marlboroking

We had 60 year olds in our class. Nursing is predominantly female, however there are areas were women don't work and areas were men don't work. Good job getting into nursing school. Just make sure that your shirt doesn't have a pleat towards the bottom because it make us look like we are wearing a skirt.

Where I work we have about 53 beds and it's busy most of the time. Our triage has only two rooms. There are no cardiac monitors, suction, scopes, beds, etc.. Just a dynamap, chair, weight scale, etc. We only have one nurse and two techs. Our department has recently instructed the charge nurses to assign a lobby nurse, but most of the time there is no lobby nurse. When there is a lobby nurse, they are usually called by the charge nurse to do other things (lunch relief, take up patients, etc.). I can understand a nurses frustration when they receive a new patient from triage and they haven't caught up with their other patients. But keep in mind that the triage nurse must accept all patients coming in regardless. There is no refusing a patient out there. And it's difficult when you have 20 patients in the lobby and 15 lining up to check in. As a triage nurse, I make it a point to put the least critical patients in the lobby if there are no rooms available. And I will hold rooms open in anticipation for critical patients coming in (something our department despises with flailing arms. They want all rooms filled at all times and no one in the lobby. ha ha.). I make sure that all protocols are done when time allows and when we have techs available. I try my best to make it as easy as possible for the receiving nurses. Where I work, nurses are assigned to rooms. I don't think a nurse should refuse a patient that is placed into their room because they didn't receive report or because they are unable to take care of the patient. If they are unable to take care of the patient, then they should have called the charge nurse for help and/or asked for the help of their peers around them. And at the least, the should have called the triage nurse to let them know what's going so that they can alert the charge nurse and/or nursing supervisor as well. You can't expect me to keep a patient that's been stabbed in the chest out in the triage area just because you aren't caught up. I can't treat them out in triage. If there's a room open, I am sending them to that room. If you can't take care of them you should have called me so I could alert the charge nurse and you should ask for the help of your peers and alert the charge nurse as well.

I think it's a good idea. It's a way to collect some money. What does it hurt, if they can't pay, they won't, if they do, it's a bonus.

you are still a new grad., especially since you are in orientation. Take the job. If you don't someone else will.

Let me see if I understand this correctly. If an RN is assigned responsibility to a patient and an LPN is assigned to the same patient, the nursing supervisor is in charge of that LPN?

The RN is in charge of the LPN providing care to the client even if they are not in house at the same time. The RN is ultimately responsible for the patient's care and well being and is held accountable if the orders and standard of care aren't being carried out. If the LPN make's a mistake, the LPN is liable on their part for their error, but the RN is in charge of taking appropiate action and making sure that the correct procedures are carried out.

Should an LPN make more than a new grad RN? This RN is in charge of the LPN who is caring for the patient and is ultimately responsibile for the patient care, correct? Yet the LPN should make more? I wouldn't think so. Otherwise said these companies should watch out because you get what you pay for.

Maybe she should stop worrying about school and try to focus on her family.

Our call pay is about $2.25. I think they should at least give you base pay for being on call. Why? Because the hospital is asking you to stay in a certain mile radius during call. The rule is that I must be within close proximity to the hospital. If they are asking me to stay within a certain mile radius, then they should pay for that.

Thanks for the comments. Reading from the above posts it seems like fentanyl may be a better alternative than morphine for patients with low blood pressure? I should have posted this scenario in my original post. My Scenario is this: A patient is having and MI, has a low blood pressure (like 70/40), and fluid is contraindicated and yet they are awake, alert, oriented and complaining of severe pain. PCI is what's needed, but while you are waiting for the cath team what could you give? I see that some of you think that fentanyl is a good choice. So I am thinking that fentanyl won't affect your blood pressure as much as morphine, correct? Granted every patient is different.

In patients with acute MI, how would you treat their pain if they have a low blood pressure?