KevKaboom89

I think the best policy here for families who have a working relationship with their parents is prevention. Have the important conversations early regarding their wishes, and what is possible for your family (i.e. if you are going to lose your house without the dual income and a parent needs 24 hour care, it may not be possible do provide the care you WANT to provide and the care your loved one NEEDS). I feel its the same with code-status, life-saving measures-type conversations, at one point is it okay for us to take you off a vent if you end up in a persistent vegetative state? Two weeks? Six Months? Never? Keep in mind this is for those who have working relationships with their parents. Reading these posts I hear stories of people who had to endure what would seem to be un-endurable, kudos to you all for surviving those times.

Apparently not much room for humor here. Regardless, the point I was making was that it's just my opinion that the "threshold" for lethality in acute use is likely greater for harder street drugs especially with the varying concentrations, shady dealers and so forth, but that's another discussion. Drunk driving is a serious concern, but I think that someone driving on LSD could be just as dangerous or just as likely to commit harm. Long term everything is likely bad for you besides a healthy diet and regular exercise.

I shudder at the thought of what would happen to the ER's in this country if this happened. Not only would they deal with everything else comming through the door but imagine the droves of: "Oh man my bud's and I got some 'shrooms down at the store and now I'm freaking out, I need some (insert ativan/haldol/etc...)" I'm still of the opinion that there's a huge difference in me having a beer after work or with a group of friends, than unwinding with a crack pipe, or needle full of heroin. The potential with many of these substances to do unintended lethal harm is far greater than alcohol or tobacco. (I'm sure that will be a point of contention )

I'll try to not be too long winded here but I'm a junior (almost senior :)) nursing student getting my BSN (went to college out of high school) and I wanted to weigh in a little on the matter... "Yesterday, in post conference a student asked me is he going to learn "real" nursing. Each student had done med pass on one or two patients that day. When I asked the student what he meant he stated that nursing is not about vital signs and passing pills, hanging IV's, etc. He wanted to learn "real" nursing. I explained to the group that the responsibilities of the nursing include medication administration, patient assessment and documentation. He then stated that those were jobs of the aide or the LPN and that he wanted to make decisions about the patient care. " "...why they have the perception that nursing is a leadership or decision making profession." I agree that this student definitely has a misconception about the roles of a nurse, and that was definitely a moment that could have been a chance to set him straight. I as a student would appreciate a discussion about delegation (what can be delegated, not delegated, when would it be better to just do it yourself ). However as other student's have noted we often get told in school that we are too "skill focused" and are constantly told that nursing is more than skills alone, its knowing when to use those skills to help your patients. One of my clinical instructors this past year would always remind us that we as students are learning to "think like a nurse." I know many posts had the "whole walk before you run" vibe to them, but I feel that its easier to learn that critical thinking if throughout your education you get glimpses of what good clinical judgment is and what the concepts are to making good judgments. I feel that nurses make decisions every day, whether or not to hold a med if it is unsafe, calling the MD when needed, or really anytime that you feel an intervention is needed on behalf of the patient. Indeed as another poster mentioned we are not the end-all-be-all of patient care, but we're certainly important, and are often the last line of defense for a patient if a mistake is made. Nursing is in a unique spot in my opinion in that there are opportunities for leadership within nursing on small and large scales. From leading a unit, or leading a patient education class, to administration, etc... "My concern is that these students do not understand the healthcare system or the role of the nurse in the system. Many times I wish I had the courage to be blunt with then. I feel that our schools admission department should have screened out some of these students for their own sake." I do agree here, there have been many students that academically will get into the school, but are just plain unsafe, even with repeated interventions from their instructors. Just my

Believe it or not I think I would like to be a Police Officer or teach Anatomy & Physiology. I think I'm actually pretty good (even though I'm still a student) at teaching my patients about their diseases when they have questions. But as of right now I couldn't imagine doing anything else :)

I disagree in that if she is a nurse on mental health unit effective communication with patients is critical. Have you ever had patients who complain that they can't understand their doctor/nurse/tech/etc..?