LuvMyFireman

I'm in WV - starting rate about $17/ hr, 12% night differential, 15% weekend differential. I've been a nurse for five years and am up to $27 an hour

Mine's cause I LOVE my Firefighter DH!

Not so long ago, children were still being routinely bathed with alcohol when they had fevers. AND not being medicated for pain - even postoperatively or during circumsion. Pediatrics has come a long way.

Someone would be on trial for unsanctioned lethal injection? :uhoh21:

I totally regret becoming a nurse and would certainly try to dissuade my children from becoming nurses. The shifts are long, my job usually entails more than enough work for three people, the patients' families are growing increasingly demanding and difficult to deal with, the patients are sicker, the pay is not great. There are rewarding moments but most of the time I feel like I am fighting a losing battle. I am actively pursuing another career.

Tylenol? I don't know many nurses who haven't occasionally taken a Tylenol from a unit supply when they run out. I don't, because Tylenol does nothing for me, but still. Who cares? I mean, yeah, I guess it's unethical, the same that taking a tubex or a pen home is unethical...oh well. Sounds like this is not really the problem with this nurse. Just IMO, there's bigger fish frying somewhere.

I have never met a poor male RN, ever. They all have been exemplary. We don't have any in our L&D unit, but I surely would welcome them if we did. In fact, I delivered in my own hospital last summer, and I had several doctors (male) that I work with as colleagues only come in while I was laboring - one was there for the birth. Medical professional is a medical professional, period. I don't care, or even think, about the sex of the caregiver.

I honestly do not enjoy my job anymore and am actively looking for an alternate career.

I'm sure you are a terrific CNA, but I have a big ethical problem with non-licensed people passing medications. It just seems very scary to me, and a slippery slope to start. Congratulations on your decision to enter EMS and nursing - I've been in both fields and they are both challenging & rewarding. Good luck :)

Also, if you have not read it, PLEASE read "Taking Charge of Your Fertility" by Toni Weschler, MSN. It is amazing...really! The things they don't teach in nursing school. It will teach you how to spot impending ovulation VERY easily.

I had four cycles of Clomid without success. I did ovulate, which more that 80% of Clomid patients do, but the Clomid made my endometrium so thin that it was not favorable for implantation. I decided to try to fix the root of my problem - which was insulin resistance (which was inhibiting ovulation.) I started eating according to ADA guidelines and taking Glucophage. Within 2 months I was pregnant, and I now have two beautiful children :) Good luck! I did also hyperstimulate on Clomid, which caused some uncomfortable bloating and cysts, but nothing medically dangerous (thank God!)

I make only $24 an hour, and I've been a nurse in the same hospital for 5 years.

Incentive Spirometry / Cough Deep Breathe every one hour. :)

I would never be at work while a natural disaster was happening and risk being separated from my children. Ever. They'd have to fire me. Mmy children, their safety, and my family being together, is worth way more to me than any job.

That is very scary. It's no wonder nobody wants to be a nurse anymore. Just a vicious cycle...

My guess is they become more susceptible to micro-organisms the longer that they are out.

I've never worked LTC, so I can't really speak for that population. I am a float nurse and work everything from mother/baby to ICU. But I wholeheartedly agree with the poster who said that it's hard to swallow a cancer patient getting Darvocet prn, and the frequent flyer with no medical problem ever found getting Dilaudid, Ambien, Ativan, Phenergan, Flexeril...I find the situation most often on a general med/surg unit. ICU doesn't have these patients, because you have to really be physically ill to be a patient in the ICU (at least where I work.) Of course post-operative patients should have adequate pain relief, and I believe ATC rather than PRN narcotics. We are discussing two totally different topics, I believe. Post-operative patients have legitimate pain and are not "clock watchers" because they call for the med before it's due. I recently had a young man who brought an alarm clock and set it to go off every four hours during the night so that it would awaken him and he could ask for his pain med! :rotfl: He was sleepy he couldn't even stay awake long enough for me to take the Dilaudid back to him!

Nope, I'd be too afraid of falling asleep on the way home! :stone

Well, consider myself spanked! :rotfl: I am not there to "police" anyone's drug use either - and I certainly give all of the PRNs I have available and will call the doctor if the patient complains about pain despite treatment. (Within reason - I am not going to keep the calling doctor continusously when it is obvious to both of us that the patient is just trying to get as high as possible - heart rate of 45, B/P of 90/50, slurring "I need stronger pain medicine...") Have you really never encountered that kind of patient?

How do you handle these patients? Or, better question : Do you even "allow" yourself to think that the patient is a drug seeker and not actually in pain? We were drilled to be non-judgmental, openminded (and as a person, I truly am) yet still feel guilt when I believe a patient is a drug seeker. It is hard to believe otherwise when you hear the patient laughing on the telephone, eating a McDonald's cheeseburger...and then suddenly, when you enter the room, they start to moan and say, "Ohhhh, what time is my Dilaudid due?" I am well aware that people respond differently to pain - and I respect that. I know that pain is not categorized by behavior but rather by subjection. Still - admit it - it's hard to not judge. So, how do you personally handle drug seekers / manipulators / patients who like to play nurses "against" each other?