shakeytails

I finally received a pay raise. I've been here for almost 4 years. I'm the only LPN on night shift in charge of as many as 64 clients (inpatient detox and rehab). It's been at least 2 years since I got a raise. I got a whopping 36 cents. In 4 years I think I may have been late 3 times and have called in exactly once. I do my job well and don't make mistakes. The only reason I've stayed here this long (other than I love the clients!) is that I don't work weekends- I think I only worked 3 weekend nights last year. Besides looking for a new job, what would you all do? I'm beyond insulted!

Never. In our facility we are not allowed to enter a patient's room without another staff member either with us or standing at the door to watch. We also have cameras everywhere. They're not generally monitored except for a couple of areas (like intake), but can be re-played to prove or disprove an incident. Psych patients are incredibly good at lying and manipulation, and some can be very dangerous physically.

Thank you- there's definitely some parts of your letter I can incorporate into mine. I love your 3rd paragraph! Don't you just love it when a patient - out of the blue- thanks you for something really insignificant in the grand scheme of things but made their outlook change for the better? I also like "I would be honored", and "holistic", and how you mentioned the company's website. Since I have a friend already employed there, should I mention her name in the cover letter? Grammar points definitely taken! I thought that RN phrase sounded a little off, too, but it's a rough draft. I have a friend in HR (totally different field!) that can review for grammer/punctuation/readability. I'm usually pretty good at it, but another set of eyes is always good.

Thank you both! I'll definitely double-check the grammer. I'll add something about geriatrics. How do you say "I just love working with old folks" in a professional way? Except for clinicals, my experience working with geriatrics was over 20 years ago when I worked as an aide. They have not advertised an open position that I've seen; one of my former classmates who is employed there told me there were openings available. I agree with the "pushy" asssessment now that you've pointed that out- I'll definitely change that! Any other suggestions?

been working as an lpn in psych for a year since graduation. the pay really sucks and we get cut a lot. looking for a prn or pt position in ltc- it pays a lot more and i enjoy working with geriatrics. how bad is this cover letter? i am respectfully submitting the enclosed resume for the consideration of a part-time or prn licensed practical nurse position. my education and experience has provided me with hands-on as well as theoretical knowledge necessary that will contribute to the knowledgeable and compassionate care that xxx is known for. my experience in psychiatric nursing has provided me with the ability to stay calm and intervene during crises, facilitate groups and educational seminars, and collaborate on multidisciplinary teams. i have developed the ability to provide therapeutic care to a very wide variety of personality types, and have proven ability to build positive relationships with patients, family members, physicians and other medical professionals. i am a flexible, dedicated, and reliable employee with a strong desire to learn and succeed. my future plans include pursuing my education to registered nurse and obtaining wound care certification. i am enthusiastic about exploring opportunities with xxx and look forward to meeting with you. i will contact you within the next few days to answer any questions and schedule an interview at your convenience.

Name, DOB and armband is what we're taught. However, at the nursing home where we do clinicals, the pts don't wear armbands. When passing meds, our instructor has us take the pts picture out of the mar and carry it into the room with us.

Those breakfast burritos sound great! They've got to be better than the couple of slices of toast that I often settle for as I'm in a hurry to get to class or work.

I marinate stuff for several days as well, it hasn't killed me yet. Usually I take the easy way out and just use plain Italian salad dressing as a marinade. You don't have to cut up the chicken/beef/pork unless you want to. Whole bone-in chicken breast is great on the grill after it's been soaking a couple of days. When London broil was cheap I used to marinate it for days as well before grilling (I can't figure out beef prices- london broil and flank steak are some of the toughest pieces of meat available, yet the supermarkets want $4-5/lb for the stuff!). If you want a high carb, too-much-salt side dish, make some potatoes. Slice a couple of potatoes not quite all the way thru and nuke them until they're done or almost done. Put them on a big piece of foil, add some sliced onions, a glob of margarine and sprinkle with a package of onion soup mix. Wrap them up in the foil and let 'em cook on the grill while you're cooking the meat. I love 'em!

One of my favorites- Mushroom Stew Into crockpot put- 1 pork tenderloin, cut into 1" chunks (or whatever lean pork is on sale) 2 small packages of sliced 'shrooms 2 big bell peppers, cut into big slices 1 generous tsp of Italian seasoning Dump one large can of tomato sauce over the top. Don't bother stirring it in. Cover and cook until the pork is tender- about 8 hours on low depending on the Crockpot. This is absolutely delicious served with fresh baked French or Italian bread from the supermarket. Shepherd's Pie Cook ground beef with some chopped onions and a splash of Worcheshire sauce. Put cooked beef in the bottom of a casserole dish. Dump a bag of mixed frozen veggies (I use corn and peas)over the top of the beef. Layer a couple/few pieces of cheese over the veggies. Make enough instant mashed potatoes to layer over the top of the cheese. Cook at 350 until heated through- about 35 minutes depending on the size of your casserole dish. This freezes well if you intend to make meals ahead of time.

CNA and Psych classes are easy, and for me- so is math. My A&P class was rough, especially since I've been out of school for over 20 years. My A&P class was 4 credit hours - 3 for lecture, 1 for lab. So 75% of my grade was based on lecture grades. If your class is similar, study more for lecture than lab. Anyway, learning the bones and muscles and such isn't horribly difficult, it just takes time. If there is a website associated with your textbook and lab manual, be sure to use those resources. For bones, what I did was print out pictures of different bones and bone markings. I always had those pictures with me and anytime I had a minute or two I'd cover the labels and quiz myself. I'd do this while watching TV, eating dinner, at work on breaks, and even while driving my car (like waiting at a stop light). I also spent hours on the computer using online quizzes. Mnemonics are also a huge help for a lot of people, me included. Finding funny things to help remember also help, like one of the muscles on your inner thigh is the gracialis (sp?). My lab instructor commented one day that "only by the grace of God" will my husband touch me there".

Depends, what are your RN pre-reqs? Mine were A&P1, Math, Psych, and a computer class. Other classes- English 1&2, Humanities, Public Speaking for me transfered from college that I attended 20+ years ago. I took A&P1 and Psych last semester, and took Math and an online computer class over the summer. Since I chose to enter the LPN program this fall rather that wait to see if I'm accepted for RN in the spring, I'll be taking A&P2 and Developmental Psych as co-requisites along with my nursing classes since I didn't choose to take the easier 1 semester LPN pre-reqs. When summer classes started I didn't yet know I was accepted, so it was too late to take A&P2 during the summer. A&P is a tough course, expect to put a lot of time into it to get a decent grade. The other classes were a piece of cake, and honestly didn't take too much of my time. My self-paced computer class I finished in about a week and a half, but I worked on it for several hours a day to get it done. I actually had 150 days to complete the course if necessary. I think it's do-able, but be very cautious about getting in too deep. Look for on-line courses, or ask around and find out what professors are easiest. I thought about taking Dev. Psych over the summer, but I wanted the teacher I had for Psych 1 because he doesn't assign papers to write and some of his tests are take-home (read "easy A"). You might also want to see if your school allows you to "Clep out" of certain classes. That would decrease your cost and lighten your school workload.

Another good reason to take the class at a community college is that you'll be familiar with the equipment and it will be easier for you to pass the skills portion of the test. At ECTC, they do the skills testing for several other CNA classes. And, IMO, the examiner is far less like to fail "one of their own". The class was pretty easy, though it did take a lot of my time. My class was 5 weeks long so it was 15 hours a week, plus about an hour or two before each class to complete the workbook. Other than doing the required workbook, I didn't study and got an A. In case you're wondering, my CNA class cost $363 (tuition) plus $65 for the book and a bit less than $50 for a uniform for clinicals. I haven't found a job yet as a CNA, but I haven't looked that hard. I have a $10.50/hr weekend-only job that won't interfere with school (starting LPN in a couple of weeks) so for now I'm keeping it. Most CNA jobs here start at about $8.50 from what I hear, so I'm in no hurry to take a pay cut.

Oh, I'm not so sure about that. I was always an A student in HS and didn't have to work at it, so I didn't learn how to study. I found out the hard way when I attended an Ivy League college that I had no clue how to actually study. I didn't finish and now I'm back in school for nursing (LPN to start with) after 20+ years. My first pre-req I absolutely needed to even think about being accepted was A&P 1. Yeah- lets take one of the hardest classes (50% withdraw from A&P the first time) my college has to offer to get back into the swing of things! Anyway, I squeeked out an A, and believe it or not I actually remembered stuff from high school. I'm sure you'll do fine.

I don't know about all of them, but my college does a "fast track" CNA class- I think it's two weeks long. The classes fill incredibly fast, and I think most if not all of the fall sessions are full. http://www.elizabethtown.kctcs.edu/index.cfm

Elizabethtown is a whole lot closer to Ft. Knox than Galen, and much less expensive IF you can get accepted. http://www.elizabethtown.kctcs.edu/index.cfm

I'm in the same boat. I called "the little clinic" and was told that they don't even have the vaccines in stock. I need MMR and Varicella. I found the Portland Clinic in Louisville. MMR is $45, Varicella titer (I've had chickenpox) is $65. I'm getting my Tetorifice shot at the Health Dept- max. $45 but hopefully with my income it will be less.

I just took mine today, the computer version. At the end I was afraid to look at my scores because I was afraid I'd totally bombed the science part. I've been out of school for over 20 years, and though I'm taking A&P1 now, I've forgotten almost everything I knew about earth science and physics and such. I actually did bomb the science part- my raw score was only 47 out of 60- but surprisingly it was still in the 97th percentile. I was totally thrilled with my composite of 156. I had the MacDonald study guide, but barely used it because I thought I wouldn't have to take the test for another month and I didn't have time to study it. The math was pretty easy, I only missed one, but I've always been pretty good at math. There were a few exponent questions (glad I did a quick brush up on that!) , a few "solve for X" type problems, and several fraction problems. If you can't quickly "solve for x", plug the answer choices into the equation to find the correct one. "Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally" is a good thing to remember. Watch for decimal places, especially if the question has a % in it. I was surprised that I almost ran out of time for math- I used every bit of 60 minutes. Skip the ones you can't figure out quickly and go back to those at the end. I missed 3 on the English portion- which I guess isn't too bad since I don't read as much as I should. For the vocabulary, if you don't know the meaning of the word or the answers, look at the roots to try to figure it out. Good Luck!

Where there's a will there's a way, right? I'm 43 and lost my job last fall. Right now I'm taking classes and trying to get into one of the community college nursing programs. I'm living off savings and a part-time job. I'm hoping to get a CNA job (as soon as I finish the class) that pays half-way decent somewhere that will be flexible with my school schedule and help with tuition reimbursement. I wouldn't even think about selling my home, but I have a farm with a minimal mortgage that would be extremely difficult to replace- and it's not like I can take 17 horses, 3 cats and 6 dogs to an apartment, anyway! I don't think it's crazy to sell your house to realize your dream, but a student loan might be a better idea. I do think it's slightly crazy to attempt to work 9-5 full time and do nursing school too. You are in a great position to work part-time, though, since you have all your non-nursing classes out of the way. There's all kinds of ways to save money/cut expenses. Get a cheaper bare-bones car, cut satellite TV down to the bare minimum plan, same with phone services. Dry your clothes on a clothesline. Turn the heat down and the AC up. Check out thrift stores for clothes. Learn to cook cheap, and buy only sale items. Heck, I haven't bought beef other than hamburger on sale since October! Discover one-check rebate programs from places like Walgreens and Rite-Aid... using these programs I haven't actually bought shampoo, toothpaste or toothbrushes in at least a couple of years. Forget eating out, and pack a lunch. Start now and you'll be that much farther ahead when you do take the plunge. Definitely check into financial aid programs. If you get $3000 in aid, that's $3000 less hours you have to work. Think positive! You CAN make this work.

No need to be offended. I realize that all the RN programs are competitive. I might have a chance getting in with a 1:4 or 1:5 acceptance rate; 1:20 or better- probably not yet. Glasgow is just far enough off the beaten path to limit applications somewhat, or at least that's what I'm hoping...

Thanks! That's about what I guessed pay to be. I've heard in L'ville it's possible to get $14-15/hr IF you don't want benefits AND you get lucky. An LPN in my Anatomy class was telling me that agency and/or home health pays pretty well too, but I don't think I'd get hired in that type of situation with no experience.

I'm starting CNA classes tomorrow, partly b/c it's a required prereq. for all the community college nursing programs, and also b/c I need a job that can be flexible with my school schedule. I live closest to Leitchfield, E-town is also an easy drive. Louisville is over an hour's drive, but I'll do it if I have to (i.e - has much higher pay or perks such as tuition reimbursement). Can anybody give me an idea of what starting pay is around these parts? Any recommendations on where to apply, good/bad places to work, etc. would also be much appreciated!

Does anyone attend/know anything about their nursing program? It's a 2 year program for RN, but you may quit at the end of 1 year with a diploma for LPN. Glasgow's a long drive for me, but with my GPA (from 20+ years ago when drinking was more important than studying!), there's no way I'll get into E-town's very selective RN program. I'm relatively sure I could easily get into the LPN program, but it's 3 semesters as opposed to 2 at Glasgow. I'm currently taking A&P1 and Psych at ECTC, and plan on taking A&P2 in the summer.