barbarake21

I've been fired once already because of office politics. Caught me totally by surprise, had no inkling anything was wrong. It took me two months to find another job. A second, part-time job is now my 'backup'.

As a night nurse, I have to agree with the 2PM meetings. And, no, 10AM is not *better*. Another hint - don't put up a notice on Monday for a mandatory meeting on Thursday and expect your weekend staff to show up. Just saying... In fact, this whole 'putting up notices' to inform people of meetings is ludicrous. If you want monthly meetings, schedule them for the second Tuesday or third Monday or whatever - something consistent so people can make plans.

If I'm reading this correctly, you think two nurses for day shift is overstaffed (for 37 residents)? (Depending on the type residents,) I might agree that it's a bit light but 1 nurse to 37 residents is too heavy.

There's two questions here. One, can she refuse to have her meds crushed and two, can she refuse her medications, period. (The assumption here is that we're talking about oral meds.) Answering the second question first - of course she can refuse her meds. Whether competent or not, no one can force her to take them. The first question is trickier. When our doctors order medications to be crushed, it's generally because of swallowing difficulties. Then the order is phrased as nurses 'can crush'. But if the order is phrased as medications 'must be crushed' (because the doctor suspects the patient of pocketing narcotics or something like that), it needs to be documented. Personally I'd go by the order. If it says 'can be crushed', it's up to the patient. If it says 'must be crushed', than that's the only way you can offer/give it and if the resident has problems with it, she needs to work it out with the doctor.

I can answer that (at least for myself). I've had my share of shots through the years and I'm not against vaccines in any way. I've had them all. But the one and only time I had a flu shot (4 years ago) left a sore spot in my arm that still remains. To this day, I can unhesitatingly find the spot where it was given. No, it's not 'in my head' and yes, I realize that it's not necessarily the vaccine itself which caused the spot. But - in my head - flu shot equals sore arm. Of course it helps that I've never had the flu. Actually, I haven't been to a doctor because of sickness in 45 years.

BostonFNP - I am in no way disagreeing with you but when I read statistics like that, I wonder as to how valid they are. It is my understanding (please correct me if I'm wrong) but they only way fly can be conclusively confirmed is via a culture. When my son had 'the flu' a couple of years ago, he was 'diagnosed' at the college clinic and told to rest, fluids, etc. (He was fine after a week or so.) Anyway, they *did not* do a throat swab/culture. I'm thinking that maybe now - with all the concern about pandemics, etc. - maybe doctors are simply doing more cultures and getting their diagnosis 'confirmed'. In other words, maybe the same number of people are getting sick but the number of cultures (and 'confirmed diagnoses') has increased. (I've taken way too many statistics courses and am convinced you can make statistics say almost anything if you want to. Look at advertising.)

I'm 52 years old and have never had the flu. In fact, other than two pregnancies and an ankle injury, I haven't had to go to a doctor in over forty years. I have no philosophical objection to a flu vaccine but I am not convinced of its effectiveness. My other problem with it is that I got my first - and only - flu shot two years ago. Felt fine and had no side effects other than a sore spot on my upper arm from the shot itsef. Well, after two years, that sore spot is still there. I don't understand why since I've had plenty of other shots and never had that reaction but I did with the flu shot.

I think there's still some prejudice against male nurses. (I'm a female.) The nursing home I worked at hired a male nurse just out of nursing school. He was the nicest guy you ever met, hard-working, always cheerful. And our manager treated him like absolute garbage, practically followed him around looking for stuff to write up. Hey - new nurse - straight out of school - that's not the way to treat people. (And - no - she didn't treat brand-new female nurses the same way.) At the same time, a significant percentage of our elderly residents (or their family) don't want a male nurse treating them. One of his first shifts (night), he was walking down the hall when he heard one of his patients calling for help. He goes in and finds the elderly lady, stark-naked, crumpled on the bathroom floor. He immediately called for one of the CNAs to come get me. I was just at the end of the hall so I was there within 30 seconds. He was kneeling next to her, asking if she had any pain, etc. etc. - normal questions. As it turns out, no injury, everything was fine. Next day, the resident's family complained that he had seen their mother naked. The manager formally wrote him up and told him he should have put a towel over her before doing anything else.

I worked weekend nights in a LTC. Two units were LTC and one was medicare/rehab. and each unit had 40+ people. The LTC units had 1 nurse/night, the medicare/rehab. unit had 2. Management then decided that the rehab. unit could get by with one nurse at night. Several of the nurses immediately quit. So now they're scrambling to find coverage. One morning (after a long night), I was just leaving when the staffing coordinator stopped me to ask if I would be picking up a shift. After I confirmed that it was the medicare/rehab unit and that I would be the only nurse, I said something like "I don't care what management says, that's way too much for one person so, no, I'm not interested". To make matters even better, this happened in a public hallway with people around. (What can I say - I was tired and obviously not thinking. I should have just said I had plans and let it go.) Oddly enough, after having NO write-ups in the previous year-and-a-half, I got three in the three weeks. I can take a hint - started looking for another job, found one (quickly, thank god) and gave my notice.

Best of luck in your new home and position.

Most of my family lives in Europe/Germany. All I know is that they pay signifantly less (per capita) for health care than we do here in America and - more importantly - they have an longer average life span. I wish more Americans would realize we do not have the best health care system.

1. Short staffing 2. Overwhelming amounts of paperwork

First of all, best of luck with your daughter. Yes, work is important but family is more important. I hope everything turns out all right for you. Second, when you're hired for PRN work, that does not mean you are always available to work. It's not like they're paying you to be available. If they need someone, they call you to see if you're interested in working. It does not mean you *have* to work.

CapeCodMermaid - Can I come work for you??

I don't know any LTC nurses that follow *all* the rules. It's impossible to do everything we're supposed to do in the time allotted (at least at my former facility). (Each nurse had 30 residents, mostly medicare.)