PJA2004

My mom had psoriasis and it went to her joints. It almost crippled her overnight! She was in horrible pain, and could not walk on her own. We went to the dermatologist and got her psoriasis cleared up and she has been on methatrexate for two years. She was back to her normal "run around" status soon after starting the meds. It is amazing that psoriasis can go to your joints like that.

I am a Tech in a busy Emergency Room, and have found that most of my co-workers and even our manager are on some form of anti-depressants for anxiety and depression. There was an article I read somewhere that stated most people that suffer anxiety/panic attacks are very intelligent people. I believe that statement is true, but as we all know MI does not discriminate and it can disable you and alter your life if you allow it to take over. I struggled with panic/anxiety attacks twenty years ago when being physically abused and nearly killed by my ex-husband. The episodes lastes about six months, and I went to my PCP and he prescribed valium. I was able to relocate to a safe place (away from the ex)and took the valium for about two weeks and never had problems again. But I can remember it being a very dark and scary time for me and my whole family. It all comes down to educating ourselves about mental illness and understanding the reasons behind it. Sure, I know that many MI's are hereditary but also know that several are caused because as young children we are not taught positive coping skills when dealing with stress. Educators think as long as children are taught math, reading and writing that is all they need to excel in the world to be productive citizens. Sorry for the long post, but I would be honest about what medication you are taking if working in the medical field. You would probably be surprised to find out that 85% of your co workers are taking something too. There is no shame in getting help and taking meds if needed, but it is doing yourself an injustice to suffer in shame and fear worrying about what others think and how they will judge you.

I am a clerk/tech working 7p-7a's in the emergency room. Now I am debating going to 11a-11p's so I can have more flexibility in my schedule. Since being on nights the last 2 1/2 years i have noticed there are pros and cons working those hours. Administration is not there in the middle of the night cramming politics down your throat. But night shift is short handed and we dont have the perks of having extra hands when we are busy like days being able to pull from other departments. We consider ourselves the step children of the hospital. They schedule mandatory meetings at 2 pm, not trying to accomadate the night workers which really sucks. The cafeteria is closed at 6pm, so you pretty well go hungry at night or eat on the run. We dont have anyone to cover for us so we can actually sit and eat uninterrupted. Nights are great to work, no doubt. But your days off are depressing because you can not enjoy them since you sleep the day away. You are either awake by yourself all night while your family sleeps, or catching two hrs sleep at a time. Its the most screwed up deal I have ever seen. You feel zombied 85 % of the time, and my co workers all have stomach problems and most are on antidepressants. So, its a personal choice and one you shoudl make wisely because as stated above, nights are not for everybody.

I have been an ER Clerk for over two years and we are very lucky to have kind, respectable doctors staffed. They never talk down to any of the RN's even when things get crazy in the Emergency Room. We do have a surgeon that works in the ER occassionaly and he would throw charts and have fits out of sleep deprivation I believe. LOL ... He never directed his fits at me, but one night he came out of his room when we were slammed and had a temper tantrum throwing xrays. I looked up at him and said "Hey, If I ever have surgery I use to think I would have you do it, but the way you carry on I wouldnt ever want you around me with sharp objects!" lol... He laughed and must have realized how foolish he looked, because he does not have tantrums anymore. I would never tolerate working in a hostile enviroment where I am not valued or respected as a teamplayer. It probably does help being thick skinned too. Thats a pre req for working in any ER.LOL...

The interview ask "why don't you tell me about yourself", because they are trying to find out your personal situation. Its illegal for an interviewer to just come out and ask this question. But they are trying to figure out if you are married, single or have any problems at home that would interfer with the postition. They really want to know your family situation so they know how dependable you would be working for their company/hospital. Is sick kids going to be a problem? How far away do you live from work? Thats why they ask that question. Many interviewers ask the same questions because use the same protocol. They will ask you "where do you see yourself in five years?" This is commonly asked because they really want to know what your long term goals are , so they can figure if its worth their time to hire and train you. It cost alot of money to train and orient new hires. They also ask because they want to see if you would be unhappy with the position or get bored with it after working a short time. Never talk money or ask what the postition pays during the first interview. If they ask you how much money you expect, just reply with "how much would you be willing to pay the best candidate for this position?" This leaves the door open for negotiations, because you do not want to accidently sell yourself out. The last question seems to always be asking you why should you be the one they hire? Its to give you time to wrap the interview up and SELL, SELL,SELL YOURSELF! Keep in mind, interviews are a procedure to elminate people that do not fit their criteria. They are not for positive reasons. It takes practice to interview well.

I have worked nightshift 7p-7a for two years now and you never get adjusted. It is not bad working nights, its trying to enjoy your time off that is a challenge. You miss daylight many days, and that is depressing. My husband and children get annoyed because I sleep so much during the day when I have a few nights off. One does not get good sleep during the day like the average person does at night. It is not the same for some reason.(As you can tell I am having a night off tonight, and not in the best mood because I slept through the day instead of getting my errands ran.) Management does not understand how rough working nights are on the human body. They will schedule mandatory meetings at 3pm and expect you to be there in between shifts. It would be like us having the dayshift come in at 3 am for meeting. I dont see that happening.:rotfl: They do not try to accomadate the night shift workers because it would cause them to lose some zzzz's. Its usually not difficult to sleep after working long hours at night. But it is necessary to go straight to bed as soon as you get home from work. You do not want to risk getting that "second wind" because you will pay for that when you return the same night to work zombied. Do make sure you turn the ringer off on the phone, because once you are woke up its difficult to go back to sleep. Oh, and make sure you go to the bathroom before going to bed, LOL... or it will wake you up too! You never realize how important sleep is until you work nights. Like I said, working nights is okay. Its trying to enjoy your nights off that is the downfall. GOOD LUCK!!!

I am afraid that Health Insurance Companies are going to get worse. Its sad that many insurance companies give you such a difficult time when it comes to paying the bill. It aggravates me that working in the HealthCare Industry you see so many abuse the system by coming into the ER with their gold cards (Medical Card), costing the taxpayers a tremendous amount of money for ridiculous things( few examples would be bringing child in with a fever to get a dose of tylenol because they do not want to spend their ciggerette money on OTC meds. That cost us taxpayers about 500 bucks for that dose of tylenol. The patients that come in by squad repetedly for toothaches, abdominal pain due to constipation, and toothaches using the Gold Card annoy me too. They do not have to worry about deductibles or paying their hospital bills, we do that for them. I have also found that people that work in the Medical Field seem to be the unhealthiest people, because we have deductibles and co-pays to meet when getting our own healthcare. So, we think twice about even going to get ourself taken care of. I do not have problems with people that truly need medical cards, and I think some people really do need them. Its the ones that abuse the system, and are just as able to work like I am is the ones I have a problem. Sorry your insurance company is giving you a hard time, I know the feeling. But I am sad to say, it is not going to change...

:imbar I am not a nursing student and have no immediate plans of going into "nursing". A friend at work told me about this site, and I checked it out. It had some interesting and funny post, so I thought it would be a fun site to join. I did not think it would offend anyone and I did not join with bad intentions. As you can see, I registered as "other". Most of my friends are nurses or work in the medical field, so I did not THINK it would be a problem. At the hospital I am employed, we work as a team and I am not use to being treated any different than my co workers. This site apparently is not for me, because I do not have RN, OR LPN behind my name. I will no longer post on this site.....

I have read the threads concerning the misrepresentation of RN's and LPN's in the healthcare field. I am an ER clerk and have NEVER been confused over my title or tried to inflate that I am anything more or less. One of the ER docs stated that when he had a family practice he had a lady that worked for him several years that was not a nurse, but he trained personally and felt confident in her abilities. In my job description, it states that I work under the direction of the RN or physician that is on duty. The nursing manager said that I could do anything that is NOT INVASIVE. I have an associate degree in business with a major in medical administration. I am fortunate to work with some very professional RN's that do NOT think they are any better then me. We work as a team, and I respect their positon and dedication to patient care. But, I would never do anything illegal or unethical to compromise that, and they would not expect me too. In all fairness, just because you have RN or LPN behind your name does not make you a NURSE either. I have seen many in the past make med errors, come to work after being out partying all night, and in my opinoin should not hold that title.(In all fairness, those slackers do not work in our department anymore.) I AM NOT AN RN.....I AM NOT AN LPN....I AM NOT AN RN.....I AM NOT AN LPN....I AM NOT AN RN.....I AM NOT AN LPN....I AM NOT AN RN.....I AM NOT AN LPN....I AM NOT AN RN.....I AM NOT AN LPN....I AM NOT AN RN.....I AM NOT AN LPN....I AM NOT AN RN.....I AM NOT AN LPN.... I AM JUST AN ER CLERK...I AM JUST AN ER CLERK...I AM JUST AN ER CLERK...I AM JUST AN ER CLERK...I AM JUST AN ER CLERK...I AM JUST AN ER CLERK...I AM JUST AN ER CLERK...

My favorite "brainiacs" are the self inflicted wrist lac's that come in the ED and ask "will it hurt when the doctor sews this back up?":rotfl: And will he please numb it first? Can not forget the drug seekers that come in and tell you flat out that they are allergic to everything, except...NARCOTICS (BIG SHOCKER!!!) Then you always have the "I only had 2-3 beers story, and their ETOH is 296. The chest pains that have never used drugs but show positive for cocaine, benzos and pot. I am sure all ED's are similar when it comes to "ridiculous visits". What is so upsetting is that it takes away time from patients that are truly sick and need help.