NiteShiftNut

sorry if i am a little confused on the details (it's way past my bedtime). the nurse who cursed at you was not even the nurse for that pt? and if i am getting it straight, the pt wasn't even there at that point?(being that she was sent to the hospital?) so, if it was me, i would've had to tell her to worry about her own d**n patients and you would take care of yours. please don't take this the wrong way, but people will only treat you like dogs**t on their shoe if you let them. next time this "nurse" decides to try to slam you, i would politely, but firmly, tell her that you don't appreciate being talked to in that fashion. if you make it a habit to never accept any crap from anyone, pretty soon they won't even think about trying to give it to you. good luck.

i think i need to get checked out, full cardiac work-up, i have chest pain on a regular basis- always occurs when i'm walking in the door to go to work..............:rotfl:

if we weren't cynical and realistic we probably wouldn't last long in this profession. a dark sense of humor helps, also. you can't see everything we see, put up with the situations we put up with, and come out on the other side without at least a somewhat cynical view on the majority of the human race. jmo

um, the cup of poop wasn't in the bedside table, it was on top, and i wasn't snooping, it's kinda hard to miss a steaming cup full of poop..........

poop, in a cup. how can they be so demented, yet have such good aim?.....................

man, if i hear one more "overweight" (whatever happened to just plain old fat? is that not pc anymore?) person crying about the big bad guy with red hair who held them by the throat and stuffed chicken nuggets down them until they were 400 pounds i think i'm gonna poke my eyeballs out with a filter needle!!!!!!!!! if you don't like the number on the scale, fix some fresh veggies at home and get off your dead orifice an move around a little..............if you need a version that is a little less sugar coated let me know.......

lgreen, first of all congrats on deciding to go to nursing school. i agree with some of the others posts, don't stress about shift work yet, you still have 4 years to worry about that! no sense in getting yourself all cranked about it right now. relax. that said, have you ever worked nights? if you haven't, then you don't really know that you wouldn't like it until you try it. now maybe you wouldn't like it, but there are a lot of people who love nightshift, ( me being one of them, if i had to work dayshift i would throw myself off the roof) so if you really wanted/needed days it might not be as hard to get as you think. but right now you have a lot on your plate just getting through school, so concentrate on that, and worry about the shift work when the time comes. good luck with school!!:) :roll

thank you for understanding the need to vent frustrations once in awhile

i guess since i'm the one who originally posted this, i should clarify---i was not talking about every patient with pain meds ordered..............i was actually doing nothing more than venting after a long frustrating night of dealing with a known addict. i have decided to adopt the "i could give 2 ****'* and a **** less attitude" if the doc knows that the patient is merely a drug seeker and they still choose to enable their habit-wonderful!!!! if everyone just wants to jump on the bandwagon and get stoned out of their minds for the rest of their miserable lives-wonderful!!! dole it out baby!!!! i say the more miserable unemployed crack addicts the better. it's job security. i give up. i have to pick my battles, and i'm tired of this one. i will serve up the high with a smile on my face and a skip in my step from now on--and besides--it's just easier to give em what they want.

thanks so much for the information! that helps a lot! :) :)

i have a question that i hope someone can answer. a person lives in state #1, graduates nursing school in state#1, but plans to move to state#2 immediately following graduation, can they sit for boards in state #2, or would they actually have to reside in state#2 before they could make their application to sit for boards? or would it be easier to just take boards in the state in which they lived in, and then apply for a license in the new state? also, has anyone else had any experience with this? i have looked on several states bon websites, and can't find any information specific to my question. thanks in advance if anyone has any ideas.

Seen it a million times....(okay, not a million, but you get what I'm saying)

jacelrn, first of all (((big hug))), second of all- i know how it feels when a supervisor doesn't back you up on a situation like this and it sucks. no matter what else might have been "going on" with the patient concerning pain meds, pain management, etc.... there is no excuse for hitting !!!!! obviously some people missed that day of kindergarten when we all learned that you can't hit other people out of anger, frustration, etc. and of course the patient was tearful and appologetic after he was confronted about it, but that still doesn't make it ok. your super should have made it very clear to him that no from of abuse is ok, physical or verbal, and there should have been an explanation as to what action would be taken if he acted out again. i can't tell you the number of times i have been attacked, both physically and verbally, by patients who are not elderly and demented, i'm talking about alert patients who are old enough to know better. if you don't feel like your concerns were handled by your supervisor- go above. this is one issue i would say go higher up the ladder until you find someone who will address your issue and resolve it to your satisfaction. if your employer won't take actions to protect their staff, there are plenty of other facilities that i'm sure would love to have you. last time i checked the nursing shortage was not an isolated problem. take care :balloons:

here's an interesting little tidbit of information i read in a journal just the other night. a study of healthare workers who work in a hospital setting( doctors and nurses) found that 22% had antibiotic resistant "cooties" of various types on their cell phones!!! how much you wanna bet those are the 22% who use their cell phones while working...hmmmm..... wonder if that would make them think twice about leaving the cp in their locker during work? just some food for thought:p

all i'm saying is, i have no problem giving pain medicine for legitimate pain. and 99% of the time i truly believe my patients when they say " i'm having pain that is a 10" ok. let's give you some pain medicine. the situation i was refering to was nothing like that. this patient is a known iv drug user who contracted various infections from dirty needles on several occasions, and is on his 3rd md because he fired the first one for not giving him enough drugs and the 2nd one fired him. his current md has stated to the nursing staff on more than one occasion that, " i am at a loss for what to do with this guy, i have cleared him medically on hundreds of occasions, only to have him dream up some totally unrelated ailment 2 days later and show up in the er wanting his iv demerol." he refuses psych treatment for all of his various addiction issues. this patient is not having pain. the only pain anyone is feeling is the pain in my head after dealing with his nonsense all night, and the chest pain i get when i can't care properly for my other 7 or 8 patients because i'm battling with him. so, to everyone who has real pain and anxiety over their illness or injury, i truly have empathy for you. but i refuse to be empathetic to drug addicts who are just looking for their next high and a free meal. p.s. i have had this same patient tell me to" push his iv demerol "real fast" because the doctor says i need it that way" :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire

just remember, we are there to take care of the patient first and foremost. the most important thing is that the patient is cared for to the best of our ability. yes, we should try to accomodate the family/visitors also, but there have been many times when i have gone into a room and had a family member attack me verbally, my solution, i ignore the family member completely and focus all my attention on the patient. making sure the patient is comfortable, their fears and concerns are addressed, if the patient is satisfied then my job is done, i could give a crap about the verbally abusive family member. i've had patients thank and praise me in front of the family member who 5 seconds earlier was ripping me a new one. if you concentrate on the patient and let the rest fall on deaf ears you will soon have that thick skin. and believe me, the thicker the better in this job.

krissee, i work at 2 different hospitals in indiana. both allow lpn's to push iv meds, hang antibiotics, hang all ivf, give blood, draw blood from ivad, picc line, basically the same as an rn. all nurses must go through the hospital training with the iv therapy nurses, and after they are checked off on the in service they are good to go. just inquire with the supervisor, or whoever is in charge of education and find out what steps you need to go through to get the proper training. good luck!:)

the thing that strikes me most about this whole topic is the fact that this girl is 17, and she is still seen by a pediatrician. that says it all right there. if you are still being seen by a pediatrician, your parents are still footing the bill for your healthcare costs, and you are living under their roof-you have no business bringing a life into the world. i just feel so strongly about this one. has she graduated from high school? how will she handle raising a child and going on to further her education? does she have a stable job? how will she pay for basic needs for this child? diapers, formula, clothes, medical care, vaccines, dentist visits, daycare, preschool, school supplies.....the list goes on and on. if these are questions she has no answers to, then absolutely she needs to wait. a child is a blessing from a higher power, i agree. however, when you make a conscious choice to receive that blessing knowing full well that you are not ready to take on the responsibility, that is just selfish. a child deserves every opportunity we can give them in life. to raise a child requires currency of all forms, emotional, financial, spiritual. this 17 year old is not ready to have a child, she is obviously still a child herself.

oh, i'll give it, it's not the giving part i have a problem with, it's when i've given dose after dose, and i'm calling the doc for the third time to ask for another increase in dosage and the doctor reeeeeemmmsss my a**, and refuses to up the dose, then i get to tell the patient that the doctor won't order any more narcs, so then the rest of my night is spent being called in the room every 2 minutes and being cursed at because i can"t give any more cookies to the crying baby. meanwhile, honestly sick patients are suffering from a lack of care because i am tied up dealing with a cokehead. if the care is bad and they are so upset, why don't they just leave ama, quit threatening it, take a hike to the er up the road and get a new doctor and a new nurse to pump you full of narcs, and don't let the door hit you in the butt on the way out........aahhh, i feel better. sometimes you just need to vent after a bad week.

i guess after 3 horrible nights on the floor i can now go to bed satisfied that i am snotty, judgemental, and i have a superiority complex. who knew i was on such a power trip? i guess this isn't the place to vent after a long night. i think i'll take 2 lortab for my headache and go to bed.

just to clarify, i did say 100mg of demerol every hour. yes. and the most disturbing part of that situation was the fact that the patient wasn't even slighty affected by such a large dose. he was still awake, cursing at the staff, threatening to leave ama if we didn't call the doctor and get him more pain medicine and a diet order that would allow him to eat a cheeseburger. please, if you are in that much real pain, you would not be thinking about a big mac. i agree that there are people who are in real chronic severe pain, i don't doubt that, and i believe many times they fall through the cracks because we are so used to seeing the drug seekers that we become suspicious of everyone, but 9 times out of 10, these patients are just looking for a high and a free meal and the doctors are more than willing to hand it to them. i know my complaint is a waste of breath, i might as well be beating a dead horse, but thanks for letting me vent. :stone :stone :stone

would like to know what your opinion is on an issue that has bothered me for quite a while. patients being admitted to medical/surgical units with various diagnosis, for instance "abd. pain, nausea, vomitting, " you know the type, frequent flyers who come in every other week with some imaginary ailment, and they always get a bed, and then get obscene doses of narcotics. i mean, 100mg of demerol every hour? or 25 of phenergen on top of the 4mg of dilaudid they are getting every hour via pca pump. is it me, or is there an epidemic of narcotic addicted junkies floating around the healthcare system? and does anyone else feel that the doctors are part of the problem? i'm growing more and more intolerant of this whole horse and pony show. after a night like last night it really makes me think about my career choice. :uhoh3: :uhoh3: