pellykate

That's what I think, too. We only have two nurses for up to 32 clients. They don't all take meds, but many of them need a LOT of attention so the days are busy, and with admissions and discharges and panic attacks and questions and BPD... oh LORD, how am I going to have time to do director work and deal with all that? Filling in for call-outs I've had plenty of experience with trying to do both, and I don't see how it's possible. Anyway, I'll have to let go of one of my full-time nurses to make this schedule happen, which means I'll actually have to work three 12s and somehow be a director.

How many days a week do you work in the staff nurse role? I've been told I am to be the RN two days a week and am alotted three "director days" a week. Is this normal? I've never worked in this environment (voluntary residential psych) and never been a DON before.

I think what he meant to say was, “More nurses will not improve my profits.”

I’m a school nurse which is the perfect job for me and my family’s needs EXCEPT for the pay. Oh, the pay. I have $29 after paying rent and one smallish bill immediately after my paycheck dropped last night. That’s right. $29 to live on for two weeks. My rent is on the minimum end of the scale for my area, too. I’m working on a food truck tomorrow morning and do this somewhat regularly, but I was wondering if anyone knows about doing medical coding on the side, say part time from home, sort of PRN?

Why didn't she call the pharmacy first and ask about the med not showing up?! Sure, she may have been rushed, but GOOD LORD. If Versed is ordered, it doesn't show up in the Pyxis, you type in VE on override and something else shows up, you DON'T PICK something else! This blows my mind. That poor patient and her family!

LOL! Oops! I meant to type "$39K", as in $39,000 a year. Minus taxes and benefits, I end up with $2000 a month. I thought I could make it work. WRONG. As for cost of living, yes, it has increased dramatically around here in the past few years. From our local paper: What does it cost to live comfortably in Nashville?

In Metro Nashville, I am an employee of the city Health Department within Metro Government, which has excellent benefits. I divide my days evenly between two schools which are just down the road from each other. We work on the students' calendar with the exception of a few days of in-services throughout the school year. Salary is spread out over 12 months. I'm an RN, four years prior hospital experience, Bachelor's degree in another area and Associate's in Nursing, no certification in any specialty. I started out at $39. I LOVE my kiddos, the staff at both schools, and my supervisors and DON. Looking forward to snow days this year, too! The only problem is that pay! For example, I'm having to tell my kid we can't go to Great Clips until my next paycheck. I'm couponing my butt off, buying NOTHING unnecessary, not even a cup of coffee, and working on a food truck here and there just to have enough to not be overdrawn, and I don't always make that goal. Something has to change.

NOW do you guys understand why doing mouth care is so important?!

Right. I once said to a parapro who brought in a student she just really did not want to deal with that day (temp was in the lower 98's), "She feels warm because she's alive" and laughed so she wouldn't slap me.

Heck yeah! If the student has made it clear they are Christian, and they are in need of prayer, then how could I not?

Student comes to clinic with 45 minutes left in the day saying her sore throat is worse and looks all sad and wilted. I tell her go get your backpack and just wait for the bus in here with me. She comes back, plops down and proceeds to talk for the next thirty minutes STRAIGHT, so lively and animated, telling me scene by scene the plot of some crazy movie she saw. C'mon now! Fool me once, kid...

Do it! Go all the way! We have three women in our program who are 50 and above and a couple others who are in their 40's, and they are doing great. I think you have two advantages over younger students: life experience and your kids are self-sufficient at this point. I'm 33 with a husband and two boys ages 6 and 7, and I'm having a hard time but hanging in there and doing pretty well. You probably don't have to worry about rides to school and aftercare for your kids, they're not needing your attention when you have to study, you don't have to do everything for them. You're probably back to your pre-kids time scheme at this point. Sometimes I think maybe I should have waited until mine are at least in middle school. Owell. Also, as far as the physical demands, helping someone get out of bed can be challenging for anyone! At my age it's still hard, and I'm pretty strong... just small. Just get help. There's always someone around who can help you turn or lift or move someone. You'll be on your feet quite a bit walking around, but it sounds like you're already doing that. It's taking care of patients, not Wipe Out. You'll be fine. One girl in our program has severe asthma, and she's around 40, quite overweight, but she already works as an LPN and is having no problems in the program. You can do this. You can do this.

It was in her chart. It had been placed to admin antibiotics before surgery because of a previous MRSA infection. Home health nurse failed to show to assess/change it, finally arrived three days late and found her legs swollen and hot. The pt said her face had been "broken out real bad all over", also, though it looked okay today.

I'm in my third semester of nursing school.Tonight at clinical my patient had cellulitis caused by MRSA from a neglected PICC line. Go ahead and laugh at/berate me for my ignorance, but i was confused by her arm that seemed totally fine, but she had 3+ pitting edema that was hot to the touch. BP 90/50, HR in the 80's while on oxycodone, RR 14, temp 97F. Can someone tell me why the cellulitis is in her lower extremities instead of the arm the PICC line had been in?

Dr. R. rules!