Robert.CFRN

Watch the news today. A bunch of stark raving morons want to get rid of the police. Worse, a bunch of moronic elected officials are buying into the idea. What could possibly go wrong? Mobs roaming the streets assaulting people, looting and burning down businesses. Police not enforcing the law. Now ask me again why I concealed carry.

Wow, rather proud of yourself, aren't you? Of course, anyone who disagrees with you must be stupid, and never left the county of their birth, yes? I'm not sure, but did you vote for Hillary? Because anyone who doesn't share your view is obviously deplorable. So, for resumes... I joined the Army right out of high school, and my active duty time included a year in South Korea. After an honorable discharge, I then moved to Los Angeles to study music, and graduated the Musicians Institute with honors. I then decided to go into nursing, and attended the Los Angeles County Medical Center School of Nursing. Most of our patients were illegal aliens. I was often given Korean patients because I was the only student in my class who could read, write and speak any Korean. My first wife was Korean, and we visited her family in Seoul many times. I rejoined the Army Reserves as a Nurse Officer. I commanded a medical mission to the mountains of Guatemala, where we provided free medical care to Mayan Indians. (The Peace Corps refused to provide translators, because the U.S. Army is evil, and that's more important than medical care to the poor. Thank God for Mormon missionaries.) I served a year in Iraq with a Combat Support Hospital as AOIC of the Emergency Section, and the Chief Flight Nurse. We cared for troops from all of the allied nations, Iraqi military and civilians as well as our own troops. My wife and I love traveling overseas, and have visited Europe many times, and spent 10 days in Israel where we simply rented a car and drove around to see the history. So, you can put your snobbish attitude back in the bag, and deal with what I said. I stated in the first place that a thick accent has nothing to do with nursing abilities. But that being said, if a thick accent interferes with patient care or communication with other members of the health care team, then it should be considered a skill that must be improved on.

No, it's not fraud. Fraud is deception for financial gain. But it's probably against hospital policy. Did you tell her what you found on your assessment, and she charted that? If so, a simple addendum stating that you completed the assessment and that she is charting per your report would make it legit such as "assessment per Cheryl Jones RN report." But nurses charting based on new orientee reports is certainly not uncommon.

Heavy metal guitarist. What else?

Sure, but it's no big deal. Male nurses are still less than 10% of the nursing workforce, so it's a natural mistake. Just smile, let the patient or family know that you're a nurse, and then find out how to make his or her day better. These days with the flight suit, I'm more often mistaken for a paramedic.

Yes. It tells me that the instructors haven't quite gotten past identity politics and the urge to paint everything first by race. The question is itself racist, as is the implication. The white woman and the black woman are clearly American, though they have accents. The Indian woman is not. The patient asked for an American nurse. There is no sacrifice. And if the patient can't be accommodated, then management speaks to the patient and backs the competence of the Indian nurse. Painting a simple re-assignment as racist is something that can only happen in academia. I'm working on my Masters, and have run into some of this. One enjoyable moment in my BSN program (all experienced RN's in the class) was a reading assignment on micro-aggressions. When the professor asked what we thought of the article and the concept, pretty much everyone told her in the strongest terms what a stupid, stereotypically racist idea it was. Worse, such racist drivel had no place in the nursing profession as it told us to view people first by their race/cultural origin and not as individuals.

Nevermind. I speak fluent sarcasm, and missed it here.

Anyone noticed that, per the Terms of Service on All Nurses, all posts must be in English? Just sayin'...

There's a bit of a difference between having a Texas or Boston accent, and having an accent so thick that patients and other health care team members can't understand you. Communication is, perhaps, the single most important skill a nurse must possess. If patients and your team-mates can't understand you, then your skill set is lacking and must be improved on.

Well that was impressive. I'm sorry, but speaking understandably in English is a necessary nursing skill, as by far the majority of people in the United States are English speakers. English is the language of education and commerce. It is the language used by medical practitioners of all disciplines to speak to each other. If I don't have adequate IV skills, or chest tube skills, or medication titration skill, then I must work on those areas to ensure proper patient care. Communication is no different. If a nurse's, or physician's, or phlebotomist's accent is so thick that they can't be understood by patients or other members of the health care team, then that is a safety issue, and a skill that must be strengthened. And the United States is the least racist nation on earth, and allows more legal immigration than any other nation on earth. Yes, that's right. All left-wing hand wringing and campus self-righteousness to the side, that's the simple truth.

I really don't like the idea of new nurses in the ICU. I think a year on med/surg or telemetry should be required in order to get used to bedside nursing, and to improve critical thinking and organizational skills should be required. I did a year and a half before I moved to critical care, and am glad that I did. That being said, it'll take you a year to really be comfortable in any clinical environment, but especially ICU.

In doing some research, I've found very little in regards to how well prepared new grads are by their nursing programs for actual bedside care. Stereotype says that ADNs are better prepared than BSNs because of concentration on clinical vs theory. Of course, I'm sure it varies widely by program? How are the new grads in your facility and area? Do they seem fairly well prepared, or do they take a lot of time and effort orienting? What are nursing programs missing? I'm also doing a couple of surveys that take about 3 minutes to complete, just to gather data. (I'm not a nurse academic. I actually take care of sick people). One is for new nurses, and the other is for experienced nurses who are working with today's new grads. Survey of new nurse graduates (1 year or less experience as an RN) (New nurses, less than one year) Survey of experienced nurses (2+ years) on the preparedness of new nurse graduates. (Experienced nurses, over 2 years)

A strong accent does NOT reflect on your ability to care for people at all. I've worked with fantastic nurses from all over the world. That being said, I've worked with nurses who's accents were so thick that patients and families couldn't understand them, and colleagues frequently had to ask them to repeat what they said. Communication is a necessary nursing skill, just as important as knowledge of medications and procedures. If your accent affects patient and staff communication, simply consider that a skill that needs to be improved on. There are a wide variety of online programs that can help you with this. Just do a web search. Your school probably has programs as well. Also understand that the fact that you are bi-lingual is a valuable skill. It's more and more common to encounter patients who only speak Spanish. Don't lose heart. You will be a valuable asset to any health care organization.

True, the previous health insurance doesn't cover what Obamacare requires. My son, rather than being able to pay out of pocket and just have catastrophic coverage, now has government mandated gynecology and obstetric coverage. For many, insurance premiums have increased over 100%. My deductibles have doubled. My position remains the same. The best way to make something more expensive and more inefficient is to get the government involved. Worse, to put the government in charge. I'm a veteran, and I've been to VA hospitals. Do you seriously think that putting the government in charge of all health care is going to result in better quality and lower costs? No, I'm not going to dig through a hundred thousand pages of government regulations to explain how government regulations are burdensome. I'm also not going going to explain that the sky is blue. A 2014 report found that it takes over 79,000 employees working 2000 hours a year just to do the paperwork necessary to comply with the ACA. Talk to any hospital CEO about the cost of complying with federal and state regulations. The following is from a CATO institute report: "Contrary to popular belief, the U.S. health care sector is no more a free market than other nations' health systems. In the United States, government directly or indirectly controls more than 80 percent of health spending (Figure 35.1). It controls 51 percent ($1.7 trillion in 2016) directly by taxing that money away from the people who earned it. It controls another 21 percent ($707 billion) by penalizing workers unless they surrender control over those earnings to their employers and let their employers choose their health plans. Government effectively controls the 10 percent of U.S. health spending that consumers pay toward private health insurance premiums ($345 billion) by penalizing consumers if they don't purchase a government-designed health plan. At best, consumers control just 10 percent ($350 billion) of U.S. health spending. Yet even that is an overestimate, since patients spend much of this money under terms dictated by government and employers." The article further explains how government regulation artificially hamstrings health care in the United States, raising costs and preventing access. A Physician in Nebraska can't do a patient telemedicine consult with a patient in Ohio without going through the burdensome process of getting an Ohio medical license. Prepaid health insurance plans are prohibited. Paying out of pocket and maintaining catastrophic coverage is illegal. The article is long and strong in detail. 35. Health Care Regulation | Cato Institute Government is not the answer. Government is the problem.

It's rather simple. The best way to make anything really expensive and really inefficient is to get the government involved. Hospitals are regulated by over 20 different agencies, with tens of thousands of pages of regulations. Nurses have to spend as much time charting as we do taking care of sick people. Huge and expensive hospital bureaucracies have been created just to try to be compliant with all of the regulations. The answer, which would be far less expensive, is government supplemented high risk pools and the free market. Allow insurance to be sold across state lines. Have health care providers be more transparent with costs so that people can shop for better prices. Radically decrease the regulation that is burdening our health care providers. Get tort reform so that ambulance chasing lawyers aren't forcing doctors to practice defensive medicine. And stop listening to Democrats. Wanting to remove burdensome and unnecessary regulations isn't the same as wanting old people to die. Not favoring an all-powerful confiscatory Mommy government isn't the same as wanting to give money to rich people. Yes? So there ya go...