mLPN79

Thanks for all the replies :)

Hi emenhiseramRN, Yes the charge nurse is an RN, and generally a good one as well. I just wonder if I was really getting my point across but I don't think I could have made it any more clear than saying " I am really concerned about this patient. Looking through her graphics record, there is no other entries of her having O2 levels below 92% and this patient is quite somnolent". I feel my assessment was not taken seriously and I sure hope I charted accordingly!! I guess may have dealt with the problem accordingly but I still feel as though there was something else I could have done.

Hi all, I have a question which I feel is a stupid one but I just need some confirmation on something that happened today at work. As an LPN, when there are changes in a patients status, we are to make the charge nurse aware, correct? Then from there the charge nurse gives the action to take?? Today I had a patient take a downhill turn (had an increase in an analgesic).I made CN aware of what was going on and told her I was concerned and asked if Dr should be contacted. CN was not concerned,only saying her condition was probably due to medication. I kept assessing patient, charting observations, etc. and when a resident came onto unit then CN decided to report my findings. Low and behold that patient required O2 and continuous O2 monitoring (respiratory depression due to medication). I feel this was not taken care of in a timely manner and wanting to know what I could have done differently. I didn't want to step on CNs toes, especially after hearing her get after a coworker for calling a doctor without asking her first. Any feedback??

I would like to know as well.....I've been casual on psych and in rural for 3 years now and never hear back. I'm going to take my chances and start cold calling, can't hurt anymore than not getting anything at all.

Bonnyville is ok as well and there has been more postings for there than where I currently am.

I'm in Cold lake as we speak, seeing if its somewhere I think I could live. I don't know what to make of it. Definitely a far cry from city life.....the lake looks nice though :)

To add to what Fiona said, LPNs where I work are given bigger patient loads with a mix of stable and unstable patients. Whereas there are times when the RNs only have 3-4 patients who don't have any complex issues. Tell me, how is it right to give an LPN an assignment more complex than most of the RNs are and then sit there and demoralize us?? We may not have all the theory based knowledge but for that we make up in skill. The bullying needs to stop somewhere.

Well said, Fiona.....

Ok thanks! I'm in Central Alberta, so same thing everywhere as far as getting a job goes. Fiona, I was watching the news the other day about the new health care model....not safe at all! It's worrisome for the care of clients/patients and also for the LPN profession. I've been noticing that some of the LTC's here are now going from LPN/ HCA to RN/HCA. Job prospects aren't good anywhere but I hope to have better luck elsewhere. I've heard as far as living in the city goes, to stay on the West side or south. I know Millwoods is a definite no! How about the newer areas like Windermere or near the UofA such as Belgravia? I guess I had better go make myself more familiar with Edmonton first. My spouse works up near Cold Lake so the kids and I are taking a trip up to bonnyville to see what it has to offer. Maybe we end up moving further north, who knows! Wherever I apply and get an offer I guess is where we shall go :)

Hello, I am considering relocating to Edmonton due to the job prospects of where I am now. Although I am born and raised Albertan, I am not overly familiar with Edmonton as I am with Calgary, and am wondering what the best areas of Edmonton are to live in and which hospitals would be the easiest to commute to. I know that's a silly question as there is no such thing as an easy city commute! What are your recommendations?

Glad to hear things are looking up for you :) I live in Canada so wages and costs are quite a bit different but when I had to have all 3 children in care, it was costing me $600-$800/mo for the one full time and $800/mo for the other two needing before and after school care adding up to $1400-$1600 a month in childcare costs and very little government subsidy towards it!! Now all three are in school and my oldest can be home alone for a short time so i only have two requiring before and after. I've been working casual since I graduated 3 years ago and have not really advanced in my career. Ive been "stuck" working in psych and would realy love to get back to med/surg. the hospital i work at is so cliquey i dont stand a chance (or at least thats how it feels). Hoping things start looking up around here as well! All the best to you and I agree with the others, I would stay away from the MIL!!

I am in a similar scenario where I have not been able to work all summer due to no childcare! It is so hard o find people you can trust and those who are decent caregivers. I'm waiting for school to resume so at least I can put one of my kids in before and after school care. We had my step daughter watching the kids for 7 months while she lived under our roof doing nothing for herself. Then she moved out and decided that she quit one day hours before I was due to work!! You just can't trust or rely on anyone anymore. Sorry I'm ranting a bit on your thread! But I can somewhat relate to your difficulties. Wish you all the best :) keep your chin up!

I'm just becoming more frustrated the longer I sit and do nothing. I am considering moving to a larger city or north in rural nursing but that does not mean I will land a different position. I think I'm just going to bridge over to RN via Athabasca and cest la vie to Alberta!! I feel I'm not going to get anywhere here. Maybe I could be of use in the maritimes.......

Hi jamd11, Thanks for the response :) yes I have been applying for other positions within the last 2 years. It is challenging times in Alberta to get a job, let alone in the health authority of where I work. I was "let-go" from the surgical position due to (as the manager described) lack of skill and time management.....whereas I actually felt it was due to bullying, but that's neither here nor there as this experience was 2 years ago now. I believe what some of the issue here is that we have HR going through all the resumes and deciding who gets to go through. One can apply repeatedly for a position until finally being accepted for an interview. Many people are telling me to cold-call the units but, if I displease the wrong manager I may mess up my chance of having an opportunity. I guess I will just have to hope for the best and keep up with in services and courses to enhance knowledge.

Hello All! I don't even know where to begin....lets say I made one bad move to the next. I did my PN training in Calgary and shortly after graduation i moved out to the country where it took 6 months for me to land a job in which I worked in a small rural hospital. From there I decided to move bak to my home town believing things would be better in terms of my career and family. I always seen myself working in the surgical area and applied for some positions. I had landed a position on a short stay unit where I ended being "chewed up and spit out" so to speak. I had excellent reviews throughout my orientation and after my 2nd shift I was told I was not up to par due to my lack of experience from working In a rural hospital. Ok so I moved on, applying for whatever came available and since that time I had only landed a casual position on a psych unit. I only planned on continuing with psych until I could get something else and almost 2 years late guess where I am....still casual on psych. I am now trying to make my way back to Calgary and I hope to land something more enjoyable but I am now even more anxious than ever as I have only been doing psych. What can I do to make myself more sellable to a med/surg unit?? I have my IV cert and took a course on IV meds for refresher. I have taken diabetic and wound care in services. Any suggestions? I feel stuck and if I don't find something I am passionate about doing, I might end up abandoning this career. How am I to get experience when HR tosses my résumé?! Please, suggestions! Getting desperate here!

My last preceptorship 2 years ago I had my placement on a day surgery unit. I really enjoyed it there and had spoke to the manager about getting a casual position in which she said "bring in your resume and we'll do an interview". During a planned 2 weeks off after I finished school, I had faced a big decision to move from the city to the country. As we moved over an hour away from the hospital in which I did my placement, I was no longer able/willing to commute that far to work. I ended up working in a rural hospital, basically working mostly LTC, but had some good medical experience there as well. All the while, I regretted the move and have been desiring ever since to have the opportunity to work on a day surgery unit again. My only experience thus far is LTC, medical and psychiatry. I also haven't worked to full scope, and my IV initiation skills are a bit rusty. I live in another city now, and it seems that every position available for day surgery, medical dayroom, etc. requires at least 5 years experience here. I realize I have a lot of time and practice ahead of me in order to get to where I want to be. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can get myself back to where I was skills and kowledge wise? I am finding it tough to get a surgical/ medical position here and am currently only working in psych casually. If I would have had the opportunity to move back to where I was I probably wouldn't have had such a hard time as the postings for such units don't "appear" to ask for as much experience (ie: 5 years), and I did my training there as well. Has anyone here made decisions regarding their career and ended up making a change to do something completely different? If so, what kind of "hoops" did you have to jump through to get to where you desired to be?

In Alberta, step 1 is $23.73 and then there are shift diffs and weekend premium anywhere from $2.75-$5.00

There was a complaint made by the family directed to the Dr's and the Dr's pointed their fingers back at another nurse and myself. Turns out we did what we were supposed to, so no fault of ours. It was kind of like a quality control invesigation so to speak! All I know is that I'm relieved. Thankfully I did my charting properly as well :)

Pheww! I can breathe now :) After the crappy week of waiting to find out why I was being investigated, found out it wasn't really about me. Never ever do I want to go through that again, and I really want to put out there for all the importance of documenting!!! CYA

Thank you for your reply, mazy:) I'm going to take your suggestion and make a list tonight that way I can prepare myself on my way to the meeting tomorrow so I won't "forget" under the pressure.

I'm even having a hard time right now typing this, as I know I have done wrong and will be the one to fully blame for the situation I am about to discuss. No words can describe how I feel at present. I am casually employed at a facility where I work both LTC and acute. I was asked to work a few weeks ago in LTC. Having not been on the LTC side for 2 months, I had no knowledge of some of the changes made as well as the new resident. I made my best effort to read his Hx in his chart but only got tidbits of info as the day wore on. This fellow's family was in in the afternoon and were concerned that he had had another stroke. I did an assessment and he "appeared" to be good. I asked other staff about the resident and while it was not normal for him to be acting the way he was, he had been in the same state for the last week since becoming "ill". I told the family I would let the Dr. know when I could. The Dr. who was available that day was busy my whole shift in ER, and, also notoriously known for letting staff in LTC know that unless the resident is his own or is in a medical emergency, do not disturb him. I also had another resident with apparent fluid in the lungs so, I let the ER nurse know that I was leaving the chart for the one resident who needed to be looked ASAP and that I had another resident who needed an assessment as well. This Dr. did not come over after his break and the evening nurse who came on managed to get his attention after I had left. This same nurse was also made aware of the concerns of the other fellow's family and we discussed some of his Hx. The same thing was told me by the evening staff as day staff had said about him acting disorientated and different over the last week. He had been having diarrhea the past few days as well and we all thought he was sick. i though that the evening nurse would have asked the Dr to assess the resident when he came over as well. Anyways, long story short, evening staff put the fellow on isolation as he had been experiencing diarrhea again. When i came out from report, he had gotten himself up and out to the diningroom alone. He was the same way he was the previous shift, only a little more fatigued and not responding to everything. He ate his breakfast, slowly and then staff took him to lay down after lunch time for a nap. I frequently checked on him, he repositioned himself, he would respond when I would talk to him with yes, no answers. I thought he was experiencing the same illness as what staff had been telling me. Did I get one of the RN's to come assess him-no. Did I let the Dr. in ER be aware of same-no. Why-I don't know, all I can think of is that I was listening to everyone elses opinions and story and didn't listen to myself. I recieved a phone call about 9 days after the last shift saying I was being pulled in for a review with the residents own Dr. and there needed to be an explanation as to whhy a resident was found unresponsive on my shift. I had no idea this man was unresponsive!! He ended up in acute care , not sure when, why any of the details. I'm a disaster, a complete mess!! I would never have thought i would put anyone in danger. I feel as though I gave a lethal dose of a med by accident, and well I guess this could be in some comparison. My meeting is tomorrow and I was told that I could have my union rep with me.....well the union rep is also the nurse who worked the evening shifts that weekend as well. Am I to blame? Yes. But there is a part of me who credits some of the blame to the other nurses who were aware of things happening with the resident and telling me not to worry as he had been acting like he was for over a week. I am to blame for listening to them, believing in them, trusting in them and not listening to my own gut instincts. I think this is where I exit out of my short career in nursing and find something else as this feeling of being a horrible cruel person is not what I ever thought would have happened....to me. That is totally not who I am or what many others would say about me, but now I guess I have to look at it as though I am an irresponsible and cruel individual. I am scared sh!tless of tomorrow, don't know what to expect and am so stressed that today I am sick. If anyone cares to give me advice, I would so greatly appreciate it. I need all I can to get through the next 2 days.

Where I am from, LPN's take care of patient's with chest tubes and depending upon unit policy, can change the dressings, etc.. just not able to do insertion or removal. We do all kinds of wound care, from full thickness burns to Stage IV ulcers, etc.. You would need to check your unit policy.

Well, I feel like a student once again- this time one facing a big "fail". I just recieved a call from my manager, asking me to come and have a meeting with her as she wants to discuss the feedback she was given from the RN I worked with the last few days. Maybe I don't know what it is the manager wouldlike to discuss, but I'm in a frenzy because I was supposed to have orientation until mid-October. The RN I buddied with had said to me that she didn't see what the issue is with my practice: I have the skill and knowledge and that I just need to pick up the pace and become more assertive. Would she have lied to me and turned around and told the manager otherwise?? I know I am good at what I do, but that I do need to pick it up a notch and be more assertive. Her feedback was nothing I already didn't know. I feel like a huge failure, as though I will never amount to anything more in this profession right now! That isn't like me, I never give up on anything. I read my unit orientation book almost every night, I refresh my A&P and read my med/surg books frequently. I look up meds and test myself on them. What more can I do? Has anyone else who was a newer grad worked somewhere they were told they were not up to snuff, even though you knew for yourself that you are damned good at what you do? I feel alone in this problem as the other girls I went to school with seem to be having much better luck.

Ok, thanks :)