Houstonnurse

According to tribal law and the US govenerment, I am Tsagli, as my maternal side is Cherokee. (according to daddy though, I'm HIS daughter and therefore am Choctaw. ha ha

The school( 24 hr residental) where I work is going to start having us give PPD's to students and employees. I know that when I worked in the clinic there was questions we asked BEFORE we did the test, and info we gave to the patient. I looked and looked online for a week now, and nothing, and we are supposed to start Monday on these. I remember one of them was "have you ever had a positive PPD before. And info was something like, no scratching/etc... If someone would be so good as to tell me the qx's you ask, and if there is a info/side effects I am also supposed to let them know. Hate to ask, but our Dr. is just clueless, and I KNOW I need to do this. I looked at the drug sheet that came with inj. but it didn't have much either. PLEASE help. THANKS, Nitaj

I think you will know fast if the place is not for you. IF they don't give you an excellent course (FOR SEVERAL HOURS/3 or so days,not IN 1 day)in a PMAB program of some type BEFORE you go on a floor your in for a bad time probably, and COULD be unsafe. I am a female in my late fifties, NOT in good shape at all, and work in a VERY acute/chronic level, and I am totally safe on my normal unit (adults PICU) because we practice over and over with a refresher course at least every 3 months, and then practice on the unit at quiet times. We know each staff members step, and don't play around by not being safe. I don't want my pt's overmedicated, but I will give prns if I notice them becoming agaitated BEFORE they get to an unsafe level. We NEVER (and no-one should) confront anyone by ourselves, and NEVER go in a rm without someone close to us unless we are extremely sure of ourselves. I've never been so much as slapped in twenty years except when I worked agency one time in a nursing home and had a little ole ninty yr old woman wop the heck of me! GOOD LUCK. Nita

It depends on your personality, and also the type of PT in those 10 beds. With 30 yrs of PSYCH experience, and 10 as only nurse on 24 bed lock down unit (had ALOT of good tech's though), if it was a CHEMICAL DEPENDENCY unit, i'd fall on my face. SO it depends really on the type of pt's your accepting. IF it wasn't a CD unit, I'd think I'd died and gone to heaven as 10 beds is Low pt's census for me. IF they are really combative,hallucinating, and off meds, you could be in for a bit of trouble with only two tech's. IF they already half-way treated and not combative, or likely to be, could be good unit for you to get your feet wet. Orientation will tell you all of this, and then go with your gut! GOOD LUCK, Houstonnurse

It depends on your personality, and also the type of PT in those 10 beds. With 30 yrs of PSYCH experience, and 10 as only nurse on 24 bed lock down unit (had ALOT of good tech's though), if it was a CHEMICAL DEPENDENCY unit, i'd fall on my face. SO it depends really on the type of pt's your accepting. IF it wasn't a CD unit, I'd think I'd died and gone to heaven as 10 beds is Low pt's census for me. IF they are really combative,hallucinating, and off meds, you could be in for a bit of trouble with only two tech's. IF they already half-way treated and not combative, or likely to be, could be good unit for you to get your feet wet. Orientation will tell you all of this, and then go with your gut! GOOD LUCK, Houstonnurse

I am really in a ticked off mood. I am a pedi nurse (working NICU/and a psy. nurse(working PSYCH.ICU and kids unit). I love doing both, especially because I keep my brain in both worlds, Medical and Psych. I have been a LVN for 30 yrs, so I have been around the block. Recently at my Psych. job, we have had a census drop, and they are taking whatever pt's they can get, and moving them around to the units where the beds are. We were low in the children's unit, so they put them on the old CD(drug) unit. INSTEAD of moving the nurses around to suit the pt population, they left us on the hall where we normally work. I ended up with CD pt's, (which I DON"T LIKE DEALING WITH AT ALL SCREAM, I do my job, and pt's like me, but underneath I loathe it) and CD nurse ended up with kids. This week there were four takedowns on 5 to 11 yr olds, and the kids unit was in an uproar, with kids in Timeout rooms, nurses were getting hit, spit at, and punched. I couldn't leave my pt.s., but I KNOW I could have stopped this.((and whine, I am tooo busy dealing with druggie johnnie that wants MORE ativan that he can have)) I was so UPSET, and bawled my head off after I got off work. I don't think the situation would've gotten to this point if the proper nurses were onboard that unit. BEING AN LVN, (and been a bit grumbly lately at work and not my usual self that my admins. loves, and have raised a bit of hell about cond's on other things). WHAT DO I DO to tell them that this SUCKS, and that nurses and kids both are getting the raw end! AND OH, BTW..... is anyone else tired of all the multiple types of pills, and MIND altering pills they are pushing down kids throats, JUST on parents say-so. MOST of our kids are NOT psychotic, and I think they should have to have a video cam of the home world,school world BEFORE they drug them up. We're messing with personalities/labeling kids for life, and GOD knows what else. I just love my good ole' bi-polar/combative hallucinating adult pt's. I KNOW THEY NEED MEDICINE at least! OKAY, I'm not over it, but at least I feel vented! Tomorrow I'll just go rock and feed my teenie babies and try to forget, or maybe I should just drop PSyCH for awhile, I don't know. Houston nurse

HEY GUYS, I went to the library to study some Ref. Books for this test, and happened to catch the used book room open. I found FOUR nursing books (and two on NEONATAL/PEDI KIDS) and only cost ONE dollar apiece. NONE of them were over three years old, and still had the original price of 45-80 dollars on them! WHAT A FIND!!! I never let ANY of my nursing books go, and think I still have my 1984 Drug referance cards! (snicker) ANYWAY, THANKS to GOD! (and for everyones encouragement, and listening to my fears/ranting) I took the PICU/NICU test today, and though it didn't cover MUCH of what I studied my butt off on,( only appx five or so questions about neonates out of fifty!), I made a high enough score that they let me pass. I can go back to work now! (*though I got cancelled again this morning because receptionist didn't fax my clearence till late today, AND I HAD TO REQUEST IT THEN---GEESH!!!) Thanks everyone for putting up with me and my panic!:)

OKay OkaY, I know I should have just went ahead and gone back to school along time ago for my RN license, but I didn't. And now gonna pay for it! Last week (after working five days in Level 11 nursery for Hermann's PREMEIER agency/float pool), they told me I had to come back in and take test for Level 11 nursery. (and worked 5 yrs for this hospital IN LEVEL 11 Nursery) OKAY, they forgot the test when I was hired, so no big deal. WELL, TODAY I called and was schudeling the test time and found out I have to take Picu AND Nicu Test. BOTH are geared for only for RN's/ and damn if I'm not gonna flunk, even though I can do my damn job, and do it well. Talked to big boss, and he "saw my point, but nothing" he can do about it. I am sooooooooooo pissed, I feel like just dropping them, but if I do, there isn't any REAL pedi/nursery places to work where your not gonna get cancelled like crazy. LIKE I SAID, MY FAULT, should have done my RN yrs ago. ANYWAY, no need to reply, I just am pissed and had to write it out before I hit something. *heyyy, my dh is off today!!!:rotfl:

I've been an agency nurse for almost as long as I've been a nurse. (20 yrs) One thing I know is that I remember no matter what unit/what hospital, If I have my Kardex, Mars, Med cabinet, charts, and supply rooms, then rest will take care of itself! Welcome to the fun of NOT KNOWING if your working or not for a day, and remember that summer is sometimes a slim season for alot of places so try and be as versatile as possible and do shifts early in the pay week, so your not sweating it out at the last couple of days.

I was raised in Oklahoma, and spent my formative years/nights (sic) in a torando shelter. I remember coming up from the shelter and seeing the comforting green light on the downtown tower that signaled "All Clear" for our town. In my heart, I don't think I could ever abandon anyone that would be comforted by my presence, or just words. But at the last minute, (especially if I knew it was a "5" coming straight at me), my brain would take over, and I'd probably run like hell! Survival is personal something we can't predict how we would deal with until it happens, and I don't think ANY POLICY will make us just stand there if we think standing there would kill us.

I've been an LVN for twenty years, and have learned alot about the whole ball of wax. If I was you, I would ck out the other hospital's/places around the area you work (and look within a 25 mile zone) and see what the LVn's are making there! I know that when I worked at one place (and I dearly loved that job) I was making a good 5-7 dollars less than anywhere else in the area. I hated too, but I quit there, and went to work where I could make more. I really hated leaving that place, and felt so much like my family, but my home family deserved the best I could get. It took awhile, but I finally made a new work family and was happy again, AND WORTH MORE!!! LOL I've also noticed that the small town pd less, and the closer to the bigger towns you get, the higher the pay is too, so maybe that will be a factor in it for you to work. PERSONALLY, 11 bucks an hr is SO LOW it's outragous, unless your cost of living is away lot less than everywhere less up there. As far as the question, I do think that the pay should be somewhat different, but based on same factors, (another words, new grad's v/s new grad's make less) and I think that ADN's should be paid less that BSN's. It's the time put into education, the time on the job,etc etc. that should be counted!

I had posted early about what was going on with Houston Agencies (no work, or little of it, and LOTS of cancellations with all my old agencies) and FINALLY figured it out,and work all I want now, but sure isn't what I CALL really AGENCIES!! See, the insurance companies started the PPO, HMO, and all that, and owned the hospitals, then owned the Dr's, (or was it the other way around) WELL, now, all the HCA hospitals have THEIR own agency, and Memorial Hermann has THEIR own agency, and the ONLY time they use outside agencies (some who have been around forever) is when they can't get all the shifts covered, (which is very little). All the other little one owner hospitals are still pretty good, but hard to get into shifts! NOW, while these Hospital owned agencies do Pay very close,but always a few less $, than the other agencies, that is where the similarity ends. You have to agree to work one weekend day (or someplaces the whole weekend), NO instant pay, and very little chance of benefits, unless you pay the whole fee. No mileage, and no help with cost of parking, (their answer to me was, WELL YOU MAKE MORE and if YOU go staff, then we pay!) SO that's the game now. END RESULT----THE INSURANCE COMPANIES WILL END UP OWNING THE WORLD (probably already do). Well, so much for No MONOPOLIES!!:uhoh21:

Hey. If anyone knows of any site that has any FYI's or self assessment or practice tests for working in Neonatal nursery, (ESPECIALLY for Level II nursery), I would SURE appreciate knowing. I am (or was) a Level II nurse, and pedi nurse for years, but was off doing a 2 year private assignment with an adult. NOw (big sigh) I want to go back, but need to brush up before I go take a test this next monday!:uhoh21: I know I know it, but am worried anyway, so I'd like to at least look at something to brush up on the main aspects.

I have been a LVN for 20 years (man, I am getting REALLY OLD), and most of that time I have been an agency nurse. Recently I moved back to Texas and reg. with my old agency, and a new one. Though I prefer working pedi/ and step down nursery, I can work well on any floor except ICU and L&D, so I started getting my bookings easily enough, but only a couple of days in advance. And out of two weeks, all days were cancelled but one! Now, used to--------- agencies fought over getting nurses, and GOOD nurses were able to recieve a schudule a week in advance or from some hospitals a month at a time. I can't with all these cancellations, so I went and reg. with three more agencies, (WHAT A PAIN IN THE BUTT) And seems they book only a couple of days in advance too. WHAT IS THE DEAL? Is agency nursing dead in Houston, or is the nursing shortage over down here, or what is going on????