florianslove

24.48 per hour as UM in South Florida LPN for 7 years

Congratuations. That's quite an achievement. Good luck in your new career

I did start anti-depressants after nursing school, not during. I really feel my issues were not related to nursing, though the stress surely exacerbated it. My meds allow me to lead a full, happy life in and out of nursing. I still have trouble setting boudaries when I'm not working. My husband gets upset because I accept calls from my unit at all hours (I'm the unit manager). But I did the same thing when I was a home health nurse. I feel if I can learn to set boundaries, maybe I wouldn't need the meds, who knows?

Mara: As usual a great post. I really look forward to them, you are funny, intelligent and someone I wish I worked with. Keep up the good work

Good luck, sounds like a great place, keep us posted Roxann

since I've found this site, I'm in love. I've found inspirational stories (yes, you Marla) and a wealth of inormation. I check it at LEAST daily. Thank you guys, nurses ROCK:yeah:

You are never too old. I didn't discover nursing until late, I became an LPN at 40 yrs old and work with many who started late and are excellent nurses. If you didn't go for CNA, LPN or RN you would still be as old as you would have been had you gone for it. GO FOR IT. Best of luck.:heartbeat

Marla: A great post, as always. How about, No, I am really not paid to clean up your ****. An actual statement by one really challenging resident. Roxann:yeah::redbeathe

I joined the navy right out of high school, spent 4 years there, then had secretarial positions, went back to school in my late 20's, got a bachelor's in political science (thought of law school, but being a single mom with no law schools in my immediate area forgot that idea). Was offered a graduate assistantship at my university, took it and studied for my Master's in health administration. Became a staffing coordinator for a nursing/CNA staffing agency, made great money, really stressful though. After talking to a lot of the nurses I placed I decided to go for my LPN, graduated at 40. Am now a Unit Manager in a long term care facility, love it, love nursing and only wish I would have started earlier. Sometimes I feel my previous education was a waste, but it does help me with day to day decision making and problem solving at my job now. Nursing is where I belong. Also, my 24 year old is an LPN going to school for her RN. Very interesting stories, have a great weekend.:redpinkhe:redbeathe

Congratulations. Best of luck in your career, way to go:yeah::yeah::yeah: Roxann

My first job after getting my license was in LTC. It is really challenging but you can learn a lot. I always carried a nurse's drug book with me for reference, it really helped. Remember the 5 rights, and do the best you can. A good friend of mine once said "if you do the right thing, you'll never be wrong". Just try your best, pay attention, and remember you are there for the residents. Roxann:yelclap::redbeathe

Just today we had a 96 year old whose family wanted hospice, "I don't want mom going to the hospital for blood tranfusions", hospice consult, yes we're going to hospice, now say, mom's not the same. Our medical director, who seems afraid of his own shadow, ordered stat CBC's and other blood tests. In the mean time this lady had a severe hypotensive crisis, BP 70/40, unresponsive, O2 sat of 84% on oxygen. Bottom line is we sent her out 911, this poor lady will most likely be intubated, have a blood transfusion and a myriad of other tests. The daughters' can't let go. The patient is ready to let nature take it's course. However, our MD is afraid of his own shadow and will do everything possible to cover his **s. All we can do is wait and see what happens to this poor lady. Roxann

Michele Malkin is a crackpot. Read up on her, see what happens when she goes to forums and gets asked any questions resembling reality. She runs off the stage and hides. This was probably the worst example you could have picked, please become more informed, right now if this is the kind of stuff you're using to make your argument against President Obama's health care reform, you really don't have a leg to stand on. Reasonable debate and discussion, not fear mongering is what we need to solve the very real health care crisis in this country. Thanks for listening. Roxann

I'm licensed in Pennsylvania and Florida. I graduated and passed by boards in PA, but moved to Florida. I kept up my PA license because I have tons of family there and you never know, it was just a matter of filling out a form and sending a check, no testing. Goood luck, Roxann

Relax, the first month or so is the hardest. You will get faster and more efficient as you go. My first job as a nurse (which now seems sooo long ago), I wanted to quit after the first week. I didn't, seven years later I've done LTC, home health, and am now Unit Manager for two wings of our LTC/rehab facility. You will be fine. One more thing, take your pee breaks, they are important:D:D Roxann:heartbeat:yeah:

What I don't get is the venom at these "town hall meetings", instead of discussing health care most people are screaming at the top of their lungs about socialism and how President Obama is not an American citizen. What happened to getting the facts, not just going to one source, Fox is a prime example as the most biased, however MSNBC (which is not nearly as bad) also presents their own bias. Richard Nixon was the President who helped push through HMO's, read about it, it wasn't to insure more people. It was strictly a for profit venture for the insurance companies. Big Pharma is also against health care reform, do you wonder why? Look at Medicare Part D and see how well it works for the average citizen. My husband works for the post office, we are fortunate enough to have good health care, but that doesn't mean I don't know what it's like to go years without it, just hoping nothing bad happened. President Obama's problem is his unrelenting desire for bipartisanship. I don't really care if health care reform gets passed without one republican vote. There is a reason the american people voted the way they did. To quote President Bush "It's time to spend my political capital" It saddens me that people who are screaming about keeping the government out of their health care are in many cases seniors who enjoy the benefits of medicare. Also, I don't want much, just that every American gets the same health care as our President, the judiciary branch, the legislative branch and myself have. Nurses discussing this is a good thing, since many are on the front lines of what happens when someone has no insurance and have to go to the emergency room when visits to their PCP would have solved their problems. Thanks for listening, Roxann

Our facility started EMR charting in March. To be perfectly honest it has been kind of a nightmare. Our CNA's are having a really hard time understanding the difference between extensive, limited, etc. As well as supervision 1 person or 2 person assist. We have one patient who is late stage dementia/alzheimer's, she doesn't speak and never gets out of her chair without a hoyer lift, some have put supervision while ambulating throughout the unit. It's been a nightmare for our MDS coordinator. Our system is OPTIMUS and it really isn't very nurse friendly. Our corporate offices insist we figure out how to use it accurately and it's not easy. Any hospital nurses using any systems they find nurse friendly? Have a great weekend all, Roxann:typing:twocents:

We've just been through a state survey, they want to know about any resident's who've had a weight loss or gain and what you've done about it. They inspected the rooms, make sure all supplies such as toothbrushes are in holders and labeled, cups, pitchers, etc, all labeled. They wanted to know which residents are on psychotropic drugs. They checked a lot with MDS. If a resident was coded as a DNR they wanted to see the actual DNR in the chart. They will follow a cart nurse to see how she does a med pass, make sure you do everything right, check medications, check wrist bands, etc. WASH YOUR HANDS, before and after. Don't wear gloves in the hallway. They may want to see a CNA perform peri care on a resident. If you can, go over this with your CNA's now to make sure they do it right. Privacy and dignity are big. Every person in the facility from nursing to housekeeping must knock and announce before entering a resident's room. There is a lot to a survey, every department has it's own headaches. Just make sure there are no holes in your MARS or TARS. Take your time and realize as much as a pain in the butt surveys are you're all there for the same reason, the resident's health and safety. Good Luck Roxann:nurse:

Our health care system is one of the most expensive in the world and one of the least effective. Look at the facts, we are around 37th in life expectancy and 50th in inefficiency. Health care should not be for profit. I am dating myself here, but I never remember pharmacuetical ads on TV. The pharma co's and HMO's are making a fortune. Most of the people screaming at these so called town hall meetings are very well organized. There are a ton of websites out there who coach them on what to say and how to disrupt what should be a serious thoughtful discussion on what this country has been facing for a long time. Remember the voter's rights act and medicare also faced alot of opposition from a controlled group of activists. Fortunately, some in congress and the senate grew a set and did the right thing. Will that happen again? I can only hope.

Res sleeping in the hallway is a heartbreaking site. When I became unit manager I stopped it. It wasn't easy, as the cna'S weren't used to it. I worked it out with our activities director to have our leisure center opened early, that way, the residents that are up early BY CHOICE, can go down there and socialize with other residents until it's time for breakfast. Believe it or not, some do like getting up early. For those who want to sleep, we let them sleep, we have what's called open dining, which means the resident can get something from the kitchen between the hrs of 8:00 A.M. and 7:00 P.M.. If someone wants to sleep in, they can get a bagel, toast, some cereal or a muffin when they get up. I've been in my position since March and it is only now that the CNA's are starting to automatically take the residents to the leisure center instead of just parking them in the hallways. I do the same thing all day long, I don't want to see residents just parked in the hallways staring into space, in my opinion it is depressing and a dignity issue. We also got a facility dog (a puppy really) who the residents just love. I love my residents and for the most part work with good cna's and nurses, but it is a challenge every day to break bad habits. Don't give up on LTC, it can be the most rewarding part of nursing. Good luck. Roxann:heartbeat:nurse:

I've done a double on occassion and can't say I enjoyed it. I felt exhausted and punch drunk. I think alot depends on your age and stamina:wink2:. At 47 I don't feel I can do it safely. This weekend, I am doing the Baylor (7A til 7:30P), I'm only doing it as a favor and won't do it again. You have to think of your patients or residents, can you safely take care of them after 15 hrs? Good Luck Roxann:redpinkhe:nurse:

Keep calm, keep studying and you'll do fine. Remember the accomplishment of graduating, and go that next step to make your dreams a reality. Good luck and let us know. Roxann:up:

I absolutely loved your post. It is so so true. You seem like a nurse I would trust my parents or my child with. Please take some time off if you are able, or take a break and do something else until you feel better. This is a profession that needs people like you. I NEED people like you. As a Unit Manager I wish every nurse I worked with felt the way you do. Fortunately, most do and really put their patient's needs above their own ego bruising by MD's who often don't know what they're talking about. Beautiful post, it really should be published. Best of Luck, Roxann:bowingpur:bow:

good luck, i know friends who took the lpn nclex and passed when it stopped at 99 and other who went to question 277 and passed. i don't know how it goes with the rn nclex. but here's wishing you the best:wink2: roxann

Honey, I feel your pain. We now are using OPTIMUS EMR charting. It is a nightmare. Nurses have to chart on general observations for every resident at least once a week. This is basically MDS information. The progress notes are ridiculous. We also have to do daily skin checks, daily shower sheets, weekly skin checks and on and on. Every bruise is an incident report which is five pages, the MD must be called as well as the family for EVERY bruise and skin tear. Then it must be charted under incidents/occurrences in the EMR. This takes forever, as a Unit Manager I try to help the hall nurses as much as possible by at least doing their incident reports. These nurses also have 30 residents to pass meds to, do breathing treatments, etc, etc. Our DON also doesn't want to have overtime show up, but how are you going to stop it?? I don't know what the state requires, but the charting is insane. Good Luck, Roxann:crying2::grn: