Pfiesty

Wow. I am sorry. Been so busy that I never got back on until now. PM me and I'll answer your questions. I am really loving this role. A client got into some trouble last September with a federal regulatory agency that I do not cover. But they were desperate and put their action plans on hold until the deadline. So, with warnings that I don't do that agency, I stepped in and made the fixes and they came out pristine with all deficiencies fully addressed. Wow. Nurses can do anything. We are so familiar with standards and rules and whether we like them or not, we can help others comply when they just don't get it, or they get too panicked to make a good plan and policies. Anyway, that is what I do. I work from home mostly with meetings and trainings for staff and management sometimes. But the hours are my own and I work from my sofa. Lovin' life!

I know! Really! One nurse before me tried it and started crying! She said she recently took car of a colleague with ascending paralysis (but not GBS?) Anyway, they spent an agonizing one and a half hours trying to figure out what she was trying to say around her ETT. Turns out she was trying to ask to be taken outside so she could feel the sun on her face one last time! She said she could have done it in 30 seconds with this! (Misty!)

I went to the Critical Care Nurses annual conference (AACN NTI) last week in Houston. There the COOLEST thing exhibited by LC Technologies! There was an eye-operated communication device called the Eyegaze Edge that really works in the hospital so patients can "speak using just their eyes." (Eyevoice) Really, you could HEAR them. OK, so you could hear the computer, but they did it with their eyes only. It was unique in that it works using only one eye, because many of our patients have disconjugate gaze, and the devices designed for two eyes just are too inaccurate. It also works well with pathological eye movements because the special software compensates for the erratic eye movements and keeps it accurate. The screens were designed for ICU use with common phrases, but were customizable. We nurses also typed on the keyboard. This fixes the problem of guessing what our patients need when they can't talk, or pointing to boards to help with our guesses (and rarely works). Incredible! It also had a very low source light which is so much better for the patients. I've seen others with such bright lights that it hurt my own eyes. This one for multi-patient, hospital use was really "wow." And that eye follower is incredible. My patients slide all over in the bed and this follows them in real time. What took me over an hour to guess what my patients want was done in seconds. The design elements were just pure genius. As an ICU nurse, I can not function well without this tool. We all loved it. Our patients have a right to be heard and this is the only way many of them can do that. wow. #AACN #NTIAACN #eye-voice #eyegaze [video=youtube_share;c1cs6bPp4B0]

Thank you for your insights, CCRN2BE! I am considering writing an article for a nursing journal and would like to use your comments. Thank you. Anybody else have issues, concerns, comments about this?

I, an RN, owned a successful DME company, brought it successful, then sold it. Now, I contract (independently) to an accreditation company and team-lead on surveys. Travel is fun and interesting. I do independent other consulting on the side. Through all aspects of business planning, implementation, legalities, contracts, etc, I go to my "big brother" a S.C.O.R.E mentor. I do the work, he guides and mentors me. I recommend SCORE highly. A free service and you get a team of expert consultants across the nation.

Locked in syndrome, from stroke, TBI, ALS, encephalitis, or just intubation with paralysis or limb trauma was always a communication challenge. Now, after having it myself for a few days from an arbovirus encephalitis, the concern really hit home. How do you communicate with your patients that are fully aware, fully cognizant but unable to communicate verbally or in writing? I've done it, but it is so time consuming and I always feel like we're missing so much. What do YOU do?

HM2Viking RN wrote: "Oh how true.....ADD is both a blessing and a curse.....It is a blessing because as an individual I can think outside of the box..." I love this! ADD is a blessing and my entire contingent of relatives are so creative due to the ADD. I have always designed my own organizational tools to make it work for my RN job. But I consider the ADD more a strength and less a disability or liability!

You moved and got your family settled in the new area. Now you are ready to start your career. That is it. Do not disclose any more. The hospitals know they will spend a lot of money orienting new grads. It is an investment for them. They do not need to spend this resource on someone who may be too sick to give them the return on the investment. Good luck and I am glad you are better.

Hi. A review of the posts here shows that it is best to not disclose this issue as long as possible. And between flares, most of us have symptoms easy enough to hide. But we deal with similar issues: fear of disclosure, fear of being fired, fear of flares, dealing with symptoms and those awful MS meds. I would really like to hear from other nurses with MS. It is really good to just know someone else in the same situation. Does anyone else pop those MRI CDs in their own computer the minute you leave the radiologists office? Only a nurse! Thanks.

Strikert, That is a great idea! I was diagnosed this year with Multiple Sclerosis. I got a new job working with out-patient pre-cardiac cath patients explaining the process, taking pre-admit labs, ECGs, patient teaching, etc. I am super nice (warm and fuzzy)to my patients and now that hospitals are being paid by Medicare based their satisfaction surveys, my warm&fuzzies are assuring me a stable position. But I am concerned that when I transition to thei new employer's insurance, and they are a self-insured entity, that my job may be in danger due to the $60,000/year multiple sclerosis treatments. I also work in at at will state. I can be fired at any time for any reason. I too, try to hide my symptoms. When asked if I am limping, I say, "I always walk weird." I took this job because it had no complex problem solving and routine tasks. Although not challenging, it is safe when I loose focus (MS brain). When my eyesight gets bad, nobody notices except me. When my bladder doesn't work.....well, you get the idea. It is so nice speaking to other nurses with MS, especially those in the closet about it. I am on Copaxone (itchy lumpy Copaxone) and am very hopeful about BG12 available later this year. I would love to hear more from other nurses with MS.

Check into your state. They are always looking for facility surveyors because they pay so poorly, but the work is very easy. Your only hurdle will be dealing with the boredom.

I stole this from the Amazon site. This is a critique of it... Michael Sutherland, an attorney afflicted with a childhood disease and his friend, Dr. Ross Manchester, foster Dad to an abandoned infant, join forces to confront what is wrong with the business of health care as the story rapidly weaves in, around and back again. Marilyn, is a nurse is determined to do the right thing no matter the consequences and despite the warnings. Dr. Fossari is arrogant, intimidating and incompetent. It is a story about how evil individuals penetrate the health professions and the horrifying consequence that result. This book questions the depravity of some of the forces at work in our health care industry and does it in a way that will get into the hearts and minds of everyone who has been a patient, cares about patients or will be a patient themselves one day. This fictional account is full of such rich, poignant and believable characters that I became intensely angry at times, sobbed at others, and even jumped out of my reading chair to applaud them! The author knows her settings and writes with such intimate knowledge of the inner workings of hospitals and the people that influence them especially the routines, errors, motivations and politics and conflicts. On one side are those that are motivated by patient needs, excellent outcomes and professional integrity and are dedicated to their patients; and there are those that are motivated by greed and power. When the setting is health care, this conflict triggers death and destruction which become the ultimate story line. But this book is also about hope, aspirations and surprises in unintended positive consequences also. This author brings the reader right into the thick of it with authenticity and passion. A must read for anyone who has ever had a blood pressure cuff wrapped around their arm.

My friend read this great book and gave it to me to read it. It s great! And it is by a fellow nurse too. She got it on Amazon. It takes place at a children's hospital in St. Petersburg, FL. It is called No Other Medicine by Gail G. Hallas, RN.

Kudos for your pro-active ways. You must be awesome at QA! Your colleague goes on and on about her stance? Tell her you value her input, just ask her to put her rationales in writing instead of verbalizing so that you can study the details. Once she starts writing her rationales she may realize there are few or none. And you can show respect for her input while deflecting the verbal repetitions. Good Luck. Sounds like you are doing a great job.

Thank you everyone. I appreciate all your comments. I know my clothes are clean when I enter work, but after? I can almost feel the MRSA, C-diff, pseudamonas, etc. How often do I see residents with their hands near their mouths and noses, then they sit on their beds using their hands to lower themselves or push off. Whatever pathogens are on their hands and bottocks end up on the bedspread. Then we are also taught to hold used linens away from our uniforms as we transport it to the soiled linen hamper so not to contaminate our clothes. So unless pathogens are instructed to NOT contaminate IF THE CONTACT(sitting on the bed) was done to facilitate communication and dignity, then we get contaminated. Then we bring those pathogens to the beds of the next resident we visit. So, do your facilities have policies for either practice? Just curious! Thank you again everyone.