Ima Nurse

It is not a good idea to form personal relationships with pts. Way too messy! In my experience it helps to put it off on your employer. Simply tell the pt it is against your employers policy to give out your personal info. Keep it short, simple, brief, and matter of fact. There is nothing to feel bad about. I even had a "friend" who asked me to review a family member's hospital chart because she was looking for a basis to file a medical malpractice lawsuit. Uh! NO THANK YOU! I wasn't going to touch that chart with a ten foot pole! I told the "friend" to consult an attorney and don't bring it up to me ever again. It was very disturbing because I had to tell her this multiple times until finally I had to end my freindship. My story is a bit off topic, but just a reminder that you've got to maintain the professional boundaries of being a nurse at all times. As someone else already wrote - 100% liability/0% benefit. ETA: This person or their family member were never my pt. I put "friend" in quotes because she wasn't a friend. She was a person who used people.

My grandmother was in a LTC facility. I remember one of their activities being painting ceramics. Just an idea. . . not sure what the budget is. . .

I was yelled at over the phone by an MD because a rather new nurse paged them "for me." Long story, but basically I got pulled out of the station before I could page the MD on call. The new nurse was eager to help with anything and everything so she paged the wrong MD, and that wrong MD was on vacation in Mexico but she called back anyway. She was angry! I don't even know why the operator paged her since she was showing as not on call! When she was done yelling I told her to have fun on her vacation! Did I go yell at the nurse who wrongly paged the MD? No. Yelling is uncivized, unprofessional and inappropriate. I can't blame people for being upset or bothered, but adults should have the maturity to control themselves and act civilized. For my job now, I have to take call. Each time the phone rings I "prep" myself by making sure I'm smiling. Yelling at the caller is never an option.

One of my 3 year old daughters is allergic to Claritin. I get strange looks when I list it, but it is true. She definitely had an allergic reaction the one time it was given to her - bright red rash soon after taking it. I've had people tell me cats. I think to myself, "Ok, we'll do our best to keep the stray cats around the hospital from roaming into your room." But seriously, workers do have cats at home so if someone had a life thretening allergy to them then it wouldn't be good for someone with cat hair on their clothes to expose the pt.

Thanks for the link, Bumblebee! The info packet on the Florida site breaks it down and now I have a better understanding.

Currently, I'm licensed as an RN in Louisiana. We're looking to relocate to Florida, and I'm having trouble understanding what I need to do to get a license there. The FSBN website has info about "licensure by endorsement." Does this mean that I have to maintain my LA RN license? I'm so confused. Someone (a nurse here in Louisiana) told me that to be licensed in Florida I would have to retake boards. Anyone know if this is true? I couldn't find any info regarding that on the FSBN site.

There is a nurse at the pediatrician clinic I take my preschool aged twins to, and she is hilarious. She's one of those people that can make everyone laugh. The funniest thing she ever said was on the day that she measured and weighed my girls. One of them had the same number for weight and and height. She said, "Little girlfriend, you're as big around as you are tall." :chuckle It was very cute. Before anyone freaks out that my daughter weighed so much, it is because she has a feeding tube and she used to be failure to thrive. We started seeing a new pediatric GI and he put her on some meds to increase her appetite. He instructed us to feed her 6 cans of Pediasure per day. I thought that was way too much, and it was impossible to get that much into her each day so we did the best we could. When we would go to see him, if she hadn't put on even an ounce he would freak out and start making us come in for weekly weight checks. I've since started taking her to the GI clinic at Texas Children's in Houston, and the MD there has her on a more realistic healthy calorie/nutrition plan. :wink2:

Who else remembers the commercial from a few years ago targeting diabetic schizophrenics? The commerical specifically mentioned those two conditions and two specific meds used to commonly treat each one. A friend of mine who lived in a different part of the country than me had seen it also. I know it was running in 2005. That was just took the cake for off-the-wall class-action nonsense.

It sounds as if the unit is dysfunctional -high staff turn over rate. That's never a good sign. The pt complaints would bother me too. Yes, in my experience, I have seen a preceptor sabatoge the nurse they were supposed to be helping. I'm sorry you had to experience that. Enjoy your new job and try to put this bad experience behind you. I know. . . that is easier said than done.

RNs and LPNs can't change g-tubes in Louisiana either. I'd never considered a suprapubic cath change. I'm going to go check the LA BON site and read the nurse practice act to see about the suprapubic cath change. I have a 3 year old daughter with a g-tube, and I do change hers. Her surgeon trained me to change it. I'm a mom of a special needs daughter who just happens to be a nurse. LOL. I know that I can do it as my daughter's parent, but I can't do it in a professional capacity to a pt. My husband received the same training as me, but he's too timid to do it so I take care of it.

I was rushed to emergency surgery when my gallstones were finally found. The surgeon said I had a stone the size of a half dollar coin obstructing my common bile duct. My gallbladder was full of stones, enlarged, and very infected. I do realize though that I was an extreme case, and in my ER experience, I never saw a pt rushed to emergency surgery. They were always d/c'd home to see their PCP. Edited to add: I wasn't seen in the ER. I was diagnosed in an MD's office then sent immediately to the surgeon's office. From there I was admitted to the hospital for the emergency surgery. I was diagnosed in the afternoon, and I was in the OR within 2 hrs.

I have my own nso policy, and I feel like the others who posted above. I'd rather take my chances *with* it than without it.

Yep! It is because of kooks that we have to have HIPAA. It used to annoy me to because I felt like common sense should be used. That was until I had a HIPAA violation happen against my daughter. My daughter goes to speech therapy and she also received OT and PT at the same therapy center. Another mom of a child who received services there started being friendly with me. At first I was flattered by her attention then it became annoying and finally ending up being completely intrustive, disruptive and harrassing. Long story short, the ST was sharing private info regarding my daughter with the other psycho mom! She told me about different conversations the therapists had with our insurance company in regards to a payment issue we were having. Not cool. I knew she was telling the truth because she told me stuff that was true but I had not shared with her because it was none of her business. The scary part of it was she got this info by telling the ST that she was my "best friend." The psycho was calling our house and my cell phone 20-30 times/day filling up our answering machine. I ended up contacting the police and filing harrassment charges against her. I had to take my daughter out of that therapy clinic and start all over with new therapists. I didn't file a HIPAA complaint because I didn't have any proof. It was all verbal what she told me. The ST denied telling the psycho mom anything. The ST had shared info with the psycho mom that the OT and PT had shared with her. So they weren't punished legally, but they all 3 lost a multi visit per week client.

Hi. I'm sorry you are having such a difficult time. I recommend Marlene Hurst's review course. Here's her website: http://www.hurstreview.com/

Cupcake25 is so right in what she said. I took an ER position as a new grad and was scared to death. It took alot of courage for me to admit that *I* just wasn't ready for that. I went to my NM and talked to her, and she helped me transfer to the med/surg floor. I can not stress enough how that made all the difference. My preceptor was awesome, and I learned good time management skills. As my med/surg preceptor told me, you can't know abnormal until you get a good grasp on what normal is. After 2 years of med/surg, I was offered a position in the nursery. I accepted, and I didn't have that fear that I had working ER. My med/surg experience gave me confidence in myself and I had learned to trust my instincts and knowledge. Do yourself a favor. Back up and find a med/surg position before you just totally give up on nursing. I had the same feelings as you when I was working ER so I know what you are feeling. It is very scarey to be so overwhelmed and anxious. Hang in there! Good luck!