Pepperlady

well, i don't think i deserve an attack on a comment i made that was imho ... however, as the thread is about sick time and why some facilities are unreasonable about it, if someone feels that this is an appropriate use of sick time, then one cannot complain about the facility monitoring more closely than seems reasonable.

I was not implying that you would not be very sad to put a dog down, I too have one ... but to plan to put your dog down over your work days as opposed to using your time off days, is, IMHO an abuse of the sick leave.

I am not an OB nurse but this topic was one discussed with friends recently. What I found disturbing was someone wanting a elective C/S because she wanted to fit it in around a wedding she was to attend and did not want to risk missing it. Very very selfish IMHO. Secondly I have heard of them being done to accomodate an OB/GYN schedule .... again very selfish idea.

What does the union say?? If they pay sick benefits there may be other language in the contract that pertains to sick leave. We are also union (albeit at a public facility in Canada) and if we are going to be sick for a third day the management MAY ask for a doctors note, but doesn't necessarily. Now, where I get annoyed with staff abusing sick time is when they use it because they are mentally exhausted because they made the decision to put their dog down (truely happened) or other such nonsense. If we are on vacation and get sick our sick time is reimbursed if there is a legitimate note from a doctor. Our sick time accrues year to year so potentially, as of today, I could be off for over 300 work hours and still be paid for it. Interesting how it works at your public facilities

I am morth of you mamafeliz but our bulbs are up too, no crocuses quite yet but they and the daffodils will be up in the next couple of weeks.

Of course you did the right thing, just the classic description of her pain was enough, let alone her hypertension and a known "funky ECG"

Its totally different from PALS and ACLS for sure . I have done a bit of reading on ITLS and to me it seems more similar to what we have here called ATLS, but it is purely for physicians and nurses can audit it only. I have just received the text for TNCC and it seems much more geared to the emergency nurses understanding and role in trauma cases.

I don't think the commute is too bad between the two, you definitely want to be in Saanich area and not out towards Colwood and Langford or you get caught up in the "Colwood Crawl". I have a friend I work with that worked Saan Pen and I will talk to her about best places to live. I will warn, Victoria/Saanich is expensive for housing.

I have answered the phone at home with "ER, "me" speaking"

I don't do it always, but I am hard pressed to find a cheque that I have signed that doesn't have the RN, have no idea why I do it when signing cheques !!!

LaurelRN08 ... I am not missing the point. I am currently trying to return to work because a patient assaulted me. She is awaiting trial, but is out in the community. There is an undertaking upon her by the police that she not attend to the emergency department unless its an "emergency". She has been to the ER (prior to the assault) daily for very minor things, to get fed and to get warm.... she had become a nuisance. So when I asked who gets to determine if she has a legit emergency I am told "she does" ..... haven't seen her (I am doing short hour shifts in an attempt to get back to full hours) in the ER since. So, I do get the point, its assault and we should never tolerate it. I have had staff tell me I am not doing the right thing .... "poor patient" .... and I say bullcrap, I am doing the only reasonable thing to do.

http://particle.physics.ucdavis.edu/bios/Dionne.html The Dionne quintuplets born in 1934 in Ontario. Its very sad what happened to them but what a marvel of miracles to have 5 babies survive.

I am confused as to why your NM would not allow you to call security. The 45 y.o. was way out of line, no matter what she was in with or what allegations her mother was tossing around. Personally I would have had psych see her mother too. We have a crisis intervention nurse in our ER and I have been known to call her and have her come talk to family saying "they are obviously in crisis, what else would drive such behaviour"...most back right down once the "psych nurse" comes in and does an "evaluation". Of course their role is to deal with patients in crisis, but hey, crisis is crisis.

I love 12 hours shifts . I (generally) do 2 days (7-7) and then 2 nigths (7-7) and then have 5 days off. It makes for uneven paychecks but I have long adapted to that. I find that, esp. on nights, the busier I stay the faster the shift goes. If I read (a novel or the like) on nights it seems to go on forever, so I will do some stocking if I have time, spend extra time with patients, do some research on nursing subjects. Generally our nights are busy enough anyway. On days, when there is down time, I try not to get involved in all the gossip and what not that happens. Its not unusual for several nurses to all sit at the nurses station gossiping and carrying on, I have nothing to do with i t.... my shift is more pleasant and the time goes faster (thats just my own little choice). I try to come armed with a project of some sort. Good shoes, as others have mentioned is a must. And, when someones asks me if they can "run and pee", I suggest that although I am sure they can, they may find it more comfortable to sit.

I really don't know about the HIPPA, sounds like you have gotten great advice from the others. I would take great exception to my boss telling others that I was terminated and I would most certainly be taking that to a lawyer.

I offer you my sympathies on your troubles with CGFNS. I am Canadian and going through the process of the VisaScreen. So far I haven't had any problems, but I certainly know many who have. They did send out an email a while ago saying that they were behind on evaluating communications as they come in by about 20 days. Want to know where I am having problems?? I was issued a SSN in 2001 when I worked in Connecticut and over the years have somehow misplaced the card .... and SS can't release my number to me unless I physically go into an office in the US. CFGNS and the BON know this .... but still, makes it a bit more difficult.

So my guess is that he is about 5'6" tall and is suffering from what I (and I am sure others) have come to call short-man syndrome. He must attempt to make others feel bad in order for himself to feel good..... Its terrible that he has treated you that way and it is inexcusable. Are others having issue with him?? Is there someone you can go to about his behaviour, how it affects the unit and the morale? We had one just like that in the ICU I worked in .... I convinced myself to feel sorry for him for having such low self-esteem and to chuckle everytime he was inappropriate , he never changed, still treats staff like crap, but has such little respect from anyone that it reflects only on him.

I do love the ER but about once every year or two I take off and do something that utilizes my skills but allows me to travel or meet new people..... This year I will be getting my credentials for the US and that will become my get away once a year or so.

Excuse me if this is a stupid question but I am not in the US .... would her insurance have paid for the fertility treatments, whatever they may have been??

Still, there is a difference between hospital acquired pneumonia and community acquired pneumonia. Pneumonia in a post-op elderly patient wouldn't be considered abnormal and I would think it would need to be treated aggressively. If the patient came in with pneumonia that would be, perhaps, a different story.

Any living wills I have seen usually differentiate between those conditions which offer some significant chance of recovery vs those that offer minimal chance of recovery. For example, I see it as different if a patient comes in full arrest and has stated a wish not to be intubated vs pneumonia .... And given an acknowledged depression how can he be considered compos mentis in decision making.

Interesting .... off topic a bit but yet similar On Vancouver Island there is a young couple who had quads, now they are appealing to the public to help them as they don't have enough money, they are paying on 2 mortgages because they moved to a rather upscale area in town to be near parents but have not yet sold their previous house. I watched the tv spot on them and the mom was asking for someone who was "an inexpensive nanny or nurse" to help them out, perhaps with the governments funding. http://www.timescolonist.com/travel/Quadruplets+make+wonderful+family/1165569/story.html I sound so harsh, but when one makes a decision to have fertility treatments, shouldn't the discussion of affordability come into play? Like the family with 8 new babies are going to need help but should it be an expectation??

I try to have an actual meal before my shift ... even just soup and toast/cheese. I know I need a protein in that meal. For the shift I try to take fruit, crackers, hummus and vegetables, things like that. And I have cereal at around 5 am, getting myself ready for going home to bed. BUT... I have a really hard time resisting the bag and bags and bags of chips that tend to come in on nights. Either the doctors bring them or the other staff does. I keep a can of tuna at work and some soup (usually the tetra pac Campbells soup) so I can fall back on that if I need too.

If you come to the ER with a foot injury, or any injury that requres you to remove your shoe/sock, could you try to make it a clean pair of socks on a clean foot. Do not ask me to trim your nails for you or to "rub" them while you wait for the doctor. Do not ask me to "pick the scab off" so you can see how things are doing.

I also agree. Make it professional and make what you put on it be what stands out .... your unique qualities that you bring to the position, your knowledge, education