prettygirllpn

I went straight to HH as a new LPN and worked there for four years. It was scary but i had a good mentor who was willing to help, and she was a friend before i went to work there. As far as the company itself, There was training, after I had been there almost six months and had taken call twice, but that is just the way they were. How I learned was from asking questions and reading everything I could about procedures, diseases, meds, etc. on my own time.

I went into home health right out of school ( i'm an LPN) and i do not regret it at all. I have gotten a ton of experience. Wound vacs, lots of lab draws, in depth teaching on diease process, wound care, just to name a small percentage. Yes there is drama with the families and pts but there will be in the hospitals also. Drama is everywhere! I love HH because of the flexable schedule, decent pay and the routine. I love rountines! Anyways, my point was, i went into HH first and I think it was the best thing I could have done.

we have an rn for triage...but thats all they do unless they have to do an roc. Lpns on call do the weekend visits and do the oncall visits. Rarely does the rn go out. we (lpns) try to resolve the problem but if we are unable to, we call 911 to transport the pt to the er. this is a requirement of the company. Every lpn takes call. Works out to one week of call q two give or take.

i call my pts in the morning, after i get my route planned out in my head. some i dont call because they know when to expect me and they will call me if there is a change in their schedule. after a time, if you keep the same pts, you will get into a routine and its just old hat. until they throw a new one at you in the middle of the day that is where you have already been and you have to backtrack. It stinks when that happens!

I take mine to the local medical supply store and they do it for me. just takes a second.

I drive all over the county and it sucks! My car is less than two years old and has 50k miles. we have company cars but they are not very dependable and where i go, i get no cell phone service. I go waaaayyyy up in the mountains so i drive my own car due to its dependability. We get paid 0.375 cents/mile and i log up to 1100 miles/two weeks. would love to work just in the town (i live in rural OK) but noone else will go that far north. like i said....it really sucks. Especially when you call before you leave town...Yeah, i'll be home.....you drive 60 miles one way to see them and guess what? no patient. Ticks me off!

I never introduce myself as a nurse. My grandmother, on the other hand...well, lets just say, she is proud. I dont want to make the nurse feel uncomfortable or nervous. I just set back and observe.

there was one our instructor showed us in ns... the girl with emphysema goes...uuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhh so funny! http://www.toolivenurse.com/girl_song.htm too live nurse. cracks me up!!!

The iridologist told me that back in the old days, doctors looked into the pts eyes first thing. Said many of her older pts remember this. Told her i had never heard of it. she said that with all the technology nowdays, it was not practiced much. All i know is that she helped my daddy and our friend...

I'm confused...Could you please explain this? Thanks!

I had never even heard of iridiology until a friend of the family was dx with pancreatic CA. She helped him with his last days but (of course) did not cure him. Then, my dad became ill, tried many doctors without positive effect. Then he decided to try an iridologist, as a last resort. What was really strange and interesting is that when we first walked in, he was having difficulty breathing so she handed him a jar of red pepper. Almost instantly, he was breathing easier. I was just out of nursing school and very curious so she actually let me look into his eyes and she showed me how she "read" his medical history. Stated that overall he was a very healthy person, rarely sick (which is true). She put him on a strict diet of unbleached flour, no refined sugars, high alkaline low acidity...etc. He was helped more by her than any doctor. In fact, he is almost up to par, although he has plantar fasicitis. Anyway, my point and question is...has anyone had any experice with iridiology? Positive or negative. *Note-I am not recommeding an iridologist in place of an MD, just stating what happened.

I guess our cost of living is decent. 3 bedroom houses rent for about 800 +/-. My check pays for my car payment and daycare and elec. My husband foots the rest of the expenses. Thank God he has a good job. I could not support my family on my pay.

You should be able to ride along with a nurse that has been doing hh for awhile and he or she can help you refresh your skills such as blood draws and foleys. The thing i like so much about hh is that you are never really along in the field. If you have questions or need help, you can always call the office. I called a bunch the first few months but now, i only call if the pt is a really hard stick. Just have faith in yourself, and trust yourself. Once you see a foley or w/c done it will all come rushing back from nursing school. Good luck! Hope you love HH!

wow. I work in a small town and am an LPN and getting paid $16/visit with like 37.5 cents/mile. This sucks! i really had no idea what the "outside" world pays. But there is an upside, after three years of PRN, i get 17/visit!

I have given quite a few rocephin shots and could not understand why my pts were claiming discomfort....until i had one...wow. now i really feel bad giving them but its got to be done!

We have jean Fridays and i love them. We wear company t-shirts and name badges. Also, if the temp is

How do you make a visit last the full time when your pts wont talk to you? I go in, do a full assessment, chart and then what? We may say a few words about the weather or grandkids but thats all. Most of my pts, i'm there 30-45 mins. But there are a handfew that i'm there 20 or so and i hate it but i'm not going to just set there and have a staring contest....so what do i do? I have tried everything I can think of so I would appreciate all the help i can get. I want to do the best job i can but this is frustrating me!

That seems strange to me cause when i was in school, they had us start every possible IV that came around. I had quite a few under my belt by graduation.

911 in a heartbeat

Thanks all. today was much better. I ended up seeing 11 so i am worn out! Just cant wait for the weekend!

That happened to me last Christmas. Just just say thank you so much but it is against our policy to accept money from patients. But i appreciate the gesture.

Dont you just hate those days where nothing goes right? Well, i had one today. it was horrible!!!! I started off with six patients this morning. Wanna know how many i saw? two. yep just two. and i drove around 120 miles to do it. Wonderful day....just ******* wonderful. first pt was supposed to be fasting but b/c i forgot to call and remind her yesterday, she had already ate at 0730. no biggie, catch you tomorrow. after an hour and a half of paperwork, i head to my next pt who said he would be home all day. yeah right. he was walking out the door as i pulled up. had no time for me to do a quick assessment or anything! so i get in my car and go to my next pts home, out in the middle of Gods country! When i get there it has been a total of almost 90 miles. nice. first time seeing the woman. has 8-9 dogs barking in the window and four-six cats on the couch. i could almost feel the fleas crawling on me. After leaving i head to my next pts home who is, of course, not there. the next one i can see through the window but will not come to the door and let me in. i called her when i got cell service and she said she was just too tired today. welcome to the club lady! so then i head back to the first guys house who is now supposed to be home and he is, finally. so then after seeing him, i drive 40 miles back to the office then shop for groc. and finally head home where my husband will cook. Thank the Lord! So yeah, that was my day. Hope everyone elses was a whole heck of alot better.

I am PRN LPN (all of our field nurses are PRN no matter how many visits or hours we work) and am required to take call. It is usually once every few months but we get $20 for the week and $25/visit that we are called out to. $20 if it is a scheduled weekend visit. I hate it but its part of the job...

I have been nursing for just over a year now. I love nursing, really i do but....I feel so sick and tired of it all. My patients are fine for the most part but the people i work for and with are driving me insane. I still feel so new at everything and i know that i will always make mistakes but will it ever slow down? Between my crazy schedule and the people in the office, i dont even want to go to work any more. Should i tough it out or take a break? Does it get better after the first year?

they make automatic pill dispensers now. i use one for my grandmother. they lock and you can set up to four timers. you can also load up to two weeks worth of medication at a time. very handy.