Belfegor

my god! dear gotogirl, i feel your pain and your anger! but i simply don't understand what the don is accusing you of? from what you say in your posts, you were reported for "being tired" and "seeing a psychiatrist"??????!!!!!! since when are those things against the law? or against good nursing practice? i work most of my (12 hours) night shifts on an empty stomach and a full bladder....i too am exhausted, thirsty , hungry and frustrated when morning comes, and rightly so! so what!? i don't get it....who isn't tired after such an overnight marathon? maybe i should sue my employer for putting me in a situation that increases my chances of making a mistake and jeopardize my career? they would just laugh in my face! but all of a sudden, you are tired, and it's a crime??? what the f#@$%!!!!! and since when does seeing a psychiatrist is considered like a "bad thing"? that is pure discrimination!!! if you have the stamina, i think that you should actually deposit and officially sue both the hospital and the bon for discrimination based on a medical condition! that is very much against the law! you know the adage: the best defense is to attack! i think that it might get tricky for them when they have to explain in front of a judge why they are harassing you and compromising your livelihood and your reputation based on "anonymous" hear-say about personal and medical stuff that has not impacted your practice in any way. i would personally be willing to start a fund raising to help you pay an excellent attorney to represent you when you accuse them of discrimination! both the board and your past and present employers are to follow the laws against discrimination (they even write it in their website, corporate rules etc...) get them to explain publicly what ground they are basing their actions against you. they are going to look so bad, that they might end up being the ones to be in deep caca! i am so ****** for you, please don't let them make you a victim, because they are so wrong, that they can't get away with it, especially if you stand up for yourself and make them officially respond for their discriminatory (how many times did i write that word so far?) behavior and actions. please attack them before this goes too far. you have every right to be treated fairly, and suing them would be a statement that you have nothing to hide or be ashamed of, but they certainly do! contact the press if necessary! i can guarantee you that they are not gonna look good! geez! this is disgusting!:angryfire please keep faith and courage, and fight for your rights! ok, sorry, i got really worked up here, but i think it is beyond scandalous and unacceptable! may the force be with you and don't forget that many nurses & other general public will side up with you if only your situation was made public. let's start a petition, let's make a stink until those 2 organizations publicly apologize to you and retreat with their shameful tail between their shameful legs ! b.

how about the one that has low self esteem issues (i guess) and keeps putting down the colleagues she is jealous of in order to look good! that nurse lies very convincingly and always portrait herself as the "victim-hero" (as in "poor me, no one else can do what i do...i am cursed to be so good") i have a really hard time with those and want to tell them: get over yourself and grow up !!! :angryfire

Many (and I mean MANY) contract MRSA in the community. For all you know, you already are colonized by MRSA. Working in health care increase your exposure to MRSA, but the incidence in the community is already so high, that it doesn't really make a difference. Being colonized doesn't mean that you are sick or have an infection. It just means that you are a (healthy) carrier. If you don't have an deficient immune system, it isn't really a concern. B.

i disagree: most internal transfers are subject to your manager's approval. your manager will be informed of your request/application to transfer by hr. once the manager of your future unit contacts him/her for referral, it might look a bit shady that you went behind your current manager's back. why are you so scared to inform your current manager of your intentions? from previous posts, you seemed to thoroughly enjoy working where you are at now, so i guess you have legitimate reasons for wanting a transfer- therefore there is no shame or disgrace in it and communicating your plans to your manager would probably be the most honest way to go about it and should be seen as a mature/professional attitude. try to see it from your manager's perspective (as well as your colleagues): being able to plan ahead and recruit your replacement should be much less upsetting than falling short of a well trained rn on short notice. just my 2 cents.... b.

see? thank you for you candor! you could have ripped me apart for this silly mistake.....some would have... i meant a nun...... my apologies....and thank you for pointing it out to me

i think that judgmental people are the ones that push all the wrong buttons for me. they have an opinion (usually negative) about everything and everyone- are quick to jump to conclusions and most of the time, assume the worst out of any given person or situation. you feel that they are constantly "watching" you and will jump on your case with great pleasure just as soon as you may make a mistake. to those people, i want to say: get a life! i can't begin to understand how such a person could be a nurse! to me, a nurse is someone with the ability to walk in your shoes. someone who will never judge you, and will give you the benefit of the doubt. someone able to feel compassion, and someone that doesn't take him or herself so seriously that his or her standards are the only one out there. am i confusing a nurse for a none ? i am no none (by any mean), yet i hope to have this non-judgmental , compassionate attitude...and it does not just apply to my patients! because i believe that we too need some compassion and understanding from one another! we have a tough job~all of us~compassion amongst us would make such a difference in our profession and in our daily life.:heartbeat b

kudos to you! yeah!you start like that, and your continuing efforts will snow ball soon! keep at it!! bravo! b~

maybe you can take advantage of your so-called "weakness".....most diets recommend eating like a cat. in other words, you take your total intake for the day and divid it by 4 or 5 (smaller) meals. have those portions ready (like in tupperwares or frozen meals) so you can eat what you have planned ahead (healthy, balanced small meals). it will be so easy to access, or warm up, that you are less likely to binge or even substitute them for less healthy and more caloric food. for example, you can have an assortment of fruits peeled and cut in a few small containers. divide some tuna you mixed with olive oil and herbs and, let say cucumbers, in another set of small tupperware etc....then set your watch or alarm, or egg minuter (or whatever is convenient- like you cell phone if you are at work) to ring every 3 to 4 hours. when it rings, take a few minutes to breath, sit down, and eat what you prepared. don't skip because you aren't hungry, just see it as taking your medication if you really aren't hungry. in that case, light food usually goes down well. fruits for example are the type of food you don't need to be hungry to eat, its fresh and juicy and even sweet... in between those smaller meals, make sure to drink a lot of water (or tea, infusion, ice tea etc...but not the kind full of sugar!if you really need the sweet taste, use brown sugar or honey....or even sweetener ) to stay hydrated and flush out toxins etc... i hope you can give this a try and let us know how it works for you? oh, and by the way, exercise will make you gain "weight"....muscle weight that is. i am sure you already know this, but when you exercise and feed your muscles, your balance will show an increased weight because muscle is heavier than fat. so maybe your balance isn't the best way to judge your progress! your appearance is! the way you fit in your cloths is! gaining muscle is definitely a great slimming tool because the more muscle you have, the more you increase your basal metabolic rate, wich means that you continue to burn calories even when you are resting! that's a great deal: the more muscles you have, the more you will burn calories, even in your sleep and eventually, your "weight" will stabilize itself and you won't even care what your balance reads, because you'll know that you are in the best shape from what the mirror tells you and how you feel in your own body! b~

just to be sure i understand you right. do you mean to say that the "know-it-all-nurse" is typically the one to become a crna or an np? or do you mean that they think they will become one (but never get there)? thank you for the clarification... b-

duh! are you kidding!? since when is (occasional) pot smoking comparable to cocaine snorting?

hey! it's already something!it's like quitting smoking! one day at the time! congratulations on that by the way, it is no small achievement! let's start with the positives, instead of the negatives: what do you enjoy doing that could be considered like physical exercise? what kind of food do you like that could be considered "healthy"? do you have a dog that would need being walked? what kind of unit and shifts do you work? i think that like quitting to smoke, eating healthy is more a mind set than anything else. learning to listen to your own body, trying to be kind to yourself instead of looking at your flaws. what i'm getting at is that often we don't even realize that we eat way more than what we really need.to be able to "feel" that, you need to pay close attention to the signals your body sends you. do you need to finish that plate? are you really still hungry? did 20 minutes pass since you started your meal? if not, the signals of satiety won't have time to reach your brain. do you eat in front of the tv, the computer? if so, you are not paying attention to your meal and how much you ate. try eating with no other distraction than what is in front of you (food wise i mean). i can relate to the ice cream binge...i have a sweet tooth too and find it difficult to resist chocolate! so i don't! what i mean is that i allow myself one treat per day. but it has to be early enough so i have enough time afterward to burn what i ate, and i limit my intake to one piece of candy (like one small twix). the rest of the day i make sure that i eat mostly vegetables, and make several smaller meals so i never feel hungry (unless i'm working, and then i go hungry for 12 hours, but that's another issue). it might take a bit of time for your stomach to "shrink" and feel satisfied by smaller amounts of food, but if you keep at it, it will happen and you will find yourself eating 1/3 of what you use to eat without the pang of hunger. you did it for your smoking cravings (i assume) so i think you are strong enough to get on this journey as well. try to project yourself into the future when you have the figure you want to achieve, and keep this positive image to motivate you. i feel like a fraud for "giving advice" but i am merely sharing ideas, and for you to take it with a grain of salt. overall, if you could find things that you enjoy doing (like i wrote in an earlier post, if you enjoy dancing, make sure you do it daily- even if it's in the bathroom!) you should aim at making this a positive change instead of a torture. if you fall off the wagon one day doesn't mean that you failed! it is only one day, and the next will be better. each small effort counts and adds up....one less pint of ice cream per day would already be great! good luck and let us know how you are doing. b

oh yeah, and by the way, as a health care worker you might be interested in the actual damages etoh inflicts! yet it is legal... why don't you question that!? please do your homework and check out the stats on all diseases and traumas associated with alcohol! that should be a greater concern to you than occasional pot smokers! i can't remember ever reading or being taught that occasional pot smoking constituted a health threat of any kind. nope! i can go back to all the classes and certifications i ever took, and i still can't find a 2 liners about that..... alcohol on the other hand.... tobacco? yeah, tobacco never killed anyone either right!? tobacco is legal, so let's smoke our heart content! maybe you should get together with alex and see if he'll be generous enough to let you try a joint? see if it loosens you up a bit? i am seriously ashamed for you....

well, i don't know what the rules and regulations say about that.....but my opinion is : if taking ativan doesn't impair your judgment, i don't see why it would be an issue? once again, i don't know if it is indeed allowed.... but seriously, i think my judgment is more impaired when i work 12 hours on an empty stomach/without a break, than yours would be for taking ativan..... additionally, if you were prescribed ativan, i would believe that it is to help you with anxiety issues...right? i think that having anxiety (beyond the "normal" adrenaline rush when coding a patient) at work would be more detrimental to your thinking abilities than taking what might help you keep your anxiety in check. many people are on some kind of medication that can potentially impair their judgement. the question is: does it really? if you are taking your medication on a long term basis and know the effect it has on your brain, you should be able to judge if it does indeed impair your faculties. last time i checked, b-blockers weren't in the category of meds that are illegal to take while working....let me tell you that when i started b-blockers, i was totally useless!!!! even after a few weeks of treatment, it still had the same effect on me. i had to stop. bet you that if i did make a mistake while on b-blockers, i wouldn't have been able to blame it on the medication! yet, i consider that i was a walking danger then.... about the post of flatline (right name?).... i was completely, utterly speechless to read your extremely rigid feelings about occasional post smokers... really?? no really? criminals? with these kind of beliefs, i don't think that you belong in nursing! so, what happens when you get to take care of an alcoholic or a drug abuser, or even say, a chronic pain patient? do you refuse them pain meds? if their tolerance to pain meds is higher than the average patient, what do you do? do you actually advocate for them to have their dose adjusted to their needs, or do you let them suffer on 2 mg of morphine after a total knee replacement? if you were that perfect, you wouldn't be so quick to judge so harshly!!! i think that people with your attitude are more dangerous than many "criminals"! in my book, narrow minded, judgmental nurses are criminals! sad for you, even sadder for your patients ! crazy world!

Well, Thinking is definitely a good exercise ! Although it doesn't burn much calories..... Ok seriously though.... exercise does not mean running the marathon, or running period. Think about a baby learning to walk. One baby step at the time. maybe walking longer distances. maybe taking a few flights of stairs, or just a few stairs, but every day. You have to start somewhere. And you can take care of your eating disorders while starting to move more. And moving more might help you solve those eating disorders. If you stay active, busy, it is all that more time spent no thinking about food or eating. There is one thing that helps me: I make the decision to eat healthy when I go to the grocery store. I know that whatever I buy will end up in my stomach at some point. So I shop on a full stomach and don't buy what is "BAD" for me. If the house is only stocked with healthy treats (and I mean healthy!) it will be possible to eat the wrong kind of food only if you make the effort of going out to buy it. Time for you to actually make the move should provide you with the answer: NO! Anything fried, pre-made, fast-food, with heavy sauces, and sodas : NO! If you only start with those 3 steps, I believe you should start feeling and seeing results sooner than later. and if you like dancing, close the doors and dance in your living room half an hour everyday. No witness, just yourself and some music you really enjoy. Have fun, it helps!