Marleyna

I completely understand what you mean!! My dear mother had a court date this morning and she woke me up at 10 am banging at my door (just after I fell asleep from a night shift) to accompany her. She was actually shocked when I said "absolutely not" considering I have to work tonight as well!! She definitely ruined my sleep and now I'll be a zombie. Then she called me around 1 pm in reminder to pick up my little brother from school. I can't seem to get her to understand I work nights!!!

Yeah craiglist is just creepy in all aspects.

You shouldn't be all that worried if you didn't take it. They will do what they decide is best for their facility and all you can do is decide what you want to do (take the lie detector or not). If you refuse it then you probably will look guilty to others but that is just my opinion. And don't put things in your pocket for future reference, it isn't best practice. Just dispose of pills the patient will not be ingesting during the prescribed time period. Best of luck! Hopefully things get figured out.

Today was my day off and I got called in to do a day 12 and then later on during the day I was asked if I could work a night 12. I gladly declined. Last week I worked 7 days straight due to lack of staff and surely they never feel guilty about that! There are days where I will happily go in and work because I need the money. If i'm asked to stay in overtime and I can then I do. But rarely do I feel guilty for saying no or not answering the phone. Just don't do it if you're not feeling well enough. Do your shifts and only extras when you can.

And it is true. It's all about the costs, less RN's on the floor so they want RPN's to learn to perform all the skills. I guess my main concern was the wage difference for the similar amount of work.

Thank you all for the replies. I'm in Ontario and most of the changes haven't been completely implemented but it is starting to happen and I was just curious as to how other places are doing it. I took an IV initiation course with RPN's and now their starting to take an in service for managing and changing PICC lines. They do also hang blood and all sorts of things. BlueGrassRN I know RNs have more education and responsibilities but our hospital is introducing these new skills and I was just wondering where the division would be. It seems were doing the same work but they are getting paid less and I don't agree with that order at all. Am I just making a fuzz about nothing? I just feel it is wrong to not increase the pay and expect RPN's to do more work.

Hey everyone, I'm not trying to stir up any issues between RNs or LPNs (I LOVE YOU ALL NURSES) and I hope no one gets offended. The hospital that I am currently working in changed their roles and responsibilities for LPNs, such as IV initiations, working with and changing PICC lines, and a whole bunch of other things. Other than higher acuity patients (in our facility there are actually LPNs in ICU) and being charge nurse, I really do not see the major difference between the two roles? I asked an LPN on the unit if there would be pay increase for that but she said she has not heard of any. It is a huge pay difference and I think it is unfair if LPN roles are increasing. I certainly would be upset if I had added on skills but was not adequately being compensated for it. Does this mean RNs won't be needed in the long run? Is one or the other being slowly phased out? Are any of your facilities starting this new system as well? I was just wondering about it all. Thanks for listening!

Male nurses are awesome! You will get used to bodily fluids relatively quick. I used to faint at the site of blood and now I'm all up and around it. There will be certain odors that may be hard to ignore but it's not as bad as the initial stages. Like someone said above, make good use of clinical hours and ask your professors questions, be eager-beaver, and enjoy yourself.

I am sure no one expects you to stick it out on the same unit for a lifetime. People's circumstances change and they need to move on and seek different opportunities. If you are committed to the organization and plan to be there for a long time, then disclose that to your convenience. I don't think dishonesty would be the way to go though. If the subject comes up then let them know but you don't need to say "I plan to leave in a year" if that is your actual plan. I am sure they would understand your circumstances and if you had to move they wouldn't hold a grudge to that as long as you're not up and running away the next shift. Good luck!

Oh I enjoyed this light topic. I am going to try Cosmo's new sex position;) My day was long and tiring. The dance club was good on Saturday night but I seen a lot of girls with nothing on! (kind of scary!). :dancgrp:

Maybe the title of the message was a little inappropriate but I think the OP means well and is trying to see what are some ways to deal with the issues she has come across. Obesity is certainly a huge issue and I do not see how it is wrong to educate patients about changing their dietary needs, physical activity and etc. Where I work there is a growing population of obese patients and it definitely changes the way the workflow goes. I find myself to be extremely sore and tired following my shifts because unfortunately there just isn't enough safety resources to utilize within the hospital. They are slowly integrating ceiling lifts within most units and trust me that would be very helpful. It becomes an issue both for staff and patients. So what is wrong with educating patients? I do it as often as I can but do approach them as individuals, with no judgement and in hopes of understanding their entire living circumstances. I always wondered, patients that suffer from anorexia are giving opportunity to regain their health through continuous therapy involving multiple health care providers but why shouldn't obese patients have access to therapy and the same type of treatment? Food is an addiction for some of these patients and I believe it should be treated as such rather than expecting patients to just be discharged home and hope they somehow lose weight. Instead these patients return a few weeks or months down the road with additional weight gain. For that reason, it would be important to incorporate as much teaching regarding eating habits and exercise regimens. If we all just ignore it then the issue will persist.

Thanks everyone who has applied back to my post. I really appreciate each and every single response. I definitely took everything that was said into consideration and have made a journal indicating all the incidences and when they occurred. I have a meeting with my manager on Monday to discuss what has been going on. I just want her to know that this is starting to affect my ability to function while at work because I am constantly receiving snarly comments from these nurses. I don't mind people not being nice to me but it is just becoming a corrosive environment. I love my job and I refuse to leave because of this bullying. I DO NEED to stand up for myself and I intend to just do that. Once again, thank you all for listening and responding.

Hello nurses, I graduated in Dec. 09 and thankfully got a job on a busy medical isolation unit in March 2010. I had a 5 week orientation on the unit with a mentor and was then thrown into the real world of nursing. At first I struggled but slowly learned to cope and now I love my job as I am beginning to feel at home with it (in terms of patient care etc). However, there are still a few nurses who criticize me behind my back and one reported on me to the manager for unintentionally writing on the wrong report sheet about the wrong patient (not even actual documentation just for nurse use). I know it does not make it any less wrong but I don't think I needed to be called to the managers office for not properly reporting to staff and potentially causing confusion. If I am doing something wrong why is it so hard to just say "Hey I would not do it that way, I would do this...or that is not correct look up the right things." Or just simply let me know what I am doing wrong or incorrectly. I would take any constructive criticism and actually work on my learning needs if I am told what is missing! I am not asking for their friendship, just professionalism. I feel threatened by these two particular nurses at times and I am what I would call a "doormat" in a professional relationship. I try to overcome all the unhappy looks and rudeness by minding my business when I need to BUT when I actually need to ask questions or require assistance I feel very unsupported. Is this normal? I approached the nurses and asked "is their anything I could do that would help us work better together?" I even asked if there was something I should be doing different in order to improve as a new grad and I am just simply ignored. It's like I do not matter. Should I speak to someone about this, it is slowly starting to get to me. For example, today I had quite a few things going on with my patients and I was very busy running around ensuring things get done properly and in a timely fashion. Only one lovely nurse asked if I needed any help even though I was managing she seen how busy I looked (I really wish I worked with her more: someone that I can rely on in case I need help). I needed help transferring a fully dependent patient from wheelchair to bed (ceiling lift: 2-person assist). When I asked, the same nurse who reported on me (sitting at the nursing station), "can you please help me turn Mr. X?" She walked away without even saying "No I can't or i'm busy" but a minute later she was helping someone else. And there is NO way she did not hear me as I maintained eye contact and was in a very close distance. It makes me wonder: could I trust this person during a code? Would I be ignored if I needed assistance with a patient who fell and was on the floor? I know it is courtesy to help another when you can but it makes me wonder what this nurse would do to me in an emergency situation. Maybe I am going over my head but it makes me very uncomfortable that I have to worry about who will help me for simple things such as turning patients. As a last note, I actually do not know why I am being treated this way. I respect everyone at work and I help as much as I can on the floor and I would never leave a nurse hanging dry if my assignment allowed time to assist others. I don't want to be bitter but I can't help feeling incredibly hurt. I know everyone is busy and has their own caseload to deal with but when I am asked for help turning, transferring, even when things get busy with admissions etc I always make sure the nurse with the busy caseload gets help where it can be given (even the smallest things mean a lot). Am I just too team-oriented in an environment that claims "team work" but actually does not stand by it? Is something wrong with the way I approach things? Thanks for listening, Leyna