merlee

merlee

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All Content by merlee

  1. It's Wrong! (A night shift perspective)

    merlee replied to Sixtyseven's topic in Geriatric, LTC

    My MIL had been in an LTC facility for 9 years. She had Pick's dementia. When we placed her initially we decided then on 'no feeding tube' or other extraordinary actions. Recently she developed a...

  2. Mistakes Are Inevitable: No One Is Perfect.

    merlee replied to Ruby Vee's topic in Nursing Professionalism

    Well-written article, many good points. Long before unit dose and automated systems, an instructor taught us that if you need to give less than 1/2 or more than twice of what is conventionally...

  3. Is anyone else losing spouse coverage?

    merlee replied to Palmtreegirl's topic in Activism, Healthcare

    You say that your husband is retired but not eligible for Medicare, then I am assuming he is under 66ish. Could he possibly return to work? I am only

  4. Does Preferring to Work Night Shift mean you're lazy?

    merlee replied to Soliloquy's topic in Patient, Colleague Relations

    I did a long stretch of nights after my divorce. Two reasons. One, they were offering a 20% diff if you signed on for at least 6 months. The diff applied to any sick time, vacation, overtime, etc....

  5. Patients with sticky fingers!

    merlee replied to Emergent's topic in Emergency

    Many many years ago, in Philly, we had a gypsy queen as a patient, and lost a massive amount of linens in 2-3 days. This was before most places had an entire security dept. In those days, the supply...

  6. Legal Nurse Consultant (LNC)

    merlee replied to sirI's topic in Legal

    Excellent article with very pertinent information. Thank

  7. Nurse Tech and first patient fall. Worried about being fired.

    merlee replied to guyman123's topic in General Nursing

    There certainly needs to be a Fall review committee on your unit, or in the facility. 20 falls this year?? Wow.

  8. Doing favors or giving gifts for patients: Unacceptable?

    merlee replied to tariqblaze's topic in Patient, Colleague Relations

    In over 30 years of direct patient care, I can count on one hand the number of times I have done a favor where money or off-duty time was involved. One was actually in nursing school! and not my...

  9. Increased nurse staff levels tied to lower odds of Medicare readmissions penalties, s

    merlee replied to herring_RN's topic in Activism, Healthcare

    WHAT WE NURSES HAVE BEEN SAYING FOR YEARS BETTER STAFFING = BETTER CARE BUT WITHOUT THOSE RESEARCHERS CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS NO ONE EVER HEARS US. B E T T E R S T A F F I N G =...

  10. MSN (not CNL) as a bedside nurse- thoughts?

    merlee replied to meanmaryjean's topic in Nursing Career

    My comment has consistently been - - who wants to spend 40-100,00 bucks on an education to work weekends, nights and holidays, ad infinitum? If you do, then so be it. But is there compensation for...

  11. 2020 BSN law

    merlee replied to DelleBrock's topic in Diploma, ADN, BSN

    Sigh. In the early '70's we were told that a BSN would be mandatory by 1985. Or 1992. Or 1999..... Still hasn't happened. There are, however, as noted, some facilities that are attempting to go...

  12. Curious about how to handle this situation..

    merlee replied to MilliePieRN's topic in General Nursing

    I could understand looking at the meds to see if they were something that the child had to have that night, ie, antibiotics, something for an ongoing problem, etc. and needed to be returned right...

  13. Patient responsive but in cardiac arrest

    merlee replied to Blandini7's topic in MICU, SICU

    I have actually called 2 codes on pts that were AAO! One was about to go into anaphylactic shock - and would need to be intubated, the other was severely fluid overloaded and drowning. Both...

  14. Refusing food offered by patients

    merlee replied to Lev's topic in Patient, Colleague Relations

    In some facilities eating something off of a patient's tray, regardless of the circumstances, can be cause for dismissal. Frankly, I would only eat something that was store-bought and individually...

  15. Writing multiple times?

    merlee replied to loriangel14's topic in General Nursing

    Since I found out that the exam could be as short as 75 questions I have been amazed. That covers 4+ years of schooling? Wow! I don't believe that 2 days of testing is necessary, but one hour...

  16. Home Health nurses HELP please! Telemonitoring question!

    merlee replied to TwinkleStar1's topic in General Nursing

    Someone at your agency should be able to give you the expected guidelines. 3,3,2,2,1,1-,1 is not uncommon, but could be fewer, like 3,2,1,1,-,1-,1. Depends on the individual case. Hopefully, the last...

  17. Cost effective patients

    merlee replied to SNB1014's topic in Nursing Humor

    Never a good idea to 'not tell' the nurse that you are taking you own meds - what if it interacts with something, or makes you sleepy? I am surprised you would do this. Why do they charge so much...

  18. Nursing jobs with a sign on bonus question

    merlee replied to imapsychrn's topic in Job Search, Interview, Resume

    If they are asking for a 2 yr commitment, then it is likely that the bonus will be divided up, with the last part given at the 2-year mark. Make certain that you completely understand the premise of...

  19. Inactive or Unemployed RN,Is it ok to apply medicaid?

    merlee replied to charr-RN's topic in Retired Nurses

    Medicaid is an income-based supplement that has nothing to do with your occupation/license. Apply for ALL of the services you may need. No one ever needs to know at the nursing board in your state,...

  20. HIPAA - where you least expect it

    merlee replied to amoLucia's topic in HIPAA Challenges

    So why can't the pharmacy person bring the groceries? Or maybe even though they are the same company, the products come from different

  21. Boy, did I mess up :(

    merlee replied to soon_2Bnurse's topic in HIPAA Challenges

    I can't speak for your job, although this doesn't sound too bad to me. But this is definitely not something the BON would be too concerned about. Nothing happened to anybody, and it's unlikely that...

  22. Worst start ever

    merlee replied to thelema13's topic in Emergency

    Got a call to see a home care patient 45 miles from my home. Went out to my car and my driver's side window had been destroyed. Arrggh! Luckily, the local auto glass place was still open, and they...

  23. Bending and Breaking the Rules in Nursing

    merlee replied to TheCommuter's topic in Geriatric, LTC

    I am diabetic, and when I am finally terminal, I want my doc to write for 'anything she desires to eat'. And I want my man, if I have one at the time, to get in bed with me and make love to me as...

  24. Cocaine Toothache Drops

    merlee replied to Brian's topic in General Nursing

    Yes, liquid cocaine is still out there. Some years ago it was used to stop a bad nosebleed that my son had. And my favorite story about paregoric -- More than 50 years ago, one of my mom's good...

  25. Is this covered? How many units would you give?

    merlee replied to Kidrn911's topic in Diabetes, Endocrine Nursing

    I think you did the right thing. I take much more than that, but each person is different. Have you rechecked the pt's sugar yet? Best wishes - you are doing just