Lucina11

So very sorry to hear this. I enjoyed her posts immensely. They were thoughtful and educational. She will be missed!

No one? Okay, well, it was worth a shot. I just finished my second week and it is still a little confusing. Especially since the three instructors all give different answers to your questions. I guess it really does get us ready for the workplace!

HI! I just finished my first week of PN class! It is a called a Flex program and it is really strange. I was reading through other student's first week/semester of nursing school to get ideas, and realized that mine is completely different. For instance, we have three instructors, but except for lectures they don't do any formal teaching. Its all student geared. There are three nursing classes all going on at the same time, and we share a classroom, and all the students in each class are at different levels according to their advanced standing. So, in my class there are some who are straight to FON, others are still in A&P, some in Med. Term, etc. When it is time for skills we are not taught altogether. We each study a skill individually from books/tapes. Then schedule an appointment with an instructor to have her do a demo for us. Then we schedule a time to use the lab to practice, alone. When we feel confident, we are supposed to schedule a skill check-off! It sounds great...except the instructors have only two days a week they'll give tests/check-offs, and the time slots equal about four hours. That's pretty tight with over forty students. So, my question is, does anyone else have a similar style program, and do they have any advice for the best way to get the most out of it? Thanks!

Postpartum or L/D would be my top choice if I worked in a hospital. ER is very interesting, but I don't know if I could keep up with the pace. Outside of the hospital, I'm starting to be very interested in wound care and LTC.

Probably not hilarious...but at the end of shift, it was almost more than I could do to keep from laughing. CNA in the nursing home. One elderly lady with Alzheimer's was known for getting crotchety some nights when her legs hurt her. This night, she refused to take her meds, and was really cranky. She wanted to be in a nightgown, but didn't want to go to bed. She was restless and kept wheeling herself into other resident's rooms, causing call-lights to go off like mad. After the about the seventh time of us gently reassuring the others and redirecting this lady back to the hall or her own room, she calmed down and took her pain pill. At about a quarter til ten, right before shift change, I was restocking the laundry cart, and she was creeping along silently behind me everywhere I went. Occasionally I would talk to her, but she wouldn't answer. Just crept along. I finished up and was about to try one more time to get her in bed, when she goes " Psstt...come here." She was holding the skirt of her gown up like it was full of something. When I got to her, she showed me her empty lap. " Would you like a COON EGG?" she asks. " A coon egg? " " Yes. That's what I SAID! " " No thank you, Ms. D." " Well, dammit! I've gone and found about a hundred of them in that room over there, and I just don't think I can eat them all!" I've never in my life heard of coon eggs, but for a week, whenever we asked if her if she wanted a snack, she swore she wanted a coon egg sandwich. She had to settle for plain old chicken eggs though.

Yes. Death has a smell. I think it smells differently to everyone, and some don't notice it at all, but it is there. I could always smell it on animals too. In the short time I worked at the nursing home, we had three residents die. One had been brought back to the facility to die, so it was no surprise. The second time, another CNA and I were changing one of the ladies, and we both noted that her normal scent had changed. We got the nurse, who seemed a little confused as to why we were upset. The resident died before morning. The third time I smelled it I was at home. Watching television. The smell just seemed to fill the room, and I was checking the pets, the fridge, my family members! Later I learned that one of my favorite residents had passed at that time. So yes. Its real. And you're not a freak. Like a previous poster said, use it to your advantage. Or more importantly, to the patient's advantage.

Ooh...cool topic. I'm not a nurse yet, nor am I involved or married, but I have some nurses in my family so I can add to the stats! One nurse was married to a cop. One is married to a mechanic. One to a deliveryman. One to a boat painter. Of my friends/co-workers who are nurses: One to a city worker. One to an ex-prison guard. One to a roofer/handyman One to a painter/trucker. ( and all their spouses are bikers!) and one to ''the sexiest man alive"...she never said what he did for a living! Of the CNA's I know: One married a fork lift operator Two married farmers One married a dogcatcher pretty good variety.

I start march 1! The program is flexible 12-18 month program. I just did my first day of orientation today!

Wow...I don't know if my program will go that deep. I'd do it, but it would be weird. This is a rural school and everyone knows everyone else. Those classmates will be my friends and neighbors...even my ex-boss's boyfriend!

I just recently quit a facility because it had horrible working conditions and wouldn't let use lifts. We were understaffed too. There was only one aide out of all the aides and nurses working there that didn't have a back, leg, hip or wrist injury. And it whereas one of the obese residents did cause a hernia in one of the aides...the real back-breaker was a 140 pound elderly woman. She was complete dead weight, and she would reflexively grab onto handles or clothing, which would really screw up the dynamics of the transfer! The other aides and nurses tried to make me feel bad for not being able to dress or transfer her alone, but I refused to touch her without help after the first time I twisted my back to keep from dropping her. Hopefully you will find a better facility than that though!

Thanks to everyone for their response to this post. I managed to extricate myself from that job gracefully without having to work another day there..., and did it without having to name any names or incidents. And, since then I've received my long-awaited acceptance letter to the LPN program. Next time they see me, I'll be the boss. Haha.

When I did my CNA clinicals at the nursing home, nearly all the aides and nurses had tattoos. To my surprise, so did plenty of the residents. One elderly lady even had multiple ear piercings and a labial ring! When I started work, my administrator had a tongue stud. The other aides and I talked about how care of piercings should be added to what we learn, since more and more people would be coming into the nursing homes with them. Times they are a-changing.

Okay. Thanks. SO how long is a notice for? Or does that simply mean telling my boss that I quit? ETA: Also, I already cut back to working two days a week so that I could go to school. Don't know if part time employees have different requirements?

Thanks everyone for the helpful responses. I've decided to find another place to work. So, what is the best way to quit? Call in? Walk in? Disappear from the face of the earth? ( sorry, dumb question, but its my first job.)

That is what really scares me. I want to be a CNM someday.I don't need a bad incident on my record. Some of the other girls are practically married to the facility and will bend over backwards to make the place look good when and inspection comes. I just can't get into the spirit of that sort of thinking.