katkonk BSN, RN

I worked on a huge government project in 2002, and at the end of it, the contractor I worked for did not want to ship all the left over items back to their corporate office to have to deal with (and did not want the expense of shipping from all the n...

I absolutely agree that the GAO is likely the best place to start.

I'll point out that there are really two primary types of environment in which to practice Occ Health Nursing. One is in industry, and it seems like you have already explored that. The other is in the hospital setting, in Employee Health. Those two ...

Did she begin to use laxatives after her jaw procedure, perhaps to counteract constipation due to opioid pain medications? Is there a history of long term use/abuse of laxatives at any time? Has a Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) treatme...

I'm curious. Did you end up getting that job, and if so, what salary did you agree to?

I worked for about 2.5 years doing PACU local agency stuff and one travel gig that I had planned to be 4 months, and it turned into 10 months. It depends on where you are, as to how busy you can stay via agency if you are doing local assignments. T...

I would have to agree with you. Put the fifty dollars toward a good review course! I cannot even fathom paying that much for, as you said, a pdf. nope, nope, nope.

You say that you took a review course and it didn't help. I am a long time COHN-S, so my questions are just out of curiosity. Which review course did you take? If you have been working and have your CAOHC and NIOSH certifications and have experien...

Question for any VA nurses out there about salary. Re: the Primecare RN, which apparently is the clinic ambulatory care RN position- any idea what salary range that position is in? Do you happen to know if it is on the same scale as a hospital RN at ...

I just saw your post, as I haven't been on here for a long while. I completely disagree with Rbeck911. If you follow a strict chain of custody procedure with a COC form, with the urine sealed in the bag and the Lab COC copy in the proper place in the...

I think you have to do whatever keeps the light burning in you. I love Occ Health nursing, but I have enjoyed meandering a bit during my nursing career the last few years. I always come back to Occ Health. It is my home and my comfort zone, and I ...

If you want to work lots of hours over the summer and make overtime to build up funds for school, that is great. Is 32 hours a week while in school too much?...I would say yes, most likely. When I was working on my Bachelor's degree, I worked 30 hou...

Just an observation, here. No judgement. If you are feeling that you cannot care for your patients that depend on you, that would signal to me that you are simply "burned out". Caregiver burn out is real and documented. If you need a break, take ...

Just adding my two cents here. I had been in an Adult NP program at one time. I was a Summa Cum Laude 4.0 BSN grad from a major university nursing school in Texas. I took advanced patho - easy A. I love pathophys and it is logical, gotta love Bio...

I believe that what you heard is false. I have never heard that. Whoever said that may have heard of a particular unaccredited school that was not accepted by some place, but it would be highly unlikely an employer would reject a fully accredited s...

Congratulations !

I see this post dates back to August, but I thought I would add my 2 cents anyway. I agree with Rbeck911. OHM is great, but I understand it is expensive to purchase. The only thing I didn't like about OHM when I used it, was that when you scanned ...

That all happened prior to my coming on board....so it was past history. We still had the same doctor. No, he didn't work for a local Occ Health clinic. He has a partnership with a couple of other people and he serves as medical director for sever...

GOOD decision! Some companies want everything for nothing pay-wise. They view nurses as just part of the hired help, and if they offer a very low salary, then they normally do not treat you as the professional employee that you are. Steer clear of...

EXACTLY.....and that is usually what they end up getting....

Shhhhhhhh......I like to think of our specialty as one of the best kept nursing secrets around :) So much of our work is primary care and administrative (case management, FMLA, etc.), and even though we do some emergency response, it is definitely n...

That involuntary contraction of the muscle is always a bit surprising, but it is not uncommon, as other have stated. I wonder though...you mentioned that you "decided to" give it in the deltoid. What med/vaccination was it you decided to give in th...

I've had several jobs since 1996 when I first started in Occ Health where the relationship between safety and medical was contentious. It can be immensely frustrating, and I have walked away from some jobs because of it. Hopefully you can get the s...

How did the interview turn out? From my experience being salaried and on call ALL the time, it sucked not having my time as real "off time". Especially if you have a situation where if you are called, you have to go in and accompany them to the ER...

For a grocery store, they are almost certainly wanting some case management, and likely have had a high rate of injury. If they allow you real, hands on access to the employees, there is a tremendous need for teaching, teaching and more teaching abo...