Benedina

OP, you definitely have the manners and grace to handle disappointments, so every best wish for your future. Those same manners would be an asset to almost any employer. But your statement that you're not planning to publish in peer-reviewed journals...

One of the GREAT benefits of HH is more autonomy over your schedule. Sometimes I'm still working late at night on my charting but I genuinely love every minute of HH. (And sometimes I'm taking a long lunch with my daughter!) Good luck! Benedina

I'd save some of your questions for after their initial job offer to you. Questions that win you the job focus on THEIR needs: 1. What skills do you look for in your nurses? (Their answer is a GIANT clue as to what parts of your resume will be of mos...

I'm paranoid about giving away too much personal information but a respectful salute to all my 90-something patients who are active, friendly, intelligent, wise, and just plain fun to be around. They've turned my ideas about old age absolutely upside...

Paper first. We have consents bound into a book with safety information, contact information, fall risk reduction, all kinds of useful things, so it's very natural to make this the foundation of our first 15 minutes of conversation. Benedina

This roughly matches our company's pay schedule, and I find it just fine. We have clunky software and only manage about 5 visits per day, so much less income. In our part of the world? Plenty of money to get along with. Benedina

Accept the M/S job, and if you get a better offer from the HH company in the same time frame, give respectful notice to the M/S job. It's a business negotiation and it's okay to jump ship for the right offer. That's not common advice around here, bu...

We accept private pay patients, too, so in addition to regular patients I have a few private patients who get once a week or biweekly med fills, weekly lab draw, etc. that Medicare won't cover. I also see some patients once per week for 1-3 weeks tow...

It's much shorter, isn't it? This is what I did, and it made me an RN in 24 months. It could have been 18 but I elected the traditional path in order to work at a paid internship for one summer rather than take courses and graduate one semester early...

Eileen Fisher. It's as comfortable as sweats while making me feel as if I'm a stylin' granny. And I'm old and can afford it. Well--I can afford it when it's on clearance or eBay or in the local thrift shops. Benedina

I pretty much only check out AN when I'm procrastinating on projects, but I always looked for your posts. Happy nursing, and best wishes. Benedina

I think it's your hourly wage that makes the problem, personally. I'm paid per visit--roughly 150% of what you're paid per hour--and that visit time is meant to include travel time, charting time, case management time as well as visit time. In additi...

Bucky Badger RN took exception to my suggestion that older parents will be pleased to hear from their kids, text speak and all, and wrote: "When will that day come, just so I'm prepared. I'm in my mid 40's, my older kids are 23 and 20. All 3 genera...

Some of our phones are still not text friendly. I care passionately about language; my first career was in publishing. But I have a work-issued phone that requires you to punch the 7 button 4 times to get the letter "s." This is why text speak was i...

My kiddles are grown, so I sign up for holidays often--I'd like the younger nurses to have that time with their kids, and the older nurses to have that time with their families! We generally only do emergency visits on major holidays. We're expected ...

I worked at my first career for more than 20 years. I enjoy still doing a few freelance assignments in it every now and then. Like the extra money, too. Dina

Telling the OP that it has nothing to do with HIPAA when her school IS telling her it is concerned with HIPAA strikes me as unhelpful. Telling the OP that she did, in fact, commit a HIPAA violation strikes me as unhelpful. I wouldn't presume to know ...

This plastic file box, with plastic 2-pocket folders for each client and plastic files for other forms, patient education materials, clinical info, etc. (Plastic folders are also my working surface in the home--easy to open to a 11 x 17 surface, easy...

I bought the ones I wanted, such as my med-surg book, my pharm book, and my clinical diagnostics book, all of which I still use. I borrowed the rest from the library. (In grad school, too.) If I liked it, I then bought it, preferably used, preferably...

I'll be the contrarian, here. Many years ago I was offered (first career, publishing) a plum editorial job that would require a daily 60-mile one way commute. I already had decent, salaried work that allowed me to work all but one day from a home off...

An essential preparation for any patient education, including the excellent talking points of AHRQ's clinician summaries, is awareness of your patient's/family's health literacy and effective tools for education. I would recommend two resources: 1. T...

I create a Word document on my laptop for each patient. In the home, I open the software chart and use it to fill in vital signs and physical exam directly. Anything extra, I write notes into the Word document ("call MD @ WOC orders, dtr worried abou...

Congratulations, Nurse Sand Dollar!!! Makes it all worthwhile, yes? Best wishes, Dina

Yes to the recommendation that you stress your familiarity with EMR, and I'll go one step farther: show that you are comfortable with up-to-date technology and computers. How you communicate that is up to you, but it's a persistent negative stereotyp...

Thomas Aquinas recommends: "suitable" pleasures, a good cry, a sympathetic friend, contemplation, a good night's sleep and a nice bath. And a glass of wine. Dina