babynurse73

I've never heard of having to go to the board of nursing to explain a mental illness. This is absurd unless a grievance has been made against you....how with the board of nursing know about your mental illness in the first place? I'm sure you wouldn't seek them out to tell them. Personally I've had anxiety and depression and been on medication and never revealed it on any application. As far as I'm concerned it's nobodys business but mine and my doctors and whomever I choose to tell. I am a safe and sane nurse and as long as you are a safe nurse you need not disclose your mental illness. If however your schizo affective disorder is not well controlled you may want to work on that before becoming a nurse. I worked in inpatient psychiatric for two years and several fellow nurses had "reasons" why they gravitated toward psychiatry. It is a fascinating field of nursing and I wish you the best of luck!

The military industrial complex? What are you talking about? Do you watch the news? We are possibly in a war with Russia...we are in a very precarious position in the middle east and our military has been castrated under Obama. What do you mean it needs reigning in? Dear Sir I do believe you are not educated in these matters and are looking for an identification. are you a nurse? Or are you in high school? No offense really but please do your research! Our country is a mess and libertarianism is so far off course in fixing the problems@!!

OK so yesterday I was at the office at 8 AM. Had six visits...one was recertification one was oasis discharge....The remaining four were routine. I was up until 1030 pm charting. Finishing up on my admission from the day before and completing all my oasis and routine visit information that was left out, which wasn't much. I am exhausted! And this is my first weekend on call, which will make 14 days in a row with no days off. And whatever else beingon call entails. I shall find out today. I am about to call it quits if this doesn't get any better. I have come along way since the beginning with my charting. I'm fairly fast on the computer it's just honing a systematic approach..... Not sure about this!! My biggest complaints other than charting is that doctors don't call back or fax back! And the nurse assistant in the office sometimes seemed put out that we are calling for clarification of orders or to report a fall etc.......I guess you'll find that anywhere! But wow! I sure am working hard! My kids tell me I never cook anymore and that I'm always in a bad mood. That breaks my heart😞

What agency provides full benefits for per visit status?

When i worked in the hospital, I'd venture to say that about 75%of the nurses i worked with were on an ssri or another anti depressant. I was for years. Paxil in nursing school. Made me a bit too "up" but i know others who like it fine. Sometimes with antidepressants it takes kissing a couple of frogs before you find your prince, if you know what I mean. Be careful if going off never quit cold turkey. Now im trying alternative methods to help my mood. One of these methods was leaving the hospital all together! Best of luck to you.

Im trying to decide if this is a control issue the pt has. She is definitely frustrated by her impaired communication related to the stroke. She wants to control her meds, as I filled her med box last week and she did not comply with taking her meds. I've asked her to have all her meds ready for the visit so that I could help her prepour...nope...not happening....like pulling teeth....."Cindy would you please have all of your prescriptions in one container and ready for our next visit?" Blank stare. Changed subject. "I don't need anyone helping me I've been independent" "Im a smart woman" "I used to have a big job as a pit boss in Atlantic City" etc etc. (Names and locations changed)...but when I asked her "Do you think you need a nurse to visit you?" She says yes. I'm having difficulty finding what the skilled need is here. I definitely think this is partly a control issue and partly impaired cognition/memory due to effects of stroke. She gets agitated if anyone in her family or myself tries to coordinate appointments or explain that we need her to be ready and compliant. Her family basically allows her to do what she wants because they don't want to deal with her wrath....she is sort of an intimidating person I suppose that's also part of my problem. I seem to be unable to take control of the visit....it's all over the place and I feel like Im accomplishing nothing with this pt. Im thinking of discharging her from Skilled Nursing and keeping PT, ST and HHA on service..although she said she didn't like the HHA. Described her as "lazy."

Thanks Just Beachy. Thats a great idea! But Im new to this job so the last thing I want to do is leave...I was in LDRP for 5+ years and psych for 2 years. I'd like to stay put somewhere at this point in my life..and it's not as if these jobs are abundant anyway. The job market in my area is slim pickens. Im really just venting I guess. At some point in my life I would like to get out of direct patient care altogether but I will need to get BSN Im afraid. A whole other can of worms at the age of 48 with 2 young teens, husband, several pets and working 40 hours. Gosh, I sound like a real complainer I know. Just had a rough day. I truly envy those who love their job! God bless ya!

So as you may know i left hospital for home health. While some aspects are better as far as chaos and pandemonium, I have to say Im pretty darn stressed out. Loose ends are haunting me and a few of the patients Ive seen drive me insane as well. I have a s/p stroke pt with aphasia who is non compliant with everything! The visits are like torture trying to communicate with her. I actually understand what she is saying, however she is tangential...hell bent on letting you know she knows what she's talking about. She doesn't have voice mail set up so there's always issues and confusion about appt times. All of the 3 times Ive been to her home she's been in the shower after I've specifically set up a time with her and her family. That's the other thing. There are about 8 people in and out of her home at any given moment....all chiming in or looking on....and when I would like to talk to one of them, they are reluctant to get involved. I only want to suggest a white board calendar so everyone knows when her visits and dr.s appts are so everyone is on the same page! UGH its so frustrating. Nothing gets accomplished. She has PT, OT, ST and HHA involved in her care and I haven't been able to collaborate as of yet.. ..I feel like Im spinning my wheels. Out on the road with my GPS...trying to get here and there. Meanwhile the loose ends are just swirling around in my brain. I also don't think I like wound care. I haven't done strokes or wound care since I was a newbie...I was LDRP and psych for most of my career and now I remember why. Maybe Im just a malcontent but direct patient care is for the birds if you ask me. I HOPE THIS GETS BETTER!!

Sounds like social anxiety disorder with a little anger on the side internalized. Maybe an antidepressant and psychotherapy would help. Im sure this has been mentioned. I havent read through the whole thread. I'm wondering if home schooling contributed to this? NOT dissing homeschooling here, but do you think it could have been detrimental to your socialization skills? Believe me, I understand people get on my nerves too. When i read your post, my intuition told me you are young. So im not taking it literally that you HATE people. I suspect you are exaggerating to get a response and to relieve some anxiety here. Sometimes the replies on this website are a bit harsh in my opinion. Anyway good luck in your endeavors.

What part of the country are you from?

I have been reading this forum for a long time and have posted several times about switching from hospital to home health. So I've been in hh since mid May and its going along. Started doing OASIS on my own (although receiving lots of help) for a couple of weeks and boy what a learning curve. Not that it's hard stuff to understand, just the number of pages and vagaries of some of the questions...all while trying to do it in the home as much as you can while you have the patient asking questions, family dynamics going on around you, etc. I feel a bit stupid at times but try to fake confidence for the patient if you know what I mean, and fill in the blanks later. It takes me about 6 hours to complete an admission, this includes the visit which is about 2 hours. I don't know how Im going to manage this with a full case load! I still get boggled about med recs and doctors orders due to working in hosp environ for 15 years. For example, my bka pt's incisions are healing well. So after she sees her ortho he tells her to stop using santyl and puracol on the wound, just dsd and kerlix. She tells me this in the home and I do it, however I get stumped (no pun intended)....it's not actually a doctors order right? So, I fax the MD to see if wants to change the orders in McKesson and then dc the santyl in med rec? I don't know why this overwhelms me. Maybe because I don't have a fax machine in my bag of tricks. It seems like a lot of steps. And Coumadin and Prednisone..have to change that in med rec every week if dosage changes and fax MD.....I hope this all gets easier. I think I'm really going to like it once my speed and confidence increase. It takes a year to feel comfortable is the mantra. Another issue is that because Im new, Im getting other NCM's pt's. I had a situation (I will try to be brief) where the daughter in law and her two sons were present. The pt was diabetic and O2 dependent. The DIL was downright nasty to the pt, to her sons and to me during the entire visit. I mean nasty. I worked inpt psych for two years and she was definitely borderline pd. I left that visit shaken...not because I couldn't handle her but because I just felt helpless trying to fumble around with the computer etc etc etc... I felt so bad for that family. So I call the NCM who never calls back. This pt has been with the agency on and off for a long time. I was thinking maybe MSW involvement at the very least. I wrote a case management note in chart with specific details of the visit but NCM never contacted me. I've never even seen her in the office. My supervisor was out doing joint visits that day and my preceptor on vaca. So I just let it go. I looked in his chart recently and he is discharging. I guess my point is, collaboration could be lacking here depending on the NCM. I feel maybe she didn't want to open a can of worms or something. That couldn't have been the only time this daughter in law behaved that way in all those visits??!! Anyway I let that one go as a learning experience. I think psychosocial stuff gets missed a lot in home care. Is this anyone else's experience? Wow.....I originally wanted to know if anyone carries an automatic bp cuff and if so which one? Just looking for anything to make life easier!

Sent from my iPhone using allnurses Wendy

Quota is 26 patients per week Sent from my iPhone using allnurses Wendy

Oh poo. I hope it gets better. I can't imagine having to go back to the chaos of the hospital! Sent from my iPhone using allnurses Wendy

Oh Libby! Reading some of these posts bums me out. I am day three into my orientation. This company seems very well organized. Got my laptop today. More computer stuff for the rest of the week, then next week going out for visits withy preceptor. So far I am impressed with the employees and orientation. The company is expanding and it is the largest home Health agency in Connecticut. I found out some other nurses from the hospital have switched over. One of my old nurse buddies from the old days switched to this agency. She said she loves it but she works more now than she ever has! So I guess wish me luck! I have been reading your posts and they are very encouraging with a lot of helpful advice. Thank you! Sent from my iPhone using allnurses Wendy