diane227 LPN, RN

You will be paid by what ever organization that you work for. If the facility is owned privately, then you are paid by that company. If it is a state run facility, you will be paid by the state. Now, remember in health care that funding comes from...

It is important to know when a patient states an allergy to a medication what exactly they consider to be an allergy. Often side effects are mistaken by the patient as an allergy. In addition, it might be the filler in the tablet or capsule that caus...

What I am working for now, which is $48.00/ hr. I think THIS IS too low.

I have just changed jobs and my commute is an hour each way, mostly because of traffic. In the morning I am OK. But at the end of the day, especially when the traffic is not moving, I find myself falling asleep at the wheel. I listen to music and a...

The only thing I can say about this is that you should clarify this with the facility at interview. And be up front about the question. The most common reasons for hair requirements/ restrictions are cleanliness and safety. I used to work in Psych...

Keep a binder or a file with copies of everything in it and keep it in a safe place.

It absolutely depends on your facility and what is wrong with your patient. Some facilities require a physician order. Some do not. But you are still responsible for using sound judgment. A digital disimpaction is not without it's dangers. When ...

For me it has always depended on the person who was asking. I also lived and worked in a small town for a while and it was a common, harmless question. I would just give them a general idea. Now when I worked in a large inner city ED, I never have...

You don't say what age patient you are dealing with here but from my experience, with people who are quite elderly and have fragile skin, I don't use a tourniquet. I use gravity. I have them hang the extremity off the side of the bed. I also use t...

A bit off topic I suppose but I had a friend once who worked as a cruise ship nurse. She told me once that the holidays were the worst times for them because the "kids" would get together and give "mom and dad" their dream cruise for their Christmas...

This type of thing happens all the time at work. Supervisors have a lot to keep up with and unless you have ever done staffing you cannot imagine what a nightmare it is. Write a quick note to your manager just telling him / her that you were called...

In this particular situation, you bet it got her fired. And the main reason for that termination I would suspect is because she must have given indication that she worked at that particular facility. When you make public comment that may in any way...

There are federal guidelines that mandate social worker coverage and requirements for long term care facilities. These rules can be found on the CMS web site (as can all rules for nursing homes). In addition, you state will have additional regulati...

Rules and regs for PA's vs ARNP's are different. In most states, ARNP's have full prescriptive authority but PA's do not. ARNP's are able to function at a more independent level. What would be the advantage of being a PA?

It totally depends on your facility policies. The labor law only says that you must be paid overtime after 40 hours. You should clarify this question with your HR department or your manager. I know I have worked in facilities where overtime was pa...

When was her last hands on experience and in what type of area? Was she at the bedside or in management? Once you determine this, you need to tell her that from now on, it is your show and I am not going to touch the patient unless you are killing ...

Wipe my butt, undress me, feed me (he was about 45 and totally able but his little wife actually FED HIM every meal and he thought we were going to do this also).

And someone made an important point. The more automated we become, the more we nurse machines rather than patients. I HATE that.

I am a very computer literate "OLD" nurse and I have had great difficulty with some of the computerized documentation systems that are out there. Each of us were taught a certain way to complete an assessment of a patient and ways to document such. ...

LTC is an extremely difficult area to work in. Also, since you are new and I am sure feel a bit uncomfortable about your experience level, it is more difficult. I suggest the following: 1. Get yourself a good geriatric care book (there are several...

I am currently in my training to become a state nursing home surveyor/ complaint investigator for the State of Washington. I can't speak to other states but I can tell you that complaints surrounding nursing homes, boarding homes, adult family homes ...

I would strongly suggest that you not work at that facility again. It appears that they have some system wide problems that can cause immediate danger to the residents there. I suggest that you make an immediate call to the hotline number for your s...

Her having an anger control problem is something that should be addressed NOW. Because when she gets into the real world of nursing, having a problem with anger management may result in her being unable to keep a job. I would suggest a full evaluat...

You can try but I will tell you that from my experience, you won't get anywhere. It is very common to have cases like this thrown out. A better option, and in fact one that is required under the law, is to have the care team address this patients be...

I just started a job and my commute is 29 miles. But it is through heavy traffic. It takes me an hour to get to work. It is a major pain in the butt. I almost fell asleep on the drive home twice and there is not a day that goes by that someone is...