worker or not. I had the crap beat out of me on a home health case, was strangled, thrown, etc etc. I was left alone in that house with that lunatic while the firetrucks were out front and the first squad car came up. Not until the second squad care came up minutes later did anyone enter.......not a SOUL! I know it was at least 5 minutes from the time the last vehicle arrived until someone came into where I and the vent dependent child I cared for was at, and me not knowing where this lunatic was. During the assault, I truly believed I was going to die. Now, being "alone" is our daily encounter. Even if we weren't alone, we lack all the other training and resources law enforcement and ems have. Danger is in our field and it is the fool who does not recognize it, be it home health (potentially very dangerous), to the ER, the floors and lastly doctors offices (safer in the scheme of things). I and my co-workers deserve dangerous duty pay!!! We are ALONE in cubicles, rooms or buildings with people who snap and WE are expected to de-escalate any and ALL situations without the proper physical training, ie self defense. We have been hit, bit, kicked, spit on, groped, had our hair pulled and we do not have mace, night sticks, handcuffs or guns to protect ourselves and others. We do NOT have law enforcement to call for "backup". We do not have the option of arresting and sending someone to jail for assaulting us. IF we are fortunate enough to work where we have a security guard or two, they are unarmed as well. Now, if we would call 911 (lol..can you imagine US calling 911!) ......law enforcement would not come to our aid until THEY had backup first. Ummm........what is it I'm missing here in your view that we have more cushy safety to dwell and work in??? We Must know enough to catch doctors wrong orders and to NOT carry them out to protect our patients and our own butts. So, in effect, we must know as much as doctors (lame isn't it) b/c at the end of the day, if an error is made we will be the scape goat and our careers will be over. I've Never firgured this one out....we must circumvent doctor and pharmacy errors as well as our own. Could you so this, and if you put a monetary value on it, what might it be? Even if you spent 4 years in college? Not minimizing your career, just pointing out you and us are as apples and oranges. We must be able to catch disease processes in progress, to include the undiagnosed ones; notify doctors and take appropriate intervening actions in a timely fashion to circumvent a crisis. IF the crisis is upon us, we must take appropriate actions to put that fire out as well ALL while we manage each of our other patients, ALL their needs, meds, treatments, assessments and basic daily cares, labs, pt, rt, ot, speech, radiology, surgery, doctors/offices, admissions, dismissals, managing ancillary staff, dealing with each patients families/friends, doctors and all the departments during the same time span. Hopefully, when we leave after our work is done (not usually "on time")- our license will leave with us, intact without any complaints or actions taken against it. While doing this, we are available to "help" our co-workers with the "muscle" needed for lifting, turning, transfering our budgeoning patient load as most of us remain "women" who are not muscularly the "same" as our male counterparts. The male counterparts on the otherhand bear the brunt of being sought out repeatedly by their female counterparts b/c they are built muscularly at an advantage for the above mentioned requirements of physical strength, as unlike EMS-we deal with our patients "ALONE!" for the most part. We do NOT work in the buddy system. We Never sit around waiting for a call and a good ol "barn burner", etc b/c we are bored! LOL, wow, what we wouldn't give for a "boring shift"! What was the question??? Oh yes, you did have one good point. IF we don't like our pay/work load etc then why do we stay. Like you, working for 19.00 an hour.......... It's in our blood. Whew......

The doctor I work pt for calls his MA's "nurses". I am the ONLY nurse in the office. I have told the girls it is illegal for them to identify themselves as such........but, it still goes on. One who is also an emt pt tells patients "I am the same as a nurse. I do EVERYTHING nurses do, I just don't have the license". Me? I blow them off b/c their ignorance will Not change. It is as the other poster stated, why would the bon even do anything re this?

Yoga! I am still floored at the relief I obtained, and I have hardware as well. You are denying yourself if you don't give it a good go. Best wishes!

Congrats! Here are my tips: 1. IF you slip, don't let the slip define you. Forgive, love and acknowledge and feel proud keeping every success you've had in the front of your mind. ie new self talk. But believe it! Get going again, and you will find you eventually make it. Do not accept any condemnation from anyone, anywhere for a slip! This is golden rule number one for this former smoker:) It works. 2. When you are fighting an urge, take a slow deep breath to the point you cannot inhale any further. Then HOLD IT! Hold it long, until you can't any longer. Breathe out slowly through, blowing through pursed lips. This helped me Greatly, still employ this one. This is as if "punishing" your lungs as in taking a deep drag, and also is as if exhaling your drag. I just started doing it when I was really struggling with wanting a cig. It works for me! 3. Examine, your triggers and plan ahead what you can/will do to to minimize them. 4. Remember.......dwell on recalling yourself before you became a smoker and embrace those memories. Commit them to your conciousness. Look at yourself in the mirror and tell yourself out loud, "I am a smoke free", or whatever positive affirming term works for you. Keep doing this until you believe it in your subconciousness. 5. Be Proud of your every accomplishment! 6. If you smoke menthol cigs (I did), get a supply of throat lozenges. They work incredibly well at replacing that element of your smoking. Worked for me! 7. You have to want to quit for yourself. Place yourself only in non smoking environments until 8. You Can Do It! (I must have tried over 20 times before I made it!)

I am a former smoker. I indulged for decades, honestly, I don't know how many years. It was a STRUGGLE to make it over the hump. But I did! The reasons for not smoking........oh my. First, the stink. And I mean stink. I had no clue how rank a smoker smells, let alone the air where they live to include furniture, walls, all household possesions and clothing. I so sorely regret smoking with kids! Oh my! I grew up in a smoking household, and never knew what "fresh air" or a fresh air home was. In addition, the smell of a smoker is truly nausous to others, and I feel for my patients in that regard. I can BREATHE, as in take a looooooooong, slooooooow, deeeeeeeeeep breath now. Even though I didn't have the smokers cough really. I do have asthma though, and as others said, I don't get bronchitis any more at all. I feel so Great knowing I am a good role model for my family. All my kids took up the habit too, marrying smokers themselves. Well, since I've quit, all but one of my sons is now smoking and he is working at getting off once and for all. Now I will tell you, that is a GREAT feeling. My grandson, has never been around cig smoke:) How awesome is that?! I KNEW I didn't want to be sick or debilitated in my mid to later years. I want to continue loving and enjoying life and being Active. Best Regards.........

A masseuse:yeah:

Tattle tales are nothing more than mere "gossips" in my view and experience. Gossip is slanderous and damaging, it breeds ill will and discord. I am against it, and do not view the new checks and balances instituted on your unit as conducive to team work. This is an example of why I prefer agency, I am able to stay out of the politics, esp co-dependent politics which this has the markings of. Good luck to the op. Hopefully this will fly over as a bad idea soon. Then again, if no one participates.......it will lose steam rather quickly as well.