ANH_RN

thank you so much! To be honest I really do not know what the position is like. On the site it just says staff RN, nothing about CM. I was anticipating it to be more of an inpt unit, which is what I kind of had in mind. How do those positions usually work? I have been trying to do my research but there is a lot I still do not know about the field. I don't want to come off as if I don't have a clue either! thanks! (im typing this w one hand and ill have more questions later!)

hey all! haven't posted on here in a while. I have been doing some job searching and I came across a couple positions at a hospice facility. I have been doing med-surg for over 4.5 years and I feel like this is my calling. I don't really have any close friends in this field so I really have no idea what to expect. We frequently get hospice patients on our unit bc they have recently transitioned to hospice or they have been transferred from the ICU and recently admitted to hospice care and the family doesn't want to move them to an inpt unit for one reason or another. They called me the next day after putting in my application and I am truly excited for this opportunity.. the first time I have ever really been excited about a potential job interview (I've casually looked around at positions in the past). I am doing my research on interview tips but does anyone have any advice of what I could say in particular to a hospice interview? I am already anticipating a pay decrease but I do not even care. This is what I want to do. Thank you!

hey all! haven't posted on here in a while. I have been doing some job searching and I came across a couple positions at a hospice facility. I have been doing med-surg for over 4.5 years and I feel like this is my calling. I don't really have any close friends in this field so I really have no idea what to expect. We frequently get hospice patients on our unit bc they have recently transitioned to hospice or they have been transferred from the ICU and recently admitted to hospice care and the family doesn't want to move them to an inpt unit for one reason or another. They called me the next day after putting in my application and I am truly excited for this opportunity.. the first time I have ever really been excited about a potential job interview (I've casually looked around at positions in the past). I am doing my research on interview tips but does anyone have any advice of what I could say in particular to a hospice interview? I am already anticipating a pay decrease but I do not even care. This is what I want to do. Thank you!

Just press down on the arm a little harder next time. I normally have to put a lot of pressure on the arm above the catheter insertion site to keep it from gushing out. Usually it works long enough for me to wipe it with an alcohol pad or a gauze around the opening then I connect the ... connector thingy!

In our facility the standard is if the patient suddenly complains of chest pain we call a 'rapid response' and a couple ICU RN's come over and that automatically gives us the right to obtain an EKG. Then according to how the rapid action response goes we give Nitro, Morphine, whatever. Now if you suspect that the patient is developing an arrhythmia (the patient is not on tele and they have a heart rate of 120 and it's irregular) then for that scenario.. I would call a rapid action to have them sort of evaluated and get an EKG. I actually like our rapid action protocol because if you ever have any serious concern over anyone you can call them and they have their sort of order sheet... they can order labs, ekgs, stuff like that.... The other night I had a patient with a HR of 80 but it was irregular. The pt denied history of a fib or irregular heart beat and I didn't find anything in her chart about it. She had no idea what I was talking about. She did say that she went to a cardiologist and they did an EKG when she was at their office last. I did call the doctor and ask for an EKG .. you know, just beccauuseee ... and the doctor was NOT HAPPY with me (she was admitted with cellulitis).. "Now, do we do an EKG on every person that is admitted with cellulitis??"... "well it's just that... her heart rate IS irregular" ... "well, what would you do differently for her if it IS a fib???!1!" "Well she says she sees a cardiologist and I just thought that maybe I could just you know, check it!!!" Turns out she had a fib. He increased her fragmin, put her on tele, and ordered a cardio consult for the AM. Maybe that is something differently I would have done, for example. sorry for the rant..

I probably would have dropped the oxygen down just a touch but I wouldn't have worried too much if I hadn't, either. It's not like he was on 10 liters and was being blasted away with oxygen. Generally if he's not a chronic oxygen user they do like to titrate them down a little. Was he comfortable at the 4 liters or a little SOB? And 95% might seem more than adequate to people that are used to taking care of patients who runs in the low 90's... but 95% could be better? If it was say 99% or 100% sure I would decrease it but he was still only at 95% even with 4 liters. And you know, at night time you don't really breathe as deeply when your asleep and I bet you anything his sats probably dropped a little bit through the night. Just my input and judgement.

:rotfl: Sometimes I seriously wonder if people I work with have this same belief. It is so sad to see that there are actually nurses who are taking care of human beings and their lives that present themselves as being incompetent. Nursing really isn't the type of profession that you would want people thinking you're an idiot in.. for real.

presumably I would think this is how it works. the whole increase doesn't happen too often in my dept in my hospital though. We've gotten 2 raises and I've been there 3 years now. The second raise they gave us as a courtesy (I firmly believe for many reasons) b/c a lot of us were going to take paycuts with the decreased SD in the next month.

Before our hospital joined another company we were paid $4 7p-7am. Now that someone else has kind of taken over we get 15% of our base pay which I took a pay cut by now only receiving $3.30 an hour. If I only received 0.75 cents an hour more working nights I would have switched over to days a longggg time ago. The only reason I haven't switched over yet is because we still need the extra $$. DH had to get a job (he was a stay at home dad) a couple months ago becuase on top of the pay cut our insurance went up and we just can't keep up anymore. it stinks..

I had already planned on handling it just how you 'told me' to. Thanks.

I think of bullying as putting down a person on a personal level not just how they do their job. They also act out their aggression to their face and are not polite. I see that as being a bully. And it's not always just that one person, it's a lot of people. No one seems safe. Everyone talks crap about everyone.

I think that says it best.

I just have to get something off of my chest.. I have been guilty of talking about other people behind their back but I am downright shocked at the amount of bad mouthing that goes on in my hospital on my floor. Is it like this everywhere? Seems like certain few nurses just complain about everyone they come in contact with. If it isn't the aides, it's other nurses, or pharmacy... etc. Last night a few nurses (one of which I have a lot of respect for unfortuneately) were talking so bad about one of our aides. I just can't even believe how rude they are to this particular aide. Now she may not be my favorite person in the whole world but I could not bring myself to talk about her and her intelligence endlessly in public view for anyone to walk up on. These same people that are having their livelihood put down have children and husbands and wives. I am not the most positive person in the world and I am very guilty of complaining especially when times get hard but to put down others' as a person just seems so inappropriate. Sometimes it's so bad and towards just anyone that I often think to myself 'jeez what do other people say about me?' I hate working in this.. I hate having to listen to it. Is it really like this everywhere??? I just always attributed it to the high stress nature of the job but it just seems unacceptable. Now I admit there are people that make me mad and frustrated and I vent from time to time about them but this is downright bullying! We don't let our kids do it, we shouldn't either especially as professionals in a professional environment. And just listening to everyone else's rant and rave makes you more aware of yourself and how you sound when you complain. I have been making a more conscience effort to not complain a lot especially about other people.

Update: I had the interview and I think it went great but the person I spoke to said that they didn't know if they would want to put so much effort into hiring and orienting someone that is only going to work 2 days a month (what?!?!?).. I asked her what the minimum was and she said... 2 days a month... and I asked her what their prn's usually work... she said 4 or so days a month. I am open to working up to 4 days but I can't guarantee that I am going to work 4 days every single month because I DO work full time ... The pay is oh.. only about I dono, 7$ more than my base pay (but about $3 more than my actual pay if you take into consideration shift diff)... I am still hoping for the job. It has been 1 week and 2 days and she said if I don't hear anything in two weeks to call back, because I guess the person that normally does the hiring is on sick leave. They did a urine test on the spot. The only thing I'm worried about is the orientation.. two days a week for three weeks. I will just have to ask for a LOT of voluntary call days at my FT job:) So would you wait until the official two weeks has been up to call them back or is it too presumptuous to call back tomorrow? Wish me luck!

So apparently giving meds and monitoring the reactions of those meds and assessing the pts and how they are progressing and having the skill to know when the pt is not doing well is not considered 'care'??