bigfishsmallpond

I wish I could tell you that everyone is accepting, nonjudgemental and open to people who are unique, but that is not true. Unfortunately, many nurses and physicians have areas of intolerance that they cover up in order to be a "true" caregiver. 2 nurses in my department are very openly religious, but narrow minded and nonaccepting of gays,medicaid moms,drug seekers, etc. They do not show this to the patient (although I am sure it comes thru at times), but are verbal about it in the office.Nurses, like everyone else ,carry their own set of life experiences and prejudices. We are all human,just maybe more aware of the many flaws.I think you are smart to face the many concerns that you have-and they ARE real. Talk to some nursing leadership-managers, educators, etc. You have the right to any career that you choose, and it sounds like you are compassionate and intelligent.I would love to work with you,but honestly, if you worked in my department, you would encounter much skepticism and misunderstanding. I am being honest-you probably need to go to school and work in a city that has alot of resources and support for transexuals and trangendered persons. You must face alot of misunderstandings and intolerance everyday. Consider going into a nursing area that gives you autonomy ,such as education,case management or psychology. Just a suggestion, but stay strong in your goals!

Working in the LTC facility is similar to med-surg experience. You will be able to assess, evaluate delegate, etc....all critical thinking milestones that new grads need to develope.This manager who said she doesn't hire nurses from LTC is severly narrow minded. There are many skills to learned there, as well as rendering the compasionate care. Don't our elderly and infirm deserve excellent nursing care? To be honest, tho, you seem negative about working in this type of situation, so frankly, I don't think you are the right candidate. Hold out for the "perfect" hospital job-and good luck. Most managers I know are reluctant to hire nurses with no actual experience!

Many orientees fail or leave jobs within the first year, esp if they ar enew grads. All the research shows that newbees tend to expect too much of themselves, and the staff nurses also expect them to assimilate very quickly. It is hard to go from a pt assignment with an instructor there to resource you, to an assignment with pretty much all the responsibility. Add on some anxiety about pleasing the preceptor, and viola! Prime situation for failure. Statisically, most new grads do better after about 1 year out-probably because they have been thru several orientations and finally have built up some confidence and experience! Try again-and take it slower.

I read the artcle on the outraged doctor, nervous about patients being "mislead" by nurses with doctoral degrees...it's funny they are not concerned with sharing the physician name with the PAs.When physicians no longer controlled nurse's "training", and we went to the colleges and universities for our EDUCATION,they lost their ability to impact our practice. A note on the MI on the plane: This did happen to a friend of mine. They asked if there was a doctor on board- medical emergency in first class, No response. My friend stood up and said "I am a nurse. Can I help?" She ended up doing cpr, started an IV and actually defibbed him with the AED on the plane. As they landed, and the patient was taken to the hospital, a passenger stopped and told the captain that he was a doctor, and he would follow the pt in the hospital. The captain :bowingpurlaughed and said," I guess this guy was lucky -the nurse was here to save his life.Now you'd like to consult and bill him????"

I would like to add this comment -please excuse if someone else already said this. I live/work in Detroit.You all know that we are in a terrible employment situation, esp. with the Big # auto companies. Recently after a big lay-off at one of them, the govenor gave a ton of money to re-educate some of the line workers. Good idea. However, "nursing" was one of the careers they offered.So, we are turning away qualified students who are on waiting lists for 5 years, but now a 2 year program will be offered to displaced auto workers and they can get in (free) and get their nursing degree. Yes, I agree with the original writer-it DOES tic me off! While I no longer hold that nursing is a "calling" and we are angels of mercy, I do think it is more than a job that anyone can do!I advocate for better pay, too-of course that is important , and our society equates money with respect. Why can't we be well paid, smart AND dedicated?

Our hospital system recently began to offer a Money Back Guarantee to patients who, for any reason, are not satisfied with their healthcare experience. They are taking full advantage of the surveys to complain about everything that you can imagine. The staff in the ED decided that we should be able to do a pt. survey, and send it to them after a visit, letting them know how they scored in our opinion. On a scale of 1-5, we will apply the following questions: Patient Survey 1. Did you bring some form of ID and insurance information? (And didn’t expect us to recognize you from previous visits) 2. Were you able to give a reason for being seen that sounded logical? (Not “I’m sick”, or “That’s what you need to tell me”.) 3. Did you know the names of the medications you take routinely? (Not “a little blue pill”) 4. Were your children, visitors, family members well behaved and sitting quietly near you? (Not running into other rooms, in and out of the department, asking for drugs and supplies for themselves). 5. When you were discharged, did you leave in a timely manner? (Not expecting us to provide a cab, dinner and babysitting services while you decide what your plans were). SCORE: 20-25-Thank you for allowing us to share in your health management 15-20-Please address the areas marked for improvement before your next visit. 15 and Under – feel free to patronize our competitors.

Crocs are excellent-especially for wide feet. Do NOT use the knock-offs-they are not as good, and do not hold up! I bought all my staff a pair of Crocs for Nurses' Day ($35), and everyone loves them. Granted, another pair of good supportive shoes should also be worn intermittantly. Saves on wear and is good for your feet !

Once I read the call in board, and it listed "Posibly has worms" as the reason for absence. That was the end of public recording of reasons for call-ins. However, at one of the hospitals in our system, they have a terrible call-in rate, and the VP of nursing starting calling the people back to inquire as their health, or whatever. That is intimidating and unacceptable-in fact, it is harassment.They should look at WHY they are having so many call-ins instead of trying to force people to lie or prove their illnesses!

"Out of curiosity, why do you all think people refuse the drug screens when they are requested? Honestly, I don't really think that if you have grounds for refusing a drug screen, you ought to be practicing nursing..." Many people refuse drug/etoh tests because it offends their sense of privacy and civil rights. We also have a policy that "erratic or potentially volitile" behavior can result in drug testing. Who decides that? Not having anything to hide is NOT a reason to compromise your personal rights.I smelled a strong etoh odor on one of the docs, but he was not asked to take a drug test. Instead, he sucked on mints all day and slept in an empty room.I am not saying we should be co-dependant with collegues who have drug problems, but we do need to protect their rights, too.

You're right-the costs is about 10-20 thousand for each area they survey. PLUS they charge 75cents for each self addressed envelope they include w/the survey.A big fat waste! We have a survey that we hand people, but the questions are dumb, like "how friendly were the nurses?" "what degree of concern did the doctors show you and your family?" Lets' not get started on that thread of all the ammenities EDs are expected to offer!

Cindy, I really feel bad for you, and can relate from both sides of the fence. I resigned one job due to a terrible eval, and pressure from a manager that I thought was a friend.I NEVER had a less than wonderful eval, and she gave me one that basically said I was worthless.In fact when I expressed surprise and stated no one had ever made these kind of comments, she said " someone should have had the balls to do this a long time ago."I didn't want to leave on a negative feeling after 13 years, but I felt so non-supported and terrible about myself that I did. No going away party, no card, nothing. I just gave my notice, and left quietly, with my self esteem under my shoes. Well, I got a better job, and met some great friends,but I admit I never quite got over that situation.I can understand how hurt and angry you feel. Now I am a mangaer, and have been in the position of firing several nurses. Believe me, it is very difficult and i do everything I can to make it professional, impersonal and NOT a horrible experience.If you were my employee, I would offer employee assistance(counseling and job reassignment),and also an honest, fair evaluation and suggestions for change .Best of luck. Don't let it destroy you.I won't be so naive as to say sometimes it is the best thing that can happen to you, but move on, learn from it, and do consider counseling to help you get through a very difficult time.

I commend you for being so supportive and not blaming yourself for your daughter's decisions.I cannot imagine a 18 y/o that will be tied down to two babies, but if she is strong and loving, she can do it. I am sad that she will miss out on so much of her childhood, since she has to be an adult, but, those decisions result in consequenses. at least she is responsible and taking care of things...also, how supportive are the 2 teenage dads? are they working and sending money to support the kids?Somehow they get off much easier....And how are you?This is a tremendous financial, emotional and physical demand for you, too!

ugly, but true. I think it is incest, but if there is no blood relationship, I gyess it can't be prosecuted.Remeber Woody Allen and his adopted daughter wife? I saw on the news that Mary Letourneau is getting out of prison(remember, she had a sexual relationship with a 6 th grader, and had 2 kids by him?) He is now 21 and hopes to continue their relationship........

A little off the subject, but i had a 15 year old pt who delivered, and I noticed she had a big splay of roses with a card that said"Love, daddy". Naively, I said, "Is this from your daddy, or your baby's daddy?" She replied "Both!" Talk about feeling your stomach come up to your mouth...it was her step-father, but STILL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Vic-heads are definately the norm in Detroit. They always pretend not to know the name of the pill that helped before...lets' see, vic. ahh. veco, umm vicodan ?yeah.We ha d one woman that pulled so many scams.She would present with a good story,broke a tooth, horrible pain. Allergic to everything, could take Vs, tho. Then she would calll back and say,those made me sick. Can I have something milder, like darvocet? then she came in the next day,grabbed an ED doc in the hall, and claimed she couldn't take the tylenol(in vicodin) so vicoprophen would work. 3 scripts, 3 different docs, 3 days. We were able to track her pharmacy scripts for the last 3 months..you guessed it. Over 120 scripts filled, from 16 different docs and 12 pharmacies!Its' a full time job! And she still came back after a month or so, to try again!