cheyoda

I have had several CPS trainings as well as spoken to case workers. If your gut is telling you that something is wrong then report it. Case workers will then determine if it is a legitimate complaint. They will also see if there has been any other issues with those parents. Always, always, always report. There are far too many cases that go unreported then reported. Children do not have a voice, and we need to be there voice everyone in the whole U.S. should be a mandatory reporter. People are sometimes afraid to report, because they feel that the child will be taken immediately out of the home. If it is neglect, depending on how severe the parents may just take some parenting courses. If it is severe physical abuse and sexual abuse the child may be taken out, until their is a full investigation. That does not necessarily mean the child will never come back. The examples I said above were from the courses I took. But all of them say it varies case by case. But in general they investigate and determine the need. If there is nothing to be found then the child will come home. Let the professionals make the decisions, not you. If you do report make sure to follow up. If you feel like nothing was done, and you still feel like there is something wrong then report it again. Following up is also important.

I had one really good nurse that I followed. She was an ICU/ED nurse. We had a full patient load that day. She was floating to the floor that I was on. It was amazing to watch her. She did not rush, she did not panic when things were not going as planned. She just calmly moved from one room to the next. It was weird because not once did I feel rushed or like she was rushing it was like we were in slow motion compared to my other nurses, but we still finished everything before everyone else. It was the most relaxing, calm shift I had ever had. Not because of the patients, but because of her attitude. She answered every question I had, whenever I got a nurse that was not always flustered, or somewhat approachable I would ask her or him questions. I hope to be like her one day, not easily flustered, taking things in stride, in control, thorough, and approachable. I wish every nurse could be like that, but it is ideal. Learn what you can, even from the nurses that are not as friendly, they will still have valuable experience to offer. It would be great if students were put with only the approachable nurses. Side note: I know why nurses get flustered with students. I know some students are just plain rude. But it absolutely shocked me that this particular nurse was truly relaxed and at ease, with what I perceived were difficult patients, and truly helping me along and asking me all the time if I had questions. I was shocked she told me to ask her about anything I want to know. She thanked me. Her kindness was needed, because it was sometimes difficult to find a friendly face like that.

I saw a new grad nurse make several med errors in one day at an LTC after being trained for three days. It was scary. The LTC tried to cover for her, but it made me nervous that she was dangerous to her already frail patients. I have nothing against LTC, in fact I loved my clinical experience. I would go to a LTC in a heart beat if they would train me for three months. For the safety of the patients though it is important to be trained properly.

Be a safe person to talk to. If you not saying that the OP is not, but in general if people gossip a ton an individual in crisis will not come talk to you. Also when someone is in crisis any type of crisis it is not the time to lecture. A persons main goal is to help them get out or at least have enough information where they can make a decision on their own. I treat clients differently then I treat a friend. But a client I will ask them questions that will hopefully let them make the right decisions. Like if someone says I deserved to get hit by the baseball bat because I said some guy was cute then you ask them a question like this. Have you ever hit him for saying a girl is cute. Make them consciously think about what is going on in their lives. If they are in survival mode, most likely the obvious answers to us is not obvious to them, because they like to make excuses for the perp's behavior. Another question I like to ask is when they say it makes sense that they would act that way? I say I am sorry I don't understand how does that make sense can you explain it to me. Once they start logically thinking about what is happening to them, in some cases I have seen light bulbs go off. The more severe the perp is the harder it is to get the victim out. If they are using guns, rape (which is a common form of DV that is always over looked) and abusing on a regular basis the victim will most likely be in extreme survival mode, and extreme brain washed mode.

This is a good subject to bring up, because not many people mention it. If it is someone I know I talk to them like a friend and ask them if anything is going on. That they seem depressed lately. I always ask them how they got the bruises. I say things like oh man that looks like it hurts how did that happen. If they start to get nervous about answering then I suspect abuse more. If they are closed off to answering any personal questions just say something like I notice that you have been looking sad lately here is my phone number call me anytime. I am an up front person so I say I have lots of resources for people that are going through difficulties let me know if you need any help. When I am really good friends with them I just invite myself over, I like talking to people in their homes. If you say words like abuse they will most likely not talk to you. Many people that are being abused do not think they are. So I use my words carefully, to not scare them. Depending on the town you live in there can be plenty of resources or very little resources for domestic violence.

I volunteered at an ER that had two separate areas for the critical patients, and the other for the clinic type patients. The clinic type patients that were seen were back pain, ear aches, those that needed stitches or minor repairs, and those with flu like symptoms. It was also considered an overflow for the critical patients, if there was no room in the critical area. I don't know if that is what you are referring to. It was nice, because I felt like it was more organized and those that were critical could get the care that they needed.