lovepink

I recently develope HUGE blisters on the balls of my feet. I couldn't walk, it was AWFUL!! Of course I knew how i got them... from wearing four inch wooden soled heels for a very long evening out... with lots and lots of walking involved... Not smart I realize, but I looked cute that night!! MY feet were killing me by the end of the night but I refused to walk downtown barefoot!! The next morning... I woke up to an intesnse pain and was shocked at the enormous blisters covering the balls of my feet. I ended up having to drain them (with a sterile needle) and then used Spenco sterile burn pads covered with gauze... and wrapped in kerlix. Needless to say I was glad I was off that weekend! So while I am sure that his blisters weren't caused by wearing ridiculous shoes... maybe his were caused by friction like mine were. Does he slide down in bed? Were his feet rubbing against the footboard? Probably has nothing to do with it, but just thought I would throw the idea out there!! Poor guy!!

We have a teacher who is due in a few weeks. I was putting in the vaccination records and of course she has many in her class who just received the MMR vaccine. (She teaches a young grade) Anyway my concern is whether or not she can be around the children. When I worked in Oncology we had to advise parents not to vaccinate their kids with a live virus while the parent was receiving chemo, and I had a few friends that were pregnant and their dr said they should wait until after the baby was born to vaccinate their older children. I JUST thought of this, of course school starts Monday lol. Am I overthinking?

You said RN's.. as an LVN (all of us in the district) is that something I need to have? I was wondering about that after reading some of the posts, but have been told no. Maybe because we are LVNs lol The diabetics have a care plan provided by their dr, we have that on file but other than that we don't do them. Should I start doing care plans on our asthma kids or kids with anaphylactic allergies, ulcerative colitis, or autism? I definitely do NOT want to be negligent!!

Happy Nurse's Day!!! Today was nice!! I was pleasantly surprised :) I got lots of "we appreciate you" emails and a lot of the teachers wrote Happy Nurse's Day on all the nurse passes lol. My principal and ast principal took me out to lunch, which was really nice, but I was a nervous wreck at first wondering if something would happen while I was gone lol Normally I don't get a lunch so actually leaving to relax seems foreign.... However I was able to enjoy it and nothing bad happened while I was gone :yeah:when I got back there was a gorgeous plant waiting for me from the staff and the office staff got me a cute little gift. But the best part was when the Pre-K teachers brought their students to my door and they sang "Happy Nurse's Day" (sung like Happy Birthday) to me!! It was adorable, and a fabulous day! :redpinkhe It was actually the first time I ever got anything for nurse's day!!

lol I LOVE it!!! I wish i could say that!!

I have had the WORST time with parents today! It is SOOO frustrating! I get yelled at by one mom in front of the office this morning because I haven't had time to drop everything I am doing and IMMEDIATELY do a vision screen on her daughter.... who I ALREADY screened this year and she passed... but now she is seeing black spots. I tried to explain to the mother that I can only screen for vision acuity and will be unable to diagnose what is going on with the black spots... and she understands, but still feels like she needs a rescreen. I told her ok and I would try to get it done by tmw afternoon.. NOT GOOD ENOUGH!! She wants/expects me to do it right then even though I have 3 kids actively throwing up and it isn't even 8am yet! She then yells "I have asked for this 100 times, I am getting sick of it. Well I have asked you once, but other people more. Fine I will just take her to the dr, I have asked for this 100 times, I am getting sick of it" umm ok yeah that is what you should have done to start with. And I am the only nurse so I don't know who she asked... Today is head injury day... I have had like 4 in about an 2 hours.. The most recent one was a 6th grader, hit the back of his head on the playground was laughing and all that. Still, I took him seriously did neuro checks, PERLA, no bump, neuros WNL. He c/o small headache... wanted to go to class. I gave him ice monitored him for about 10 minutes and sent him on his way. About to call mom when he comes back in like 2 min later crying and wincing in pain. When I called mom, I tell her my initial assessment and what has changed. She interupts me and says, "Just give him the phone, I am a nurse. I'll just ask him" So he talks to her, she FINALLY decides to come get him. As I am observing him he begins to act more and more tired, difficulty opening eyes, I told him if he cant keep his eyes open, I am calling an ambulance.. he opens his eyes lol.. But he DEFINITELY isn't feeling right. So I continue to ask questions trying to keep him alert. Mom comes in, stands in the doorway and says "ok come on lets go" he just sits there, I try to tell her about the changes in his condition, she stands there and says, "yeah I am a critical care nurse, I can do this." I again try to tell her what he has said because he isn't talking to her and she interupts me again with "I am a CRITICAL care nurse" So I just said, "good, because he is having a hard time answering questions and keeping his eyes open" FINALLY she listens, pushes past me and says "oh, well he will be fine I am in critical care" then she looks at him and says "ok I'll take him somewhere" yeah thats what i WANTED her to do... It's been a frustrating week, and the last thing I need is a "critical care" nurse acting like I am an idiot because I am "just a school nurse" Anyway sorry I had to vent because no one around me can understand... I have friends who are nurses and they have been trying to make me feel bad lately because my job is boring and "easy" and all I do is look at ant bites and give out bandaids... It's funny how this "easy" job has given me more stress than any of my other "real" nursing jobs.. lol Ok enough negativity... sorry for the long long long post! If you read all of it, thanks for listening and Happy Thursday!!

lol thanks guys!!! I have told teachers before that i was unable to becasue it was beyond my scope of practice and they looked at me like I was speaking another language lol Yay!!! It's is Friday afternoon! I thought it would never get here!! :redpinkhe

Thanks so much!! I feel better that I am not the only one! The teachers look at me like i am crazy because "the last nurse did it". So I just wanted to see if it was just me lol On another note its hilarious that the teachers would tlak about the "last nurse" because they all hated her and tell me all the time all the terrible stories about her.. but when there is osmething they want that I won't do... she was a hero Thanks again for yalls quick response!!

Do yall pull teeth in your office? I have been saying no all year because I don't feel comfortable (someone elses child) and I am unsure if that would be a liability to me. I know it sounds silly, but I keep thinking what if the tooth isn't quite ready and rips the gum, what if its fragile and breaks off... All these things going through my head and I don't have a doctors order to back me up... This is my first year in a school and everything I have done previously I have needed an order for so I am a little confused lol... I know there are probably some very experienced nurses that are laughing right now!! But I wanted to ask!! Thanks!!

I actually emailed NASN about a month or so ago and they told me that I could join as an LVN! She said to fill out the form and put my LVN license number in the RN license number spot. I haven't done it yet but I plan on it!!

Thank you so much! If you dont mind me asking... whats in your go-bag? You're right, I hadnt really thought abou thte fact that if we were out there long, it would be because of a fire and there would be probably be paramedics there... I must be really tired from a LONG week! Thanks! You helped slow down my "worst case scenario" thoughts!!

Ok... Something I hadnt thought too much about before, as it seems pretty obvious. BUT... now I have SOOO many questions!! What do yall do when there is a fire drill? Do you just leave the school with whatever kids you have? Or do you stay in and help check all the rooms to ensure theyre empty? When I worked in a hospital we would always be the last to leave the scene... lol And do you have a emergency kit available handy? We had a drill today and once I got out I realized wow, I should have brought the Epipens and the diabetics supplies... and snacks for them if their sugar is low... Ohhhhhh now I keep thinking about everything I should bring "just in case" And my list gets longer and longer... Obviously I am unable to bring my entire office... I need some help!!! lol

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I did talk to my supervisor and she said we had to follow the 28 day rule unless their doctor was willing to write a note stating he could use it longer. The family decided to just bring in a new pen... and give me a REALLY hard time about it lol. I understand though, I imagine its frustrating. This child is a new diabetic and he is still in that "honeymoon" phase so its hard to tell exactly how the insulin is affecting him. His blood sugars are really good for a few days and then are very up and down. To cover myself, I am much more comfortable following the manufacturers recommendations... If "state" came into a hospital and the nurses were using insulin that was dated say over a month ago, would the facility be in trouble? Would the nurses? Does that count as an expired med? The places I have worked before made it seem as if we could lose our license because of it lol.

Thanks so much for your response! I enjoyed the article, lots of good info!

I am a nurse at an elementary school, we have a few diabetics. Every place I have worked, we have wasted insulin after it had been open for 28 days. I had a parent tell me today that their endocrine clinic told them they could use the pen until the insulin was gone, regardless of how long it took. The father apparently used to work in a pharmacy so he is in agrrement of this. I told them it was our policy to change the insulin every 28 days and if their doctor was willing to write a note saying its ok to use the insulin after 28 days then we would do that. They aren't very happy about this... Does the insulin start to break down after 28 days? Or is it ok to continue to use it? I will of course follow our policy, but I am just wondering for my own knowledge lol:redpinkhe