dannyc12

I think scrubs demand a T shirt or other undergarment for both sexes. If a hairy chested guy goes t-shirtless (or wears a wifebeater), then gold chains and a Media mustache should be mandatory accessories.

In addition to a couple of glaring misconceptions about nursing, you appear to be motivated almost exclusively external factors. The only items you displayed any passion over were computers and sleeping late. Do you have any internal motivation to become a nurse? Points where you are mistaken: - Many business owners work absolutely insane hours. Additionally, many must make deals with the devil (banks, investors, partners) to keep their businesses running. It is very often nowhere near as autonomous as you think. - "Little schooling needed" Wow. This one is just hilarious. Not only is there more than two years of schooling, the schooling once you get into a program is nothing like you saw in your previous degree and can in no way ever be described as "little." - Getting up early. School Clinical days start at 6am sleepyhead - and NO, you don't get to pick a different shift. You think getting to work at 8 or 9 is hard? Try getting up in the middle of the damn night and going to work. You forgot one other item. If you go into nursing, you are going to have to start over again at the bottom of the ladder. And guess what rolls downhill?

I don't regret it for a split second. PS: My biggest headache in nursing school thus far has been whiny classmates.

I find I never get hurt with the heavy ones. I use the equipment and get the help. It's the little ones that get me! Especially younger male hemiplegics. You have them on the edge of bed or toilet and they forget and stand up and reach for something or try to start walking. If you reflexively try to hold them up, you are gonna get it.

If you need help from the person training you, be very specific regarding what you need. You could say, "Please show me how to do x" or "Please take a look at patient y, I am concerned about z." She obviously is not going to hold your hand, but if you need information or training and she refuses to provide it, then she is the one not doing so good. Why don't you feel comfortable doing an evaluation on a CNA? This seems like a pretty basic task. If you are refusing or digging your heels in on things like that, you are certainly not doing yourself any favors. Of course they are going to push cr@p tasks on you. Just do the best you can and don't show any signs that it bothers you. (This is the best way to get revenge on petty coworkers.) You seem to be getting excited and offended over some fairly mundane things. Of course they are asking other nurses how you are doing! Who the blazes do you think they are gonna ask? Start participating in your own training and stop acting shocked and defensive when they talk to you about things. As a new employee, the last thing they are going to want to hear is how good you think you are. Instead of being defensive say, "Thank you for pointing those items out to me, I will work hard to improve." As far as state being there, just do your job right. You know how to pass meds, so do it correctly. If you take a bit longer because state is watching you, your superiors are not going complain if you get 0 errors.

Whether it is discriminating or not has nothing to do with whether it is true.

The injury rate is somewhere between 99.5% and 100% Studies show that body mechanics is not a primary factor in back injury rates. No amount of body mechanics is going to allow a 115 pound person to transfer, bathe, clothe, turn, and reposition a 350 pound client. To help prevent injuries, make sure you have the right equipment and/or the right amount of people for the job. You may or may not be able to do this, depending on where you work.

Depression and anxiety appear to have been prerequisites for my nursing program.

I'll get back to you after I check the State Practice Acts governing obnoxiously smelly patients.

Smells are a part of patient assessment. Your dentist is a goofball. Why do you feel sorry for your daughter?

You may - North Memorial.

Sounds exactly like life at my old facility. CNAs who think they run the place and don't have to listen to anyone. The hell of it is - they are right. They do run the place and are accountable to no one. They lie their buns off when caught and for some reason, mgmt refuses to hold them accountable. The ones who work there for years have found tactics that confound HR and management and they keep using them. I saw one CNA get one inch from a staff nurse's face and light her up like a Christmas tree at the top of her voice right on the floor when the nurse confronted her about patient care. I documented the incident and absolutely nothing happened to this useless CNA. Another time I walked into a dining room to see 4 CNAs sitting at a table after breakfast had finished. They were all eating resident food. They did this every day - just sat there apparently daring anyone to say anything about it. For a while, it was popular among those idiots to eat right off resident's plates. I told the floor nurse, she shrugged, so I wrote up the incident and gave it to HR. All the "Breakfast Club" CNAs were written up, but none were fired and they tried the old "Freeze Out" tactic on me. Didn't work as I had already developed vulnerability to Lazy CNA Mind Tricks. You need to develop this also. Do NOT let the b@stards have the satisfaction. No matter what they do, YOU are responsible for your feelings, not them, so act accordingly. I kept doing my job the best I could until I found another position. (One that accompanied a 43% raise). I learned a heck of a lot at that nursing home, but I am glad those unethical, abusive and sorry people are not my coworkers anymore. I will miss the good ones. Keep your head up, do your job the best you can, network with some good coworkers or supervisor who can supply shining references, and do everything you can to get out of there. It can get better! Good luck.

Physiology and Microbiology are widely considered the most challenging prerequisites for nursing school. If you work hard and spend the time, you should be able to do very well in them. (You need to do very well in them) The math is not really complicated. It is actually very easy. However, the application of the concepts is not easy. I cannot tell you how many of my fellow nursing students say they have their dosage calculation skills locked in, but then go into complete, total, and irreversible brain lock when trying to apply them in a lab checkoff. They deemed the math "easy" after doing one or two practice problems, then never looked at them again. Best thing to do is practice your math skills whenever you can. When you are in Chemistry and doing dimensional analysis, PAY ATTENTION. You will need this skill later. (It would be a great idea to listen when they talk about tonicity and osmolarity too, although it seems very few of my classmates did.) Good luck

This sounds like some very good feedback for your case managers (not your fellow HHAs). You should be documenting on your visit notes what you did and how you spent your time in the home. Your notes should be a version of what you posted here: "Did cares for one hour. Watched TV with client for 2 hours. Read for one hour. Studied for one hour. Reminisced with client for one hour." Any care planned activity the client refuses should be noted by you. The case manager reviewing your notes should see the hours of non-therapeutic activity and adjust the care plan accordingly in the next review. If they just want you there to supervise the client, then make sure they document that so you are not on the hook when someone blows the whistle on the wasting of private or public funds. One of the very best things about working as a HHA is the autonomy. But this means you also are responsible for spending your time wisely and documenting what you do. I work as a Home Health Aide and most of my visits are for one hour. After working on a TCU in a nursing home for two years, having an hour to get ONE person showered, dressed, and treated is plenty of time. If I have longer visits (~3 hours), there are additional activities planned: meal preparation, ambulation, xROM, exercises, laundry, cleaning of all types, shopping, medical supply stocking and organization, other housework, etc... If I had a client refusing so much (or had so few activities planned compared to the time allotted) that I was forced to do ZERO therapeutic work for hours on end, I would call the case manager immediately and ask for direction. If the case manager did not respond, I would contact my department manager, who would be fairly p!ssed off to hear about HHAs doing a whole lot of nothing. She came in a couple years ago to address some of that kind of stuff and she cleaned house. I am lucky to work for a very good organization that puts in the work to hold employees accountable for their actions and documentation. Good luck!

I think we need a forum addressing the need for professional conduct while leaving a job. I gave a two week notice when I was a dishwasher.