kathy313

Over the years I've gotten a little jaded, at first I would try to do everything I could to appease the patient. Now, I give them copy of the survey, a pen and I make sure they spell my name correctly.

That's too funny! Next time, get one of the big, sterile q-tips and some steri-lube instead of trying to remove the dried up and no doubt stuck to the long nose hair snot! I'd still rather pick the nose!

I think the continuity of the care, knowing your patients or residents, is what makes LTC special for some people. Not only that, but the routine....it's easier when you have a "normal" routine. I had 30 residents and it kept me busy, but it was predictable. Now I work Med/Surg with 5 or 6 patients, but by the end of the day 3 or 4 have been d/c'd to various places and I have 4 admissions. We have a very rapid turn-over on our floor. We are always on our toes.

I take public transportation in a very big and congested city....train and then the bus. The commute time adds anywhere from 3-4 hours to my day, five days a frigging week! Thankful my job has a transit subsidy.

Be honest about your concerns, the manager may not be aware of some of the issues.

Everything Otessa said, plus in some places they do ekgs, insert/remove foleys, simple dressings...depends on the facility.

I work on a really busy med-surg unit, admits and discharges fly through there. Yesterday, my assignment completely turned over. The charge tries to space them out, but sometimes the acuity level for one nurse isn't quite as high as the others. It sucks, but the work's gotta be done.

I was in the hospital for four days, the first three were npo....when I was allowed to eat, my first meal was turkey and stuffing. Freaking nasty! Made me nauseous all over again, even the smell. I requested jell-o and ginger ale. You were probably better off...lol!

I wouldn't mind carrying a gun, I'd hate leaving it in car while I worked or worse yet, turning it into security every day though. Somebody else stealing it would be horrible.

No pepper spray, but I have several knives.

That's horrible. I would have raised holy **** with that nurse. What happened to identifying the med, the dose, the patient??? Technically not a patient...but the same rules apply. Just crazy.

I played an online game called Second Life. You create a character, chat with folks from everywhere, there are so many different things on there. I spent a lot of time on that game...lol! Also how I met my boyfriend.

That was an awesome rant!:yeah:

I knew a guy a long time ago, I met him when he was a cop in a pretty rough area, he was hard core....he retired from the police department, I didn't see or hear about him for awhile. I started working at a hospital...lol, he was my charge nurse. He was a very caring and compassionate guy, patients just loved him. No matter your background or age...if it's something you really want to do, then do it. Time goes by too quick.

Quite possibly he's thinking she's going to finish school, get a good job and leave him. So he may be trying to sabotage it. Finish school, do what you need to do take care of yourself and your kids. Find someone to talk to....counselor, therapist....even if it's just to vent.

I always walked home from work...sometimes it turned into a full-blown run! Physical exercise and an endorphin kick did it for me.:)

Have you tried Akron General, Lodi or Medina? It's been awhile since I checked out jobs up there.

Honestly, if the rooms were full and we needed one for something major...we'd put the other patient on a bed in the hall. Never kids or someone who was confused/disoriented or someone who presented with vomiting/diarrhea.

I'll have about a 1.5 hour commute on public transportation, the thing is, I really don't think it'd be that different driving, the traffic here is insane. My issue is safety...folks are getting the crap beat out of them on Muni, at least in a car it cuts some of the safety issues.

Exactly....When I was working as an aide, I had a patient say that to me, he seemed okay....vs good, no real discomfort, nothing you could put your finger on...very scared though. He did pass that afternoon and it has remained one of the biggest and most important lessons I have ever learned. He reached out, was frightened and needed someone to listen. I didn't take him totally seriously, I asked why he felt like that and as I said, nothing really concrete. I wish I would have listened better. I wish that I had done more for him. That sticks with me in everything I do today.

I'm from the East Bay area and my boyfriend's brother has been laid off from NUMMI. I really don't think he wants to be a nurse. Seriously, I never realized that there was such a lack of jobs for nurses here. I'm lucky, it only took me six months to find an LVN job. Not to mention the waiting lists for schools, it's crazy.

I was an stna/tech before I became a nurse. I had learned some shortcuts over the years. When I started school, I stopped,pretty much all of that. I had also seen some nurses I shadowed or were assigned to do some things that scared me. I knew the kind of nurse I didn't want to be.... When I had to orient someone to the floor or had students with me, I tried to make sure I did everything by the book. I didn't want to be responsible for someone else's bad habits. We all make adjustments to how we do things, it's needed sometimes, or else we'd spend a lot of time in OT.

That was very sweet and heartfelt, I can't imagine the things you and your staff must go through.

When I worked in LTC, the biggest pass was 1700 (30 residents), I started about 1530 and usually finished about 1900. It was crazy, dayshift tossed many meds and dressing changes onto my shift. When I'd get a new admit and try to schedule the meds differently, the dayshift nurse would change the times...again! Her excuse being,"We always do it this way." She's been an employee there for 25 years, so she gets her way.

I'd worry if it showed positive in 48 hours, not a few. Sometimes the way people stick can leave a bruise or a bump.