Hancock330

It's impossible for me to express any pleasure in anything said by Jane Fonda. With a background where several family members were active duty military during and immediately after Viet Nam her behaviors, not ever adequately apologized for, make her...

I think I would explain to the PSW that she is coming very close to practicing nursing without a license which could land her in court with a possible fine and, if she harmed a patient, jail time if she performed any patient care not covered in her j...

My first job as an RN (after having waited about 6 weeks for my State Board results), I worked in the old part of the hospital where some of the beds were either "male" or "female" -- and it had NOTHING to do with the patient in the bed. The beds we...

In some places, state regulations REQUIRE employers of RNs and LPNs to put their status in letters an inch high on their name tags. This can be VERY helpful to rational patients. Those with dementia probably won't know but everyone else will be abl...

I graduated with my BSN in the late 60s. The women in my class wore light yellow dresses (with A-line skirts). We wore caps with student stripes on them, and after graduation the stripe changed to reflect the school colors. Our cap -- well, one pa...

I'm sorry to hear that you B of N was so unprofessional as to charge you with misdeeds without ever examining the evidence to support the complaint. This is truly a case of nurses (I'm assuming that some, probably most, of the board members are nurs...

I lived in California until I was close to 30. I married a guy from a very rural part of Alabama -- who definitely did NOT want "a girl just like the girl that married dear old dad" (the words from a very old song). His family never really understo...

One more comment on this thread. If you are a nurse at an institution where there are medical students, interns, or residents providing patient care, one of YOUR responsibilities is to "bring them up right". Do NOT let them get away with being rout...

I've never been without my own malpractice insurance. I'm now retired and I still pay $114/year for my policy. 1. If you EVER give one bit of health care advice away from your job, and if the person who got the advice has a bad outcome for any reas...

So, a bazillion years ago -- 1970, to be exact -- I attended a "law for nurses" conference in San Francisco. The presenter was a member of a law firm employed by the Northern California Kaiser Permanente Group. He admitted at the outset he expected...

I graduated from my BSN program, in California, in 1969. I'm now, thank goodness, retired. As a student working as a nursing assistant and during my first 6 years as an RN in California, I had the honor to work with a few nurses who participated in ...

A couple of thoughts. Many states are "right to work" states (what an inappropriate label) so a nurse who complains about ANYTHING can be fired. Unless the nurse can prove the firing was due to membership in a protected group, that is, people can't b...

I'm guessing that there were many staff meetings regarding this patient. However, you don't say whether there was an agreed upon plan of care. While nothing should be posted in the hallway, you might try a poster board in the resident's room outlin...

OMG my dear, you most definitely need to research a bit about cortisol deficiency and it's effects on serum electrolytes. If the cortisol level gets low enough the serum sodium drops (like way less than 125) while the serum potassium goes through th...

Wait until you're admitted to a hospital where a small but significant number of the nurses are your former students. Then you can find yourself expected to "know all about" your diagnosis whether it's a one time event or not. And wait until you're...

I've seen a lot of pain control issues during my career. A caveat -- the pain scale was created for use in a research project and was not designed or intended for use in the usual patient care situation. I've seen patients who retreat into sleep to ...

Adding to what I previously posted, please be precise and use layman's language when discussing treatment options with patients and families. For instance: PLEASE, don't ask extremely frail or sick patients or their families "Do you want us to do ev...

Thanks for asking. Communicate respect for nurses, to the patients, your colleagues, and the nurses. When a medication can have multiple indications, it helped if I knew WHY this patient was getting it. I remember a time when we held the beta block...

I've gotten licensed by endorsement 3 times in the many years of my career. It may feel like an expensive process, but it usually isn't a prolonged process. You can reasonably wait for a job offer to file the paperwork for a license. These days yo...

Re: #4 Decades ago -- in the very late 60s -- I had the honor of working with a nurse who had been involved in the original strike by RNs in the San Francisco Bay Area. She said that some nurses were sitting around, maybe on a lunch break or similar...

I THINK the reason they don't give reasons for a non-selection is that anything beyond the applicant's experience level, any reason for non-selection for some applicants could lead to a law suit under equal opportunity employment statutes/regulations...

I taught in 7 different nursing programs in my career -- from California, Oregon, Tennessee, and Georgia -- as we moved around the country. In none of those programs would the behavior described be acceptable. I would suggest that you and any other...

My heart goes out to you. It will take a LONG time for your pain to ease and you will have to use the coping mechanisms you know have worked for you in the past. I strongly support the suggestions regarding the EAP at work -- and, if desirable for ...

I'm a few years out of date -- in 2007 I retired from 22 years in the Army Reserves -- but if you are REALLY interested in an Army career, talk to a recruiter about opportunities in the Reserves. I'm pretty sure that IF they offer you a commission, ...

If you haven't already assessed equipment condition and maintenance -- and I'm talking mostly non-patient care equipment here -- check on that. Do the carts that bring supplies and food to your floor have well lubricated wheels or do they squeak and...