PALPN4018

After being an LPN for 20 years I am having difficulty finding suitable work for my age (55) and physical abilities. With cervical and lumbar spine DJD I am no longer doing LTC. Despite my experience, local physician offices prefer the cheaper to hire MA's. I did work for three local urgent care centers until the employees from the last center used the "friction" reason for shoving me out despite the fact that I worked tirelessly and professionally. So now I am doing chart abstraction to EMR (through a staffing agency) and I enjoy it. No stress. Coding would be another area I could train for however this area of PA is overloaded with new coding graduates unable to find work. So - considering sending my resume to other local physician offices offering to do chart abstraction for their practices as an independent contractor. Anyone out there doing medical chart abstraction to EMR?

mel - I've never done home health. Mostly offices and nursing home care. Can you describe what you do for your six patients. I am certified in phlebotomy and IV therapy. Will Amedysis use my skills in those areas??

I am considering applying to Amedysis for a home health position. I've been an LPN for 16 years with phlebotomy and IV experience, some cardiac telemetry. Recently worked in a personal care home for a year. Has anyone worked for Amedysis and did you like working for them? Are they good employers who truly care about their staff?? Do you know if LPN's have to do a lot of heavy patient lifting? Thanks

PA hospitals are no longer hiring LPN's on the floors, only in clinic type settings. My first job as anLPN was on a hospital med surge floor. I was trained to do phlebotomy, start IV's and monitor the telemetry unit in addition to administering medications, admitting new patients, etc . LPN's are being treated with disrespect. In a day and age when there's a nursing shortage LPN's should be a valuable asset to any hospital. LPN's are now being replaced by CNA's and MA's in the office setting. Very depressing................

Mentos - don't fell guilty about what almost happened. The administration at your facility is not utilizing CMT's properly. Experience can be the best teacher and in your case you did not have adequate experience before being thrust onto that position on short notice. I trained detention center youth care workers on medication administration. This occurred in a former place of employment. These individuals that I trained had to be observed passing medications every six months and they regularly passed medications when it was my day off. In many ways, they did a better job passing medications than I, a nurse. They were more self conscious of making any errors than a seasoned nurse. Experience is a teacher - ask for more opportunities to pass medications under supervision.

I'm in a quandary. I'm an LPN although I was trained at an RN school. In 1990 I entered nursing school and completed two years before having to quit. My mother was diagnosed with cancer and at the same time the RN program I was attending decided I was not good enough to complete. I was at the end of my second year and enjoyed what I was doing. There was an RN educator who, not matter what I did, always found fault. I was doing well academically yet struggling on the clinical floor. In 1993 I completed 7 weeks in an LPN program, challenging out of the academics and doing clinical only. I graduated as an LPN in August of that year. Since then I've worked in a hospital for 5 years then doctor's offices, a large LTC facility and spent 8 years as the lone nurse for a juvenile detention facility. Needless to say, I've had varied experiences. In order to complete my RN I will have to redo A&P as well as Microbiology because it's been longer than 7 years since I last took those courses. I was told it would take me at least three years until I totally completed all requirements (working while I'm going to school). As I am pushing the age of 50 I am hesitant on going back to school. It took me 10 years to pay off my student loans from the last effort. Damned if I do and damned if I don't finish my RN. I am single and struggling financially in this lousy economy. LPN's are no longer accepted in hospitals or specialty practices. Despite my years of experience as well as my talents with phlebotomy and IV's I cannot be hired beyond LTC's and doctor offices (which pay diddly squat). So - do I try to finish or look for another line of work in the medical field to sustain me. At this point I won't be able to retire until I'm 70 years old.

No, no, and no to all three questions.The med techs take a brief course designed to train them to safely pass medications. They must renew every two years. This is not a pharmacology course. Other than a brief demographics sheet listing medications and known diagnoses for each resident, no one has access to resident records except administration. We do have access to medication paperback books. All three shifts do have nursing personnel on duty with a few med techs working alongside the nurses. My concern was when another nurse called in sick, she was replaced as shift leader by a med tech while I was assigned patient aide duty. Responsibility for patient safety is on my shoulders as a licensed nurse whether I'm assigned as shift leader or patient aide.

Thanks for your reply. I did do some online research on personal care homes. According to what I found, PCH's do not have to hire nurses at all.This facility began hiring nurses about 5 years ago. I guess given the state standard for PCH's, the "DON" is legit. That does not mean I have to be comfortable with that and I am not.

Yes I do not know if privately owned Personal Care Homes can operate under the beat of a different drum. They only started hiring LPN's five years ago. I do not mind medication techs working in personal care or nursing home facilities. However, they should not be in charge of RN's or LPN's.

I work with medication aides - sometimes they are assigned as shift leaders when a nurse is on staff. This happened to me last week - I was assigned nurse aide duty on third shift. The facility DON, who is also a med tech, assigned a med tech as shift leader instead of reassigning me the responsibility. I am considering leaving for another assisted living facility that has respect for nurse licenses.

Hello - I am new to allnurses.com and decided to pose my situation online. I recently began working as an LPN in a personal care retirement community in PA. It is privately owned and family operated with most of the administrative positions appointed to family or close friends. The facility is beautiful and the residents overall seem to enjoy the facility. My questions - #1 Can the Director of Nursing in a Personal Care Home be a med tech/CNA? #1 Can a med tech/CNA be in charge over RN's and LPN's?? This is a liability concern for me. Could my license be affected by a bad decision made by a med tech?