xmaxiex

I got a broken nose once trying to "reorient" a violent pt. In the end he was sent out to the ER yet again and this transferred to a proper facility for his situation . Typically in our area there is nowhere for these people to go . very few facilities LTC that is, are properly equipped to deal with agressive pts.

This is not safe ! And any facility who would do this to a new grad is not somewhere you should be working . Your licence is too valuable to put it in jepordy .

Sorry if this runs a bit ....Anywho I work LTC , have been at the same facility for 2 years . I am the med nurse on my unit . The charge nurse is very good friends with all the CNAs . It seems to me she is more concerned about their friendship then running the unit .As of late quite a few problems have come to light , she has covered up for them in the past .Pts are not getting fed , turned , or given showers .Vitals are forged , as are weights and the like . The DON seems to be aware of all these problems . The CNAs do not like me at all. They give me a hard time when I have to do charge because I expect them to do their jobs .Now the DON is leaving she comes to me today and says they are going to pull the nurse off of charge would I be interested ? here are the issues . 1. She (ex charge nurse) will then be on meds .And probably be resentful 2.The CNAs will be upset with me as I am the one who makes them do their jobs and I now have the job their friend used to have . 3. There is no where else in the building on our shift for either of us to go . All other positions are filled with long time permanant nurses. 4.Even if I declined the postion I would still be acting charge all the time until they hire someone (which they wont ) 5.This DON as I said is leaving , which then the years of mess that will have to be fixed will now be on me . Basically a no win situation , what's a nurse to do ????I

Hey quick question , How do you document MSO4 use on the dying pt? To clarify if you have a pt who cannot verbalize pain but who maybe moans when turned or something along those lines , how do document reason for giving morphine? Thanks for the help . I always turn to my expert friends on allnurses! Maxie:rolleyes:

Again no truth in advertising! LOL If truth be told It should be "Nurse Week , celebrate people who choose to work under immense stress, never urinate , and never eat sitting down ! " But I really do like the fact that they said "profession"

I am in Connecticut . And the newest thing going on with the whole scenerio is the fact that although I operate in the capacity as "charge nurse" I cannot do my own admission assessments . This entails having the ADON called to my floor to do this , she often gets upset at this . As this is not my policy I let it blow right past me . I am not in control of these things , why take it out on me? And I have contacted my local state boards no less than 28 times in regards to clearing up an LPN's scope of practice in Connecticut and have yet to get a response . I am sure I am not the only one who would like to have this info ! No longer a newbie I have learned to not take anything personal , give the best that I have to my pt's , and when problems arise deal with them to the best of my ability and let it go . I must say this though I am agahst at the lack of support you recieve from your local boards! (naive I know) But one would actually like to think they would be there when needed !

I would encourage my kids to be nurses , if only for the reason I'd know if they could handle nursing as a profession they can handle anything !

OK ongoing discussion at my LTC . Do you draw blood from a PICC line? Here in LTC we are not allowed . One of the nurses did it and got in hot water . Is it a hospital only thing ? Or is it allowed at other facilities?

Tweety , you are so right . I think I am going to have tattooed on my forearm "don't let anyone rent space in your head" I do this often and I need to cut it out ! Not only in work but everywhere else . Suddenly I am quite sick of trying to please the masses. Must be age creeping up on me ! :chuckle

A really squemish friend of mine thought she would never get through nursing school , but now says that when you are treating a pt and not just a sore you get over it . You begin to look at the whole person and feel good about doing the gross things.

On my first cath experience I was being watched by my instructor and three classmates. Everything went perfectly and I was as proud as a peacock . However I had never fixed the other end of the foley into the specimen container but instead it was facing my instructor and proceeded to splash her . Needless to say the students enjoyed the spectacle.

Yes you can find a day shift straight out of school . But it IS a madhouse , but also you will learn a lot ! It is true however that you will be hard pressed to find a hospital position of eight hours . And also at least in CT you can expect to make more per hour in LTC then in a hospital . Good Luck to you and the great thing about nursing is you can find a job that meets your needs!

We recently had an inservice (LTC) on pt right to refuse . Listen to this scenerio and tell me what you think . A pt under 45 TBI , refuses to be turned , changed or cleaned up (incontinent) is developing decubitis ulcers by this point Im sure .The room itself smells to high heaven . Now we are told that this is the procedure : document of course , psych eval , possible conservator, and then they will try to force pt to leave facility to avoid liability.This all being said in context of the case you may have heard of , of the HIV pos pt who refused all treatment developed stage fours, was well documented and finally sent to hosp and expired . The facility is being charged with manslaughter ! Sorry could not find a link to this story . But my question is .....working at a LTC facility is now being subject to a witch hunt ! There are advertisements everywhere about nursing home neglect and abuse and I do realize it happens , but does the choice of actually working at one place my licence in jepordy , even though we document everything thouroughly and try to do the best we can , its doesn't seem to be enough . Just curious to hear the peanut gallery opinion ???????

I just do not understand the whole orders thing ? I mean as an LPN are we less qualified than an RN to record what instructions the MD gives us . I totally think you should always have someone check your orders, yes. But why not another LPN ? Am I missing the point here?

When I am in the capacity of charge nurse on my LTC unit , I find it humilliating and frustrating that I have to find an RN to sign off on my MD orders , and if we have a fall only they can do the assessment. No wonder they treat us as if we are not " real " nurses.