kar212

Thank you so much!!

My dad is her caregiver.

Oh, I get that. I just figured someone here has seen or heard or experienced something like this. You also have a parent with dementia?

Hi! I hope it's okay to post this. ER and psych nurses may have some good input. My poor mom, age 77 with dementia is having visual and sensory hallucinations. I live on the opposite side of the country, so I'm getting this information from family. I'm a nurse, but not sure what the best course of action should be. Background: My mom has vascular dementia. Her mobility has been quite poor the last couple of years. At baseline, she uses the walker and needs help to and from the toilet. She had a hip replacement in mid April and then 2 weeks in rehab. The goal was to help her pain, not necessarily improve her mobility. A couple days after coming home, she suddenly got very weak and more confused. Turns out, she had a UTI. She was treated with the right oral antibiotics. Urine was retested Saturday and the infection is clear. After a few days on antibiotics, her mobility improved greatly. However, she started seeing little threads moving on her legs. That didn't seem terribly upsetting to her, but it progressed to her feeling like her legs were going up to the ceiling and at times feels that her whole body is going up to the ceiling. She goes into a panic when this happens. This has been happening a couple times a day. I know she needs to see a psychiatrist. Should she go to ER to get a psych evaluation? Or make an appointment and hope my poor dad can handle it until then? He is having a very difficult time. My dad is contacting the doctor's office today.

I'm an RN and have worked in med surg for almost 21 years, although most of that time it was per diem and not a lot of hours. I have kids at home that do remote learning that still need me and I have been pondering for years now trying to find something else, something very flexible and if possible, less stressful. The only population I don't want to work with is peds. I've thought of hospice, home health, assisted living, ambulatory/office care, correctional, but these areas are new to me. Thoughts, anyone?

Perfect analogy!!! I do feel I've been on a hamster wheel for a very long time!

Hello! I have been a nurse for quite a while, over 19 years. My first couple years were in long term care and the rest in med surg. I only work about three 12 hour shifts a month (nights). I've had that schedule for the last decade in order to be with my kids. The job is complete and utter chaos and has been for a long time. I am thinking it's time to find something new, but I'm not sure what. I'd like to get out of acute care and not work nights. Due to my kids and my husband's work schedule, it would need to be very flexible and not many hours (like no more than 8 to 12 hours a week). I was thinking per diem home health or hospice? I would do an office job, but I doubt there is a per diem option usually available. In a few years, I should be able to do part or full time, but for now, I need lots of flexibility. If you have worked in home health or hospice, please share with me what you think of it. I've been doing the same thing for so long, it's hard to fathom doing something different, but I think it's about time. Thanks!

No,your problem is not unique! I worked in LTC for the first 2 1/2 years of my career and have worked in med-surg for the past 8 years. For the past 2 years, I have been working only 1,sometimes 2 nights a week, per diem. Anyway, I seldom have a night at work that goes smoothly. There is constant chaos and I almost never get out on time. I guess my time management skills need improvement. (Sigh) I feel for you!

I'm so sorry about your precious little baby. My first baby was stillborn 3 years ago. I know how it hurts. I was working in med-surg, though, so I didn't have to deal with the babies. I know that would have made it harder if I had. (((HUGS))) I just wanted to recommend the Share network: http://www.nationalshareoffice.com/index.shtml The message boards are great. Karen

Oh, my heart really goes out to you!!! (((HUGS))) Really, I could have written your post when I started doing clinicals in the fall of 1994. I had just turned 20 and my only experience with working with people was working at Taco Bell! The only difference was that my first nursing instructor was a gem. It was the second instructor that made me really question if I should be a nurse. She even asked me if I really wanted to be a nurse. I felt SO incompetent for the longest time. I felt like an idiot at clinicals. It seemed like I never knew what to do. I had never worked in a hospital. I think it really would have helped if I had. Later on in the nursing program, I tried when I was able to, to avoid med-surg type of settings (we often had a choice, which I don't think is real common these days!). Anyway, I tried to stick with more community nursing. I figured that's what I'd do since I felt like I wasn't competent in a hospital setting. Anyway, I worked in med-surg for the first couple of years and then got a job on a med/oncology floor. It took me a while to get comfortable there, but after some time, I considered myself a very good nurse. I can see why you get so anxious going to clinicals. Why wouldn't you be? I mean, your actions determine whether or not you pass. I was nervous that first quarter of school even with my nice instructor. It just makes things a lot worse when your instructor is a jerk. Try and focus on your patient. Try and anticipate their needs (this was a tough one for me as a student!). Oh, I've had problems with anxiety all my life and boy was it exacerbated by nursing school! Anyway, my point is, I was certainly not a star nursing student. Today, I'm a very good nurse. Don't let anyone break your spirit. You've worked very hard to get where you are today. Keep going! Take care, Karen

Hello there. My daughter was stillborn at 27 weeks. I was placed in an antepartum room. I heard no babies crying and no hollering moms. Our baby was sick and we knew she was going to die, so her dying was not a total surprise. Relatively speaking, it was actually a little peaceful. The wonderful nurses that looked after me was one of the reasons for this.

Grrrrr. This is one of my pet peeves! A nurse I used to work with who had been a nurse for over 40 years told me that back in the day, when a doctor came to the nurse's station, you were expected to give up your chair and run and get the doctor some coffee! Well, I don't know if this was actually expected, but probably encouraged. If a doctor doesn't appear receptive, I don't bother to say hi. If they appear friendly, then I'm friendly. I'm always respectful, but I don't kiss anybody's heiney!

Hmmm. I guess it would be a toss up between a demented, combative patient with any diagnosis or the ETOH withdrawal patient. Or any patient that is constantly pouncing on the call light every other minute.

Here are just a few that come to mind: 1. Antecubital heplocks. I know they're easy to put in, but they don't last! 2. Defective equipment 3. Visitors or patients that threaten to sue you for just about anything. 4. Day nurses who think that night nurses sit with their thumb up their rear end all night. 5. Nursing assistants who don't know how to take a manual blood pressure. 6. Co-workers who are motor mouths and don't know when to ZIP it.

I remember the first time I placed a Foley. It was in my OB rotation and I think the lady had an epidural in, so she didn't feel a thing. The nurse was there and guided me. My first couple jobs were in LTC and for the longest time, I could NOT get a Foley in a woman, any woman, it seemed. I just couldn't find the right hole!!! But eventually, I got the hang of it and it's been a long time since I've been unsuccessful. Men are much easier.

Paxil 20mg daily for long standing anxiety. Not related to my career, though. It works!

Hey, mine too!

My husband works in Newark, but we chose to live much, much further south. We live in Burlington county and it takes him an hour to get to work (works the night shift). We were able to find a 3 bedroom 1 bath house for under $240,000. It's one heck of a commute for my poor husband, but we're happy. We also moved here recently from out of state. We were told that northern NJ is very congested and much more expensive than southern NJ. In fact, a friend of mine from southern NJ described northern NJ as 'yuck'. Now of course I can't say whether or not it's really that bad because I don't live there and very seldom go up that way. One of my biggest surprises about this state is that it's very pretty! Well, at least in the more rural areas. You know, overall, I like it here.:)

Geez! Isn't it the truth that five minutes before you're ready to walk out the door, a patient will fall on the floor? I would always tell my patient, both in LTC and in the hospital, "You can't fall on the floor, it's too much paperwork". When I worked LTC, it seemed that we had to fill out an incident report every time a patient farted. Where I work now, there are incident forms but we have another choice and that is to call a certain in-house hotline. All you do is give some patient info and describe the incident. It's great.

Possible Freudian slip???:rotfl:

Possible Freudian slip???:rotfl:

Don't give up!!! I think what you have on your hands is a lousy work environment and new graduate anxiety. Are you working in a hospital? LTC? I'm appalled that you've been treated this way by preceptors! I would have been incredibly discouraged too if my first job had involved a bunch of really mean nurses. At my previous job, I worked with numerous nursing students and a few new hires. I APPRECIATE working with these people. I wonder if you'd be better off finding a different job? Or demanding a decent preceptor, one that's not a monster? Best of luck to you.

Some of these posts remind me of the time I spent working in a nursing home. I recall a couple of male patients who were probably in their 40s who would stroll up to the medication cart and want their oxycodone. They would sign themselves out from the facility (which is permissable) and go out at their leisure. One time I went into their room and they were watching a Mediao movie. I think all the staff knew that they were doing something illegal (I can't even remember what it was, probably had something to do with drugs). I had one glorious moment when I pulled into the parking lot at work one day, and there were those two men, handcuffed in the backseat of a police car. Much to our relief, they never returned.

I recently moved from Lynnwood, which is decent, but not the best. Not much 'culture' there. Edmonds gets my vote as my favorite. Olympia and Wenatchee are also very nice.

I enjoy my job, I can't imagine doing anything else.