elb252

I've been working on a rehab/skilled care unit in LTC for seven months and have a second interview tomorrow at the Institute. I went to an open house/job fair for nurses they recently had about a week ago; all applicants were offered interviews on the spot. I hit off really well with the interviewer, so I'm going in tomorrow! I'm pretty excited but also nervous since I have few experience with children (unless I count my time as an after-school tutor for a couple of semesters and babysitting, volunteering); however, I love working with all individuals -- adults and children -- with special needs. What is the work atmosphere like? Do staff generally get along with each other (ie, nurses with other nurses, nurses and CNAs, nurses with physicians and interdisciplinary staff, etc)? With my small amount of pediatric experience, would I even have a shooting chance for the position?

Any more than it's fair for this man, a threat to staff (not to mention patients), to be "dumped" in an ER. While people get killed in jail, there's even more of a risk of this man escalating to physical violence in an ER that does not have the personnel or security measures that a prison has. Family sues the police for an inmate hanging himself? That's definitely possible. So is the patient's family suing a hospital for "malpractice" or "neglect." Or, what about ANOTHER patient's family suing the hospital for harm or damage done by the mentally-instable patient? What's unfortunate is that both police and hospitals/ERs have to be "dumped" on.

Okay, staff -- it's annoying enough when you yell conversations down the hallways, but for the love of god -- do you HAVE to do it right by the nurse's station when I'm on the phone with a doctor? Family members: If we provide such "poor" care for your dumpling mother, why don't YOU haul your orifices and take her home with you? Either transfer out and save us the misery, or just take her home so that her care can meet your expectations.

Don't get yourself too stressed out, Greta. I think that that statement, "don't trust her, she'll get you fired", was just a general statement (as opposed to a statement that was based on the actual situation). I know enough from experience in my own workplace that cliques and politics occur, but the DNS and HR would have to prove a lot (and have valid reasons for doing so) to actually terminate you. All you were doing was passing on a message. As another response stated, this seems to be more about a conflict with the night shift and day shift nurse. The previous responses just about sum it up; ie, explain that you prefer not to "get involved" and that you're just "passing on a message" -- and stay out the best you can. Go to the DNS when you feel this nurse begins to specifically target you.

If you want to know where all of your CNAs and nurses go, step outside of your cushy office, Ms. DON, and spend just ten minutes in my unit.

You, as the supervisor, want me to come down to your office just so that you can tell me how to apply a warm compress on a compromised IV site? First of all, what kind of idiot do you think I am? I'm a beginning nurse, not a stupid one! Also, why can't you come up to the nurse's station on MY unit when I've already got 30 sick and (rightfully) demanding residents to take care of?

my god, thank you for that. my last preceptor disappeared out of thin air for a fifteen minute break, and left me alone on the medcart on my first day of orientation. good god.

AMEN...

Forgive my ignorance, but is subacute the same as LTAC??

I love babies, but they're so fragile...so many things could go wrong with such tiny lives. It's not for me, either. I love geriatrics, too. I someday hope to work in hospice and psych (geri is a special interest of mine); my community nursing clinical was hospice-based and I absolutely loved it. I took care of mostly patients in LTC settings with my preceptor. The hospice nurses who come into my LTC workplace are all wonderful too.

Many of your critical care patients will involve the geriatric population.

I see the point that you're trying to make. While it may sound like a good idea, it's actually quite biased. As a nurse with Asperger's disorder and ADHD, I never would have fulfilled your standards. When I graduated high school, my GPA was a 3.1 due to being sick so often throughout my years. I struggled in nursing school to learn and comprehend the material, but I worked my bum off and ended up doing very well in my clinicals. I was never at the "top of my class" and I got picked on by arrogant classmates b/c I had to ask a lot of questions and didn't always get things the first time around, but I always got through it. Even though it takes me longer to learn, once I really know and understood something, it stays locked into place. Period. I graduated nursing school with a 3.5 GPA. It took me three times to pass the NCLEX, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. My testing skills are HORRIBLE. I honestly feel that the NCLEX does not reflect on the prospective nurse's knowledge of skills, but instead the nurse's testing ability. I practiced thousands and thousands of questions, read volumes of review/practice books, etc....basically, worked HARD to get the license that I deserved. In my opinion, instead of answering written questions (because in retrospect, I knew nurses with very good testing abilities but couldn't do anything in clinicals), it would be more beneficial to test clinical competence based on hands-on performance skills. Of course, that would probably be too expensive for most states... By the way, I've been a nurse for almost six months in a LTC, and have received many positive reviews from both staff and families. My job gets crazy, but I can handle it. The blood, sweat, and tears in school and studying for a silly exam were worth EVERYTHING, not how many times (or how long) it took me to succeed. I do respect your opinion, and I apologize if I come off as overly criticizing. I'm just suggesting that GPAs and written tests alone cannot always measure the intelligence and critical analysis of an individual, and I think it's ridiculous that so many schools and licensing processes utilize these tools.

If you want to talk trash about another staff member or resident, by all means -- go straight ahead. But, don't involve me, especially when there's family around or doctors around...

That's a good one...

Wow, that's ridiculous! Does this nurse know you're a beginning LPN, Cappuccino? If she does and you've already explained to her that you're trying to learn as much as you can during orientation, request a different mentor. I know you may not want to start up drama, but it looks like this nurse has beat you to it with her ignorant attitude.