imintrouble

I will defend your position so far. I'm starting to think you're looking for converts and not advice. It doesn't matter to me one bit, who or what a person is or was, once I assume responsibility for their care. Sometimes I don't want to know, because it might influence that care. We frequently get prisoners, and if any patient could test my compassion it would be them.

My hat's off to this poster. Whether you like or hate what they say, Parakeet has responded without anger or malice. I see someone who's conflicted, and is asking for help. This is how change is made. One side slowly and calmly allowing the other side to see another way. Sometimes people can't see through strongly held convictions. But Parakeet won't ever change her mind, if the arguments presented are full of derision. My other hat's off to those who've responded with respect, over a very hot button topic.

We have bi-monthly to monthly staff meetings with our NM. Those meetings used to revolve around policy and nurse concerns. I didn't notice a shift, it was so gradual, until reading this article. We don't really talk about policy and procedure anymore. We talk about phone etiquette. Dress codes. Professionalism and appearance. Last and not least survey approval scores and customer satisfaction

jadelpn: How did you get in my brain and write what I think? I remember the swish, swish. I even remember LIKING my patients a long time ago.

Of course it was mine.

I also don't want to hijack the LPN thread, but there are alot of us who fear for our jobs. Age is the biggie for me. Hospitals can hand pick a bunch of stepford wives from a limitless supply of out of work nurses. There is no security in health care jobs anymore. For any of us.

My first job was similar to what you describe. The comraderie was unique. No other place I've worked ever clicked like that one. Your post made me think of things I haven't thought of for a long time. Maybe that's why I enjoy what you write so much.

I post here. I used to have a FB account and decided I didn't like the person posting under my name. (Me). It limits the complications in my life, and I'm all about living simple.

The sky is falling!! That's me. It boggles my mind, but believe it or not my sense of doom has diminished as I've aged. I think it's because my life has such a routine. I've worked the same job > 10 years. Lived in the same house > 20 years. Married .... My life has very few surprises, therefore very few stressors. Kind of boring, but I prefer the even keel over the panic. I don't even need the meds anymore. I guess getting older doesn't stink as much as I thought.

My first nursing job is the only one I can honestly say I loved. I loved that place. I, and half a dozen new grads started at the same time. We were as close as sisters sharing every facet of our new nursing careers. Then there were the "old timers" who taught us how to be nurses. We all eventually moved to new areas. I visited once, and it made me sad. Everything was the same, and nothing was the same. I'd changed, not the facility. Most of the "old timers" were still there. But they see so many new nurses come and go. I know I didn't have the same impact on them that they had on me. You really can't go home. Kinda on the same note. When my husband and I married, we traded my "single" car off to buy the family car. I missed that car so much. It was part of my transition from girl to woman with all the memories that entailed My husband surprised me one day several months later. He'd seen my old car on the same car lot, brought it home, and would have agreed to buy it back if I'd wanted it. I took a drive and the memories were bittersweet. My car was a little older. Had a few more miles on her, but was basically the same. It was me who'd changed. We took the car back, and I cried. It's always sad when you transition from one place to another. Home just becomes a different place.

I didn't see that my Dad was dying. I've always thought that it spoke to the kind of nurse I was. Maybe I wasn't smart enough to see the obvious. How could I not see the obvious? Thank you for that one line in your post that makes me like everybody else. I wasn't a nurse, I was a daughter. I didn't see because I loved him. Now I'M going to cry

The nurses I work with trade off on procedures. That only works if everyone is willing. I stink at foleys. Actually the word stink is kind. But, I have a strong back. So the nurse who inserts my pt's foley gets her pts turned that night. We both consider it a fair deal.

We are a society of quick, easy, and pain free. Unless we're talking about the nurse.

What I have found that is even more scary than the fast track RN wannabes, are the new nurses who have no honor or integrity. Who take more breaks than they do caring for their pts. Who make mistakes and then try to cover them up without a care for their pt or the harm they have done them. Who believe protecting their job comes before "doing the right thing". Is it just me, or do those of you who have posted here for years find there are more threads about nurses making mistakes and lying about them than there used to be. Not only that, but there are more posters who support the person covering up the mistake and telling the lie. Nursing is considered the most honest profession by polls done yearly. I wonder what people who responded to those polls would think if they could see some of the threads here about mistakes and the cover ups that go on daily.

It has been my experience that you can be fired over anything at anytime. It doesn't usually happen, but it's possible. As GLORIA posted, if I really didn't have time to apply lotion/cream/ointment at that time, I would assure the person I would be back, or find someone else to help. Make it a point to never refuse to assist a pt/res outright, unless it's unreasonable. The way the pt/res sees it they are a customer paying for a service. They would be right, as that is what nursing has come to.