CayRN

p.s. Another thing I have heard a lot in my 30 years as a nurse, "nursing pay is what is driving the cost of medical care up". Excuse me I beg to differ. The biggest culprit in that has been the decades of over charges to insurance companies and individuals for diagnostic testing and medical proceedures.

It is a fact that nursing continues to be one of the LOWEST paying "professions", and I continue to hear that we are not even considered a profession. Few other "professions", would even work for the base pay that most or us earn. If there were no nurses the hospitals would have to close. Certainly the Doc's arent trained or equiped to give the quality of care that nurses do. Many of us are constantly mandated to work overtime shifts, forced to whether we want to or not. This takes a tremendous toll on us and our families, and uncle sam gets a better chunk of that overtime than we do for what it costs us in health, stress and family relations. So NO! If I have to work overtime I better get payed time and a half at the very least. :)

I know exactly how you feel. My neck, shoulders and upper back ache all the time. On top of that I have a permanent AC separation on the left, from an on the job injury. And deep grooves in both shoulders from bra straps. I am miserable all the time. I have been thinking about it, but keep telling myself I'm silly. Now I don't think so. Thanks for bringing it up.........:uhoh21:

It sounds like she was a wonderful person. It also sounds like her big heart rubbed off on you. From the way you described her it sounds like she would want you all to rejoice in all the good ways she touched your lives. The biggest gift you all can give her is to emulate all the good things about her, and to rejoice in having known her.

I was a bit scared of the whole thing too. I had been an LPN for 8 years when I went back to school to get my RN. I am so glad I did. The responsibilities didn't change all that much for me. Remember you are responsible for what you do within your scope even as an LPN, so you might as well be in a position to earn better money for what you are already doing anyway. If you want something badly enough you will be surprised at how well you will do. Just don't overload yourself by taking on too many classes at once. I took one or two tough (science) classes then filled my schedule with easier classes to balance out like, writing, sociology etc. You will do well. If I can encourage you in any way let me know. I'll be glad to help. CayRN :)

I also agree that there should have been reassignment of the patient to a different nurse. Sometimes people clash and there is nothing anyone can do to mend the situation. It's just human nature, and sometimes human nature can be pretty crappy. All any of us can do is be the best we can be one-day-at-a-time.

I agree with the consensus that you shouldn't have to suck it up. Life is too short, and nursing by it's very nature is getting more stressful all the time . Sounds like she needs a psych consult. Sometimes this kind of reaction from a patient comes from fear, abandonment issues and a myriad of other emotions. Sometimes these people are diffused if you look them in the eye and say, "you may be right, I'll give it some thought". or "I can see you're upset, how can I help"?

it may not seem like much but i will keep you in my prayers. to state the obvious you need to find a way to de-stress. do you do anything just for you?? do you have vacation or leave time? would it be possible for you to get away from everything and go to the beach, mountains or whatever you are near and just have some recuperative time for you?? we nurses often overlook our own needs and health in the effort to be "all that we can be" for everyone else in our lives including our patients. take some time for you... i was raised to believe that my needs did not matter in the overall scheme of things. but have had to come to terms with the fact that after a while i am no good to others if i neglect myself. i hope some of this helps. know that you are not alone. and that people care. god bless.

LOLOL....me too.....:rotfl:

I workrd night shift on a med surg ward for many years. I can honestly say that for that ward in that hospital having worked all of the shifts, night shift was the busiest by far, considering nurse patient ratio. But I was never 3-4 hours late making a round. Both nurses were responsible for the ward no matter how you split the load. They both should have been fired. I also agree that any licensed nurse be it RN or LVN/LPN should be held accountable for thier own practice, I was an LPN for 10 years. We are all fallible and there but for the grace of God......