ChristinP

I have had an assortment of situations when I felt EMS should transport a patient but as long as the patient is of sound mind they have the right to refuse. I make the appropriate calls and document. Sometimes it's a matter of cost I have a nice patient with CA and when she needs to go to the ED her husband takes her because they are responsible for 50% of the cost. They can not afford it. I've had patients that I felt needed to go and refused because they were not of sound mind and simply notified EMS to send a police officer who usually found a way to convince the patient to go. Document, document, document! but also throw in some teaching, education and compassion and most patients will gladly get the ED tx they need.

I have been working in home care for about 5 years and with 3 different companies. Your orientation to homecare seems terrible. All of our nurses spend several weeks learning how to document a routine visit before moving on to Oasis admissions, recerts, and discharges/transfers. We all have our cheat sheets for documentation and most agencies have a template to use or you can make your own. It takes nothing but time to learn to how to complete an Oasis. Most agencies I know count and admission as 2 visits and recerts/discharges as 1.5 visits. Your company owes it to you to train you properly or medicare wont reimburse correctly. Good luck to you, I love homecare and wont leave at all.

I live and work in Ct for a large HH agency. I only do revisits and I have to do a minimum of 35 visits a week. I average 8 Pts a day. If its mostly status checks & prefills without problems I'm finished In 8 hrs or less. But lately my 8 Pts are all wounds, mix of wound vacs, new ostomys, none of my visits the past week have been simple, they are very involved with lots of teaching and f/u. I work approx 10 to 12+ hrs a day & average 15-20 miles a day all in one large city. And there is always something that needs to be charted when I get home. 12 patients on one day?? Nope I wouldn't do it!

I live in Ct. I don't believe lpns are being phased out. It's been the same for a while. The job market is poor, I have friends Rns with degrees who have found the job pickings here to be poor. It's the economy. Ive always had 2 jobs, when the VNA of Wallingford closed in Jan. I had a tough time finding a job because not a lot of places are hiring and I could only work 1rst shift- my opportunities were limited. I even *gasp* applied to mall jobs just to pay the bills. Fortunately, I start my new job with a great company on Monday (above average starting pay & benefits). If I was a new grad I don't think I'd have a fighting chance around here!

open doors are invitations LOL we leave it closed!

I'm in Ct, as long as the patient has the slip from the MD, I'll check the site. We do this routinely in my school nurses office for our students and staff and I've done it for patients in home care. The slip gets faxed to md. Any positive reaction, allergic reaction or anything that looks poitive is immediately reported to the MD for them to f/u on.

Many of my classmates felt the same during nursing school. Some used meds, some of us exercised on break or found something to keep our minds clear and free of the craziness. I called it enviromental depression with situational bi-polar :) It really helps to talk to someone and find out if you need further help, which means you need to fit that into your schedule too... I know, more stress and time. But, if it's needed to help then it is important because you are important. Nursing school is very stressful, it doesn't last forever and lucky for you it's almost over. Please remember your first job is also likely to be tough and stressful so take care of yourself.

Amazing...... After reading the OPs statement which I believe is just a 'happy, feel good type statement' and then reading all of the comments both negative & positive..... remembering I live in the USA land of the free My comment is to the OP: "Good for you. If it makes you feel proud and good to be a christian and a nurse then good for you" :)

Hospital Schools/ Diploma nurses are a dying breed. It's a shame because I've met so many wonderful nurses who graduated from these programs.

i've written many cover letters and i am currently job seeking. my cover letter is constantly evolving. i tailor it to suit the company i want to hire me. i've had mine critiqued. i'll pass on some of the advice i was given. 1. if i can't find the name of the hr person on the company website try calling the hr department to get a specific name. "hello my name is ____ i would like to send a cover letter and resume to apply for _____ , can you please tell me who i should address my letter to?" most people are willing to help. if not then go with dear sir/ madame. but a name makes it personal. 2. first paragraph: how do you know the reviewed your application? you want them to read your resume and application. tell them why you want to work there and what would make you an essential part of their team. use their own mission statement to your advantage. 3. second paragraph: brag about your special/extra accomplishments. you have some good points but you need to shorten it up and accentuate, make it standout in a way that specifically applies to them. 4. last paragraph thank them for their time and tell them you look forward to scheduling an interview, let them know your resume is attached and if possible give them a date that you will call back to f/u. make sure everything is spelled correctly and there are no grammatical errors.

How about you ask the MDs office straight out. How did you get my information? Show me where I signed permission? Then ask how you can prevent it in the future? Shoot, I understand you are upset but I wish my MDs did this because repeating myself get annoying.

i know some spanish mostly learned from my patients and students. i do use google translate on my phone when i visit patients in their homes. the written translation is good/not perfect. when it reads the translation out loud the pronunciation is hysterical. i also know the alphabet in sign language but it takes a long time to ask questions one letter at a time and usually the patient quits before i do lol. my sup is supposed to look into medical spanish course for our dept. - i'm looking forward to it.

I don't get paid a lot but, I will have a nice pension when I retire. I have the same days off as my kids, snow days off, multiple vacations and summers off. My oldest even went to the same high school I work in (that was and wasn't a benefit). It's not a cake job and it's never boring. I do however have to work a part time job to earn extra money. I stay because I really like it and when I finally get my RN I'll be able to put in to run my own school.

I'm currently working in a high school health room it doesn't change with age :) our very old poorly designed office only has one bathroom so we save it for the "really" sick kids and send the poopers to the public bathrooms! All I can say is thank God for febreeze when they sneak past us!

While I do love my patients google and webMD moments my favorite of all time was..... Sunday morning 8am home visit, the patient insisted I call his MD (not the oncall, his real doctor) because he was watching Animal Planet and there was this fly that had a bite which caused all of the same symptoms he had. Despite the fact he hasn't ever traveled outside this country. I very nicely told him what a coincidence your illness causes all those symptoms too, we'll call the MD monday and see what he wants to do :)

When I graduated my LPN program I knew what my strengths were, I knew what I needed to study. I had great instructors who let us know exactly what we needed to focus on. Did I know everything? No. There were a few questions that I swear I didn't know the answer to. Focus on your weaknesses but don't forget to keep what comes easy to you fresh. I lucked out and was able to relate a lot of my questions to actual patients I took care of in clinicals. Use Saunders or whatever you prefer to quiz yourself. I totally agree with Cynthia104 she has great tips that apply to testing and real nursing. For the actual testing arrive a little early, don't rush around before you get there. Stay calm, Read each question carefully and thoroughly. Don't read more into the question. If you do not know the answer try to relate it to something you do know and find the best answer.

This question can not be real! I wipe butts prn and my cna does too!

Do I love my job? Yes! I have patients who become family and patients I hope I never see again. Is every day, hour, minute of my job fun, exciting and rewarding? No! I need to complain to friends/co-workers and I come here read other peoples rants and know I am not alone.

I carry a folder with some notes to study from if I have downtime or when I have my lunch but I would never do homework or even think about plugging in my laptop while at work. LOL here I am right now at work reading this post & commenting but, no homework!

i worked 2 month at a ltc/rehab facility. it was every friday night snf and every other weekend days rehab. i was lured by the pay $35/hr. first night there a cna slapped a patient across his face leaving a red swollen cheek. i didn't see it but heard it. the sup decided to allow the cna to finish her shift by allowing her to complete an incident report so she wouldn't lose any pay!?! i reported to don and was told it would be taken care of she seemed full of concern. i had experience in rehab and ltc which led this company to believe it's okay to be orientated by pool nurses who did not know the building or patients ?!? majority of the cnas were constantly accused of stealing from each other, patients and other staff. i caught one trying to get into my med cart... twice. the nurses rns and lpns were just plain mean to the residents after 2 weeks i was told i was the one responsible for locking all the outside doors on friday nights and would be written up because i hadn't done my job - i swear i was never told and didn't even have keys. the weekend supervisor liked to have her hair done by another nurse on the floor during working hours - i mean wash, color, highlights and style. she would answer patients call bells with hair dye and a towel on her head! they ran out of medications, diapers/ chucks... colostomy supplies. i once spent 2 hours searching the entire building for neb tubing to be told the maintenance men stored it with their supplies ??? i was told to chart "patient refused med" instead of med not available. i called and reported everything to the state and was asked to stay and report everything i saw which is why i stayed an extra month.

:) Congrats on the job! I LOL'd out loud when I read the calculator comment - been there, done that! You also have good advice for interviewing, I hope others who come across it will read and learn.

I've educated, instructed, shown video, given brochures drawn pictures and even printed webMD handouts from patients (they prefer webMD to CDC or othe reputable sources) I've reasoned. begged and yes I've bribed (it was homecare & my patient was homebound and was dying for a kit kat bar- it worked she got up and walked for me and lol I gave her candy bar). When I worked med/surg rehab too many refusals from patient = a nice talk with the DON so I always did my best to get a patient to cooperate. The only thing to do if a patient continues to refuse is document refusal and how you educated the patient.

I had three interviews and the job went to someone who had been an intake nurse previously. This job was with a large homecare agency. In Connecticut you must have a licensed nurse take all referals/intakes. Honestly what this company wanted of their intake nurses was an insult to my license there was no nursing involved. I was told to take the potential patients name, address, get a diagnosis and get it to the primary care nurse who will determine what type services the patient will need. I was told "We do not want you talking too long get the info you need and move on to the next call". I would have taken the job to have the extra income I need but, I would have continued looking for other jobs. LOL the little headset required would have driven me batty!

you are 21 and i'm old enough to be your mom (almost ) so listen to me because i say this like a mom or like i would to one of my students. you can't quit until you've given your all. you decided to become a nurse because you met some compassionate nurses who made a good, long lasting impression on you. you have not yet found the type of nursing you would like to do. that is one of the wonderful things about nursing, the opportunities. you are employable in numerous areas... the catch is experience and that is where you will have to work hard and wait until some time passes. i wish you the best in finding a place that will train you and help you become the best nurse you can be. do not give up on your dreams.

I should have mentioned before, our school and my sup would recommend the student stay home until treated and cleared by an MD.