AltaEnfermera

I'm basically at my wits end in my current position. I accepted the MDS coordinator position in September because I loved the facility and was dying to come back in any capacity I could. It was the only thing available, and my DON (who is lovely, btw...

*I initially posted this in the MDS sub-forum, but it's more of a generalized issue, so it's here as well :) * I'm basically at my wits end in my current position. I accepted the MDS coordinator position in September because I loved the facility and ...

Thanks for the advice :). I'm lobbying hard to move the filing out of my office at the moment...It's a matter of coming up with a plan to present as an alternative to the current arrangement. (I've noticed that complaining doesn't help nearly as muc...

It's ok, I didn't have a clue when I started the job, lol. MDS stands for Minimum Data Set; it's essentially an overview of a resident's condition that we submit to CMS to calculate reimbursement rates. Also, it's what drives care plan creation base...

As do I, it's becoming more and more evident!

...when you get a call on your way into work saying "State just walked in!" (LTC/psych) Or, you walk through the front door and are immediately assailed by a flying laundry bin/angry family member/some unknown food item. (Also LTC/psych...sadly, it h...

Oh, I wholeheartedly agree with you! God forbid someone actually does it and manages to pass the NCLEX....I sure wouldn't want them at my bedside if I were a patient.

The OB incident was while we were doing OB rotation, which was during his 3rd try at PN school....She alleged that he was hitting on her, but I don't know the exact details. What boggles my mind is that he even made it TO the clinical rotation, becau...

OMG! He sounds exactly like a guy I know ....He was in the nursing program for 3 years in succession, because he kept failing out. He eventually got expelled from school for 1). Getting an OB patient's home phone number from the chart and calling her...

Slightly different situation, (I worked in a large private/BOP facility), but I used to argue about this issue too. Our inmates were not restricted in any way, diet wise. According to policy, diet was dependent on the individual i/m to make healthy c...

It sounds like we have the same hair, lol. I always referred to mine as "wavy-straight" until I realized that, like ky_grl82 said, it really wanted to be curly hair. I'm a bit of a hair product addict, so my hair has quite the med list (heh): Head ...

I swear by Cornhusker's Lotion. My father used it for years on his hands (he's a farmer, so you can imagine), and was always trying to persuade me to "stop buying all that frou-frou crap, and try it". It doesn't have a smell, and is kind clear and od...

This is what we use to track what's drawn; it's a version of what we used when I did contract nursing at the Federal prison. I made a separate sheet to track standing lab orders, which is basically just a spreadsheet with the months at the top and ea...

I was watching CSI or one of the similar shows the other evening, and one of the investigators was examining someone's remains in an attempt to figure out their profession. She made a comment about "occupational markers" on the corpse's hands, little...

I love drug rep swag pens...dark ink, no skip-age, and they don't give me gnarly finger calluses (I apparently am an aggressive scribbler, lol); however, since the re-vamping of the laws, they're getting hard to come by. As an alternative, I like Zeb...

Here is the list I use....It's not super inclusive, but it covers most of the basic medical dx fairly well. :) icd9codes.doc

Dah! I'm horribly jealous! The facility in which I worked was minimum security, so there was a much greater freedom of movement/interaction with nursing staff, inmate wise. Although you'll probably get to deal with more emergent, "use of force" situ...

I would love a copy of yours! :) I'm trying to revamp our assessment process, as the previous MDS person got overwhelmed by the repetition/redundancy of the current one (which is why she left). If you could email it to me, my address is kelliebell121...

I agree that other jobs ARE intrinsically dangerous by their nature, maybe moreso than nursing. This isn't meant to be a p**sing contest between healthcare and other jobs. But I think the point everyone is trying to make is that the risks/dangers in...

Ditto. I worked for 2 years in a correctional center clinic, and despite the fact that ALL of my patients were convicted felons, I never once felt threatened, let alone assaulted by my patients. When I returned to psych, I made it 4 whole days before...

I forgot to add, some of the best nurses I've ever worked with weren't "talkers". They were not they type to chat with anyone just because they were nearby; but when they DID say something, it usually turned out to be worth listening to!

I think some of the best assets I've noticed in nurses I respect are (1) an ability to "read" people, e.g. knowing when to joke, when to play it straight, and when to just shut it and let the patient lead the way, (2) the ability to reason/connect th...

I think the issue is not so broad as with new nurses in general; IMHO, people who treat their jobs (and co-workers!) with the kind of disdain that you describe have probably never had a crappy job, and are thus inclined to not care about a decent one...

I was watching CSI or one of the similar shows the other evening, and one of the investigators was examining someone's remains in an attempt to figure out their profession. She made a comment about "occupational markers" on the corpse's hands, little...

We still have the 2.0 based one; I've been trying to revamp the assessments, but so far I haven't found one I liked.