DaFreak71

Even though this question was posed back in March, I figure it can't hurt to add my two cents in case anyone else would like to know what working at Lincare is like. I am a LPN and I have only been working at Lincare for 1.5 months. Lincare has hundreds of centers nationwide and each center runs a bit differently. At the center where I work, we only deal with nebs, oxygen, CPAP/BiPAP and the occasional walker/wheelchair, etc. Some centers do full vent care, insulin pumps, TPN and trachs. When I interviewed for the position I was told that my duties would include "care checks" (more about that in a minute), neb set ups and I'd be in charge of all the CPAP/BiPAP stuff. I was not told that a major component of my job would include angling for sales. Example: after a customer is set up with a neb/etc, I am supposed to do a "clinical follow up" which consists of a questionnaire designed to solicit more business. If a neb customer answers "yes" to the question "Do you snore?", Lincare interprets this as a potential CPAP sale. If they answer "yes" to "Do you ever feel short of breath?", they are instant candidates for oxygen. Lincare owns Reliant pharmacy and they sell respiratory meds. If a patient is on a generic, I'm supposed to extol the virtues of a more expensive med. After I've done the follow up form, I give it to the center sales person and they hand deliver them to the doctor that goes with the patient. The sales person asks for a order for a "care check", which allows me to do a pulmonary assessment on the patient. The care checks are free to the patient and the doctors are told that the main thing the "health care specialist" does is educate the patient on their disease (COPD, asthma, sleep apnea, etc). What isn't disclosed is that the number one goal is to obtain a pulse ox and (from Lincare's point of view) hopefully they'll desat and then we make an oxygen sale. The newest gadget that Lincare is promoting is their in home INR testing. The company, MdINR, is owned by Lincare. At every turn, there is a product to be sold and a lot of them turn out to be products that Lincare manufactures. There is one health care specialist per center and the workload is often extremely high. The hours are 8am to 5pm, but it's usually 8am to 7pm. They also forgot to tell me that I'd be on call 24/7, 365. When I told my center manager that I was not willing to be on call every single night and weekend, she was cool about it and arranged my schedule so that I'd just have to be on call for one week out of the month. The downside is that now I have to take ALL calls during that week, including oxygen set ups (which are done by the service reps). Training is virtually non-existent. I spent my first day doing the routine new-hire paperwork and the next day I was doing neb set ups, CPAPs, etc. Luckily, I'm a fast learner. Two weeks ago I told my center manager and the regional manager that I will not "cold call" existing customers and encourage them to ask their doctor for an order to do a "care check". I will, however, follow up on my customers/patients. I have an email from the regional manager that states I am to go through a huge list of customers and "get five care checks that are to be performed by the end of the week". The part that bothered me the most was that the email stated that I was to "identify the geriatric customers and call them". It feels predatory to me. There is a VERY high turnover rate amongst Lincare employees. Center managers are fired if they don't meet quotas for oxygen sales. Heck, I might be fired because I refuse to engage in sales. I recently attended a "training session" in Seattle, WA. It consisted of telling us how important it is that we "get care checks". The "training" was limited to a five minute demonstration of a new oxygen conserving device called "Smart dose". The company that makes it is called Inspired Technologies and it would not surprise me to find out that Lincare owns them too. At the "training" session, I asked five different nurses/RTs "Will my center manager get any flack if my care checks do not result in orders for oxygen?". I was told, by all five of them, that not only will the center manager's quota's fall, but I will also come under scrutiny. I asked, "But if the patient doesn't qualify for oxygen, how can we be held responsible for that?". I was told "Do whatever you need to do to make sure they desat. Have them jog in place, flap their arms, etc. Needless to say, I will not do this. In the last two weeks, I've "neglected" to qualify four patients for oxygen. My regional manager told me that he questions my clinical skills. LOL. I told him, "If you don't think I'm doing a good job, fire me. Otherwise, let me get back to work". He threw a mini-fit and stormed out the office. A health care specialist is expected to make at LEAST 5 home visits per day. This is not always possible (in fact, I've never done more than 3 in one day--it's not like I can just show up on their doorstep and ask to come in and question them about their health history. Lincare reimburses 2,000 miles per month at a rate of 31 cents per mile. If you go over 1,600, mileage is reimbursed at ELEVEN cents per mile. Nice incentive to drive all over the place, lol. The more work ya do, the less ya get reimbursed. "Nursing" consists of taking vitals when a doctor orders a care check. I hoped it would be more involved. Their office technology is archaic. We use a DOS based system for ordering equipment and even though we have email, we don't get an actual email address (to ensure that no one outside of the company can email friends/family while at work). When I need to look up customer information, I have to follow these steps: 1. Look them up in our database and read the "comm log". 2. Go to the back of the warehouse and locate their file in a filing cabinet. 3. Go back to the office and attempt to make sense of both sets of information and hope that at least some of it is there (lots of missing serial numbers on equipment, missing Rx's, etc). There is a ton of paperwork for every task. A new neb set up includes 13 different forms that the patient must sign. It's incredibly inefficient. I spend a large part of my day walking back and forth from my office to the warehouse and back again--and I'm a stickler for organization and efficiency. Health insurance is a joke. I opted to stay on my husband's plan even though it will cost us an additional $300.00 per month. Yeah, it's that bad. Luckily, he's a RN and has great benefits. The good parts: My pay seems very fair. I make 20/hr and this is my first LPN job. The offices are closed for most every holiday and even new-hires get paid for it. Lincare gives a $25.00/month cell phone credit. You send the bill in with your mileage reports each month. If anyone is considering working for Lincare, feel free to PM me with specific questions. I would recommend this job to any nurse/RT who is interested in working in a fast paced, mostly sales related job. I think a good candidate would be someone who either a new grad or someone who is close to retirement. I have heard that having Lincare experience on your resume looks good to future employers because if you can last long enough to put it on a job app, they assume you have a VERY HIGH stress tolerance. I'm pretty laid back but this job is very stressful. To be fair, I have met other Lincare nurses/RTs who enjoy their job. It all depends on your center and the office dynamic. A typical center has one nurse/RT, one customer service rep (they do the insurance stuff), two service reps (they deliver oxygen and are responsible for new set ups...except in cases like mine where I have to do their job just to get out of being on call 24/7, 365, a sales person and a center manager. If you have an interview scheduled, be sure to ask how long the manager has worked there...there's so much turnover that it's quite possible that the center manager is new-ish and probably does NOT have a background in healthcare. There are several places online where you can read about the experiences of other Lincare employees. I just googled "Lincare nursing" and found this: Lincare Holdings - Unhappy & Looking | Glassdoor.com

When I post a new thread asking for suggestions, feel free to toss me a few. You paint a rather grim view of the folks you work with. If I said something off color in a joking manner and I was "ripped to shreds, reported, and never respected again by any nurse on the unit" I would assume I was working with a lot of uptight and very unforgiving co-workers. Sucks that the kid got tagged with a baseball

hi there-- for those who are unfamiliar with the acronyms, they correspond to certain personality traits. for example, isfj would indicate (i) introvert (s) sensing (f) feeling (j) judging. esfj would indicate (e) extrovert (s) sensing (f) feeling (j) judging. this is a personality test developed in the 1920's by carl jung and his daughter. while there is some evidence that it has merit, it has been criticized by others as lacking construct validity. here is a critique of the "myer's-brigg's type indicator (emphasis mine): "the relevance of the mbti for career planning has been questioned, with reservations about the relevance of type to job performance or satisfaction, and concerns about the potential misuse of the instrument in labeling individuals.[34][42] in her original research, isabel myers found that the proportion of different personality types varied by choice of career or course of study.[1]:40-51[15] however, some other researchers examining the proportions of each type within varying professions report that the proportion of mbti types within each occupation is close to that within a random sample of the population.[34] also, the efficiency of mbti in an organizational setting has been subject to scrutiny. in 1991 three scholars at the university of western ontario analyzed the results of 97 independent studies that evaluated the effectiveness of personality tests in predicting job success and job satisfaction ("personnel psychology," winter 1991). the results of the nationwide study challenged the effectiveness of the mbti when related to individual performance and satisfaction in a corporate setting. “the validity coefficient for personality tests in predicting job success was found to average 0.29 (on a scale of 0 to 1). the corresponding average validity for the mbti, however, was a weak 0.12. in fact, each study that examined the mbti found its validity to be below acceptable levels of statistical significance.”[43] however, as noted above under precepts and ethics, the mbti measures preference, not ability. the use of the mbti as a predictor of job success is expressly discouraged in the manual.[17]:78 it is not designed to be used for this purpose." souce: wikipedia with external sources. bearing in mind that the myer's-brigg's type indicator measures preference, not ability, i would not think that relying on subjective mini-personality tests would be a wise measure of job satisfaction. other personality tests which are considered to be more reliable, such as the minnesota multi-phasic personality inventory have garnered more credibility as it is a more exhaustive test and has internal validity. if you look closely at what jobs the mbti comes up with for your personality results, you will see that there are some careers that seem contradictory for this type. nursing, accountant, interior designer, librarian, typist, and artist. there is much more criticism for the jungian personality tests than for other tests. in short, i wouldn't confine yourself to a career list based on a questionable "test". it's interesting that nursing comes up as a career choice for many personality types. i would take a look at the job duties of a rn and ask yourself if you would enjoy the duties. this, in my opinion, would be a much better indicator of your future satisfaction in a career. it is also interesting to note that your two personality types are among the most common using this scale. approximately 14% and 12% respectively. best wishes! p.s. the skull is cute...considering it is a graphic provided by allnurses, i don't see why the mods would remove it, unless there are certain rules that dictate what icons can be used for various topics.

After spending the last five or so Sundays watching "Life" (the nature show narrated by Oprah) I'm beginning to believe that many animal species are infinitely more intelligent than man. And I'm only half joking!

I'm in the process of applying to Excelsior, so I haven't taken any classes yet. The only ones I'll need are the 7 (maybe less) nursing exams and the info lit class (gonna take the sage advice of others and do the Penn Foster route). I understand what you mean about only getting two practice test versions with 100 questions each, when you say that there are at least 200 questions per test, are they unique questions (not repeats) and how many test versions per subject (class) are available? I still have all my Saunder's NCLEX CD's, nursing texts, etc. But I do like to take a wide variety of tests for my own self assessment needs. Thanks for the info Sherry!

Oh wow, that's sad that she has M.S. I guess it's good this came up when it did; I can see how this could have caused a lot of negative feelings due to a medical issue. I'm glad you have a sense of closure about it. It's never fun being around people that you feel/fear are being meanies! Thanks for the update! :redbeathe

GREAT JOB!!!

Sherry, What was different about the practice exams that you spent $30.00 for and the ones that Excelsior charges $65.00 for? How many practice questions are on each test with the website you mentioned above? Do you get more than one version of a practice exam with that website? Thanks!

I misspoke. Some LPN programs do indeed teach nursing diagnoses. My bad! = )

Dear OP, I was thinking about your situation today and something occurred to me. Is it in any way possible that this person is (in their own strange way) attempting to befriend you? I know this sounds weird...but hear me out. I have a weird sense of humor. When I'm new to a group and I'm trying to fit in, or if I feel like I'm getting a bit comfortable, I tend to get more casual than some people care for. I've been known to kid around and say to someone "Hey retard, it's over here" or something similar. I always do it with a laugh and a smile, but undoubtedly someone has been taken aback by this. I don't have the world's greatest social skills, but I'm trying to improve. I think the moment you spoke up and let this person know that you did not like being called "Dummy", this person should have clued in really quick and stopped calling you that name. I'll admit that sometimes I'm clueless as to when people are being serious with me. I'm sure your assessment of the situation is correct, I'm just wondering if this person might be trying to fit in, albeit in a very odd way.

It is irksome when a poster relays an emotional experience just to have spelling/grammatical errors pointed out as a possible cause as to why they are being referred to as "Dummy". I don't doubt that you are a very intelligent person. It would be a shame if someone read "...judge a book by it's cover" and inferred that your intelligence is in any way lacking. Let the OP receive the emotional support she needs without playing the role of proof reader.

Hey Jules, thanks TONS for the info! That sounds really awesome, especially for those of us who have already taken very similar courses and know how to navigate the internet and gather information lol. Would you suggest that I wait until I begin my Excelsior program and ask for "permission" to take this class through Penn Foster, or just go for it and get it out of the way? I'm still waiting on my transcripts to be sent from my previous colleges so that I can forward them to Excelsior and apply. Then I'm on my way! = )

Good luck to you with your upcoming exam! I'm glad you aced the Info Lit class...I'll bet you're glad to have that behind you I have heard from several sources that taking the class at Penn Foster is the way to go. I have just checked out their website and (maybe it's because it's late lol) I can't locate any information as to how to enroll in one class. Did you simply call the school to arrange this? In addition to the $90.00 fee for the class, were there any other associated fees such as an enrollment fee? Am I correct in assuming that their Information Literacy class was ENG101, or do you recall the class code if it was not ENG101? Thanks a lot for any info you can provide! Now go tackle that test and get another A!

Oh my gosh, I just wanna hug you for having gone through such a demeaning situation. The word that jumps to my mind is passive aggressive. Trying to pass off mean spirited behavior as "humor" or outright denying it is a rather bothersome character trait. CNA's are NOT stupid. YOU are not stupid. You know this of course . By your account, you handled this situation much better than a lot of people I know (myself included). I hope you feel good about the level of professionalism you displayed. Please continue to address this issue (if it hasn't yet been resolved) by reporting this persons jaw dropping rudeness to your supervisors. I would also suggest that you note who else was in the vicinity when this person made this comment so that you might be able to enlist the aide of a possible witness. Personally, I would be angry and hurt. Bullies have a keen sense of when they are getting under a person's skin. To the best of your ability, I would deny this person any sense of satisfaction by seeing the hurt feelings. I applaud you again, for your reactions. Like I said, I do not believe I am currently capable of handling the situation as appropriately as you did. LOL...that's actually quite an understatement. Hold your head high. Realize that it takes a tragically insecure person to say such things to other people. It's infuriating, yet pretty sad at the same time. :hug:Hang in there kiddo!

When I first began to learn about Excelsior, I couldn't help but think "wow...I can sail through this stuff quick!". But the other day something happened. I have a math tutor that comes to my home every Friday. I don't have any math classes, I just like math and I like learning more. It kinda hit me suddenly, but after three months of weekly tutoring, I sat on my patio and thought to myself "I am retaining so much more information through tutoring than I ever have through a traditional class". I'm a really good student, always make great grades, I love studying, etc. But school just gets me all freaked out. I finally figured out why...I actually like learning and I don't like for it to feel forced. I don't like the rapid fire launch of information designed to loosely grasp it and spit it back out on a test. Instead of rushing through the Excelsior program, I'm going to take it at MY pace. Maybe my pace will be relatively quick, but probably not. I don't envision flying through the exams (hats off to those who can and do! Mad props 4 ya!). I'm giving myself permission to learn at a comfortable pace that allows me to delve into information that might ordinarily be glossed over in a traditional program. I guess what I'm saying is that even though I am 95% positive that I could sail through every exam in about two months, I want to relish the learning process. I want to feel like I've gotten my money's worth and I want to feel like I managed my program instead of my program managing me. So many times in nursing school I wanted to delve deeper, but due to time constraints, it wasn't allowed. But now the ball is in MY court and I get to learn and bask in the glow of my education at my own unique, individualized pace. This feels VERY empowering. So I might spend an extra $440.00 per year if that's what my pace dictates, but it's really quite a small price to pay for the confidence and the feeling of diligence that comes with respecting my own needs. I may find I need less time that think I will, but if I do need it, it feels good knowing that it's there. I'm not beholden to an artificial time line (a semester) to complete X material. If I am enjoying it and want to play with it more, Excelsior affords me that opportunity without the threat of being "left behind" or kicked out of a program. I realize that even Excelsior has time frames, but they are quite liberal. No more will I be pigeon holed into a traditional academic setting with cookie cutter time lines. This is my life, my education, my passion...and I'm free to pursue it at a pace that feels natural to me. What an absolute luxury! Nursing school has ceased to be a source of stress. I never thought I'd ever truly believe that possible. This is me and my future self: :hug: