Connie Elder

This is for the person that started out her blog by saying let's be honest, who wears there PPE in a grcoery store? That is the worng mentality for you as a nurse to have. By you saying what you did, you miss the whole picture. Anyone in nursing knows that MRSA and VRE is in the public,, nursing homes, etc. The fact is you have JCAHO and OSHA breathing down your back to wear the stuff. WHy in the heck would you not? If this is how you do things by not always wearing the PPE, then you are fortunate not to of caught anything. Why is your hospital swapping people that ofter? Are they worried about the employees catching something? Also, as far as it goes by the hospital sayingdon't wear PPE in the hallways, that a bunch of bull. Are you trying to tell me that you don't even wear gloves and a mask? Thats basic PPE. Do you even wash your hands if you think this way?

Hospitals that I've worked at wear both. I've been told that you can wear a full face surgical mask. However I prefer to wear the N95. I don't don't if I mentioned in my response to thiis questions, but the hopsital I am working at right now don't even post signs in the ER to let others know that this pt. is in isolation. Contact, etc. This I have a hard time They don't have a positive pressure room either. "We don't get any TB pts." I don't think thats the right answer. I won't be taking care of nay TB pt. if they come this facility. I will wear what I need to wear to protect myself.

Good morning to you all. After reading some of these stories, I felt compelled to write a response. I have been a nurse for 32 years with the last 5 years being a travel nurse. I have taken care of, AIDS, HIC, TB, Typhoid, VRE, MRSA, Step, staph, different type of Hepatitis, c-diff, flu, H1N1, flu and a few others. The only thing I have caught is the common cold. PPE equipment will go a long way if they are used for their intended purpose. Every hopsitla that I have ever worked in has provided the staff with what is required to take care of the patients. If used properly you will get the protection that is necessary. I have seend nurses and Doctors go in and out of rooms with no protection on, IV'S started with no gloves, lab drawn with no gloves(by both nursing and lab personnel). I have worked in hopsitals where they don't even have infection control signs to place on the door way when needed. I am currently working in a peds. er where they don't have a positive pressure room for somoeone with TB, they don't have signs that you can place on the doors when needed to tell staff what type of pretection in needed to care for this pt. Their response when I've asked is "Tape a face mask on the door so people will know that they need to wear one." Now that's a scarey thing to me. Handwashing is another story. At times it is almost nonexistent. I am very much a pt. advocant and tell the pts. I take care of, I tell them not to be afraid to ask the staff taking care of you, coming into your room, to wash their hands. I've had families and pts. ask me why I'm the only that does this. Thanks for listening. Connie A Nursing Veteran

Don't you think that before she writes the CNA up, is she should talk to the charge nurse that day? Yes the aide was insuboordinate but who this behavior in the first place? The nurse maybe by writing the note and asking the HUC to deliver it? The nurse was just plain wrong for doing it the way she did. Now the unit is in an uproar not only by what the nurse did but more so by what the aide is saying and doing, bringing everyelse into the problem Her imstake was innocent but look at what is going on now. Don't people think that is should be left alone and if the aide repeats this ebhavior again then write her up? Did the nurse ever talk with the charge nurse about what happened the day it happened? I really hope so

I have been a nurse for 32 years and I have to say that this is the first time I have seen where a nurse writes a note to a CNA about a few task that needs to be completed. I have been there many times on not being able to take a break due to multiple reasons. Heave pt. care, multiple task, post op pt, a pt crashing or coding, multiple Dr.'s orders, family members coming out of the walls, all wanting a piece of your time. Call me old fashion but I think that the problem started when the nurse wrote the note and asking the HUC to give it to the CNA. You should of taken the extra few seconds to find that CNA and ask her to do these task. Now a mess was born. DO NOT get involved in the rumors and what they are saying, that the aides job might be in jeopardy. Don't go there, that will bring you down to there level and game playing. To me the mistake was made at the very beginning when the note was written. Move on. The aide has already proven that she is not a team player and she is creating her own mess and problems. What the aide was out of line for was saying what she said and mentioning the N word. Thats the problem, not wether you are both white or not. Don't start a war on the unit you work on. An innocent mistake was made and the aide is not willing to bend on it. Move on, don't repeat this another time. Sorry that this happened to you but you are the professional here, you went to college for your education. Think back to what your nursing intrstructor would of told you on how to handle this situation. Nursing 101. Good luck.

So my question to someone is, are these online courses legit? And if so when you print out the card does it say any where on there that it was an online course? Please let me know ASAP regarding this if anyone knows.

You got that right when you mention pathphysiology. It's just like being in microbiology all over again but only worse. You have to learn things at a much faster pace, but at the end it makes you a better person and trauma nurse. Hat's off to all who can pass the TNS.

I don't know which one has the higher failure rate, TNS or CEN but I think it might be the TNS. All I know is that I had a notebook with 3 inch rings in it that was full of papers, etc to study for the TNS. It had things from the cellular level. TNS is an extremely difficult test to take and from what I have heard is has a high failure rate. It has classes that are all day, lasting several weeks, mayeb one to two days a week. These classes are taught by nurses that have degrees, trauma experience, lot's of ICU/CCU experience, the list could go on. The TNS was started by the state of Illinois years ago. Illinois was instrumental in trauma care in the country. From looking at the study notebook that I received and looking at the CEN study guide, I would personally and professionally have to say that the TNS is a much harder and difficult class to take and the same goes for the certification. I say that it's too bad that other states don't recognize the TNS since it would only benefit the care of critically injured, trauma pts. Not only that but it would help nurses learn more about the mechanism of injury and that's what trauma care is all about.

Oop's I forgot to mention that when I worked at a hospital in Illinois, they wouldn't let you even take care of trauma pts. if you didn't have your TNS. I've never heard that about the CEN.

What a hot topic. As a travel nurse I have worked in some real large and very busy ER/Trauma Centers. From what I have seen, the hospital sometimes requires you to have the certifications that are listed here but you don't always get paid for them. Very few states have the TNS. Some don't even know what it is. I have worked with nurses who have the TNS or the CEN. I don't recall CEN having anything to do with the Kreb's Cycle, etc but the TNS does. TNS yes is state specific. So maybe you loricatus can explain to us why there are more nurses out there with certifications other then CEN?

I think we have all had these type of pts cause I know I have over 32 years in the field. What has worked for me is when you get pts/families like this and they are SO demanding, take turns going in to the room and answeringf lights. You would still be the primary nurse but by doing this you would get the help and support of your team members. Also, if your floor had a social worker, enlist her help. Better yet, the hospital that I am a travel nurse at right now, has what they call rounds. At a set time each morning Monday - Friday we go into a room and talk briefly about any problems or discharge plans on the pts who are under our care. This would be a perfect time to mention this, that way the family( if and when they are approached) might not be so defensive cause its a team approach by management. Good Luck.

Wehn a nurse contemplates doing something like this, she needs to first of all think of her pts and what harm can happen to them? A nurse calls to tell the Dr. that the current pain regime is not working, the Dr. increases the pain medication, the nurse gives it, (since the nurse stealing the drug)is off shift at this point, the pt, goes unconscious and has to be transfered to the ICU and if the pt isn't transfered the pt receives some Narcan? This could of all been prevented if the nurse had been reported in the first place. We have to remember that we as nurses are pt. advoocates. Do not talk to this nurse who has the drug/theft problem. She will only become defensive and could turn the tables on you, especially if she somehow obtained your sign on information to the pxysis and has been stealind rugs under your name. How will a person feel if the nurse if this nurse who is stealing drugs dies off an overdose? That can't be explained to her 5 kids but maybe to her lousy husband.

Figured out what? SO are you going to report her or not?

You have no choice but to report this. By not doing so you are enabling this nurse to continue being a thief, drug abused. This will most certainly cost her her nursing license. How will this look to the hospital administration and your nurse manager that you have know about it for so long and did NOTHING? There is no excuse or reason that this nurse who is stealing the durgs should be doing this. Comments have been made that her husband is a do nothing type of person and she has 5 kids and has he MSN. So what! Do you want someone like that taking care of your loved one? She need's help and quickly. Don't let another day go by that you have not reported this. I only hope that she has not used or somehow obtained someone's sign on information to the pxysis, that will only get that person in trouble. Pts can be forgetful but that many, I don't think so. I am appalled that somoene would say just to blow it off. I have been a nurse for 32 years and I am quite appalled that someone would even mention this. It doesn't matter, who ever is stealing drugs, needs to be reported and for you knowing she is stealing htem and doing nothing about it, to me you are just as abd, you are an enabler. Also, I am a travel RN and have worked at facillities where nurses have been caught doing the same thing but NOT as long as this nurse is. They have been immediately fired and reported to the board of nursing. By a nurse holding on to this type of information for so long, you might even risk getting in trouble yourself and being reported to the board. Is it really worth it? Report her and do it now!

Can someone help me with the same thing. Need it next week. Its for Baylor in Texas. Thanks. Connie