PaddyCake

A friend of mine recently spent 2 days in the hospital after having chest pain. She stated when the nurses drew blood they tore a piece of tape, put gauze on the tape, and stuck the tape to their pant leg. When they were done with the blood draw they used this tape with the gauze to cover the blood draw. She had 3 blood draws while in the hospital and she stated they all did it this way. Is that how it is normally done? I'm not a nurse and I'm not a student until July, so I have no clue. Her concern was passing germs, since she came home a bit sicker than when she went in (viral symptoms, all I know is she said she had a fever). Thanks in advance for explaining this to me so I can maybe reassure her that this is normal.....or not???

I agree with Tiroka03....even with the kids on the more severe end, working to help make them as functional as possible as far as daily living skills is so important for them as they become older and enter adolescence and adulthood. I did everything for my son, not realizing now that he could do so much for himself. He is nonverbal, but he can learn and be taught. I can't tell him not to feel different because he is disabled, since doesn't really have that type of understanding. It's so hard to give advice about autism, since all of our kids are so different. Lisa

I would be interested in knowing more about the testosterone connetion and autism. Is there any suggestion that high testosterone levels have anything to do with self injurious behaviors? My son is 11 years old, severely autistic. We are still working with him and he has actually made more progress this year than any other year. Lisa

A quick "okay, thanks" and a smile would suffice, then get on with your day and don't take it personally. Your going to be dealing with many different personality types out there, just learn not to take too much too personally and don't read anything into it. You can only control how you behave, not how someone else behaves.

I will be starting January 2011 at York County School of Technology in Pennsylvania.

This has worked for me in the past for a tattoo on my leg that I once needed to cover: http://www.igia.com/

I am going to hope that this is a case of a few bad apples spoil the bunch type of thinking. I am a medical transcriptionist and have noticed lots of the same attitudes with the women I work with. I am a natural peace keeper, so my way of handling it is to try not to take it personally, I always say thank you for pointing that out when someone points out a mistake, and I have tried to find something in common with each of the people that I feel are miserable and in a position of some power over me. It has made things go much smoother for me. I think not taking it personally is the big one. It actually turns out they treat everyone like that, so nothing personal against me. I might reconsider nursing school. I know for whatever reason LPNs are looked down on by RNs, but I am almost 40 years old and quite frankly, I don't really care. I know I will be a great nurse and a compassionate caretaker.

I am still hoping that there is one RN out there who will come forward and say...yep, that is how we roll on my floor. I know you are out there somewhere. The fact that no one has posted this tells me they know it is wrong, but they don't care and it feeds the ego and makes them feel uber important!!!!

This is the exact reason I have decided to bag nursing school. The attitude is driven by the clique system developed in high school. I can't imagine surrounding myself with this nonsense on a daily basis. No wonder there is a nursing shortage!!! I would bet dollars to donuts there won't be one reply on here from anyone who actually engages in this type of behavior and will admit it either.

My entire family lives in Western Pa and there is a huge elderly population out that way. I still live in Pa and it is the same here as far as LPNs and what jobs you will be hired for. Have you considered working for a correctional institution? I just saw an ad on PA civil service jobs for LPNs working in correctional institutes and the pay looked pretty good. I think 2 of them were located in the wester part of the state. Did you ever consider relocating? I thought about doing weekends in a bigger city. I heard "rumors" about nurses pulling weekend shifts at hospitals in New York and making a huge chunk of change and then having the rest of the week off with their kids. However, not sure if those were LPNs or Rns.

I bought a copy of the PSB Practical Nursing Exam Secrets from Mometrix, downloaded it online. If you want any specifics feel free to email me at [email protected].

I am seeing lots of attitude towards LPNs, not only from RNs, but also from the LPNs themselves. It's making me reconsider. I don't want to surround myself with a bunch negativity from RNs who think they are better than me or a bunch of miserable LPNs and I don't take very kindly to being bullied. How discouraging that this is how adults act towards each other. I already work for a hospital and have a great job, this isn't something I have to do, it is something I want to do.

York County School of Technology starts in January and July. Cost is, I believe, about $13K, but don't quote me because I cannot find the exact number. I start in January. Feel free to contact me for more info. I am accepted to start in January. http://www.ycstech.org/education/components/scrapbook/default.php?sectiondetailid=1427&

Thanks! That was much more helpful. I am actually probably one of the few who enjoys working with the elderly and disabled, so this might be something I might be able to look forward to.

It is much faster to become an RN when you are already an LPN where I am located. There were 2 schools of thought on going straight for RN versus LPN. I could sit in school for probably about 2 years while I take my pre-reqs or go for 1 year to LPN and get advanced standing or do an online program which would be paid for by the hospital I work for. So, it seemed to me that the obvious choice was to do the LPN program. I am sorry that you are calling yourself a "little pretend nurse". You are not a pretend anything!