redge03

I wish we had sitters at my job! Not just to make less paperwork but imagine being a confused patient all alone in an "unfamiliar" place thinking that you need to get home. Talk about scarey! The comfort you give to those people.... It was probably the same nurse that made him aggressive the day prior )who knows how she treated him)

I know your work will pay for this but I wanted to throw out there in case anyone else searchs this post that straightliner has this course online. You just want to make sure your college accepts ACE approved course( like CLEPs). I am thinking about taking it for 3 more credits and the "fun" of it! lol Good luck!

I think a thank you card with a hand written message would be perfectly acceptable. Sadly she probably doesn't realize the impact she made on you. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Let this be a lesson for you when you are a nurse. Whether it be a student nurse, patient or pt. family, every interaction will leave an impression on somebody good or bad. I would skip the sympathy card but you could put in a thank you note that you are sorry for her loss.:hug:

Sounds like just another day! Don't forget the few psych patients that are talking on the phone to jesus, waiting for the aliens and refusing to take their meds!!!!

:rotfl: Too funny!!!!

I just want to state that I hope that nurse never takes care of me! I hate needles- coming at me anyway!

I can empathize with you. However stay away from meds at all cost, trust me on this. They can make your anxiety worse in the long run. Between stress, anxiety and meds my hormones were all messed up. What has helped me is some simple meditation and yoga, nothing fancy. You can find both free online. Volunteering as previously mentioned is a very good idea, rewarding in manys ways. You also need some self confidence. Try this website, I get a lot of free stuff from them. http://www.learnoutloud.com/Free-Audio-Video/Self-Development/Emotional-Development A link I got from there. http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=worry+wellness&aq=f Give it a try, you would be amazed! Hope this helped and good luck!

Has anyone tried talking to a doctor? I have a hard time understanding people with a thick accent from the states.... and people with aphasia. Sounds like we need a 1 world language, currency and government.... just wait, the time will come. I'm not sure why I am even posting here... I just found this silly. Not so worried about legal immigrants, more worried about nursing mills.... and insurance premiums.

I wish they did a psych eval were I work....lol! Every DON we get is plain nuts! I will probably get smacked for this but we learned about this site in a drug course we take yearly! May be a little too late. I would not condone this for illegal drug use. Also....What about the drinkers???!

A little different view. I would go psych... You will still use your skills and that is good experience for future jobs. A new grad in LTC, you will feel like you don't have any skills! Sadly you don't have the time as much as you would like and it is a fast paced environment. I went to LTC from school, it took a year to learn how to manage everything including the aides and feel comfortable in my skills. It doesn't stop at nursing skills in the real world. You become maintainence, housekeeping, cable/telephone "guy", referee, secratary and the person the grumpy doc's take their frustration out on. You will also get the psych patients with all of the regular patients added in. I would do psych, but I dearly love LTC. If I were you, I would follow what your intuition is telling you to do. Good luck and let us know what you did! P.S. I also agree with thatguy, you don't loose skills, you may need a refresher on certain ones but you haven't been able to really build them yet! I still have to refresh myself and I have worked sub-acute/LTC 8 years.

Wear comfortable shoes! Remember... it will not be nearly as easy as the person training you will may make it seem! They have a routine. There are a lot of good tips already posted. Memorize the resident names. Been in LTC 8 yrs and still love it! FYI_ I cried, on my way home, for a week when I was on my own. Don't be affraid to ask for help, everyone has been in your shoes at least once.

OK , so I may be wrong since I work in LTC. I agree with everything that Laurie52 said except documenting the conversation in the nurses notes. I would have documented in my notes the situation with hubby bringing in belongings and informed/educated pt and spouse of policy. Then I would have put that pt and spouse refuse, supervisor XXX contacted and informed at this time. That puts the responsiblity on your supervisor if they would say you didn't follow policy. If your 'beef' is with the supervisor, venting in the NN might do nothing but make things worse for you. Your supervisor should always follow p&p and have your back. A lot of times they don't. Write down on a separate sheet of paper your conversation with your supervisor, while it is fresh, call or leave a copy for your manager. Make sure you keep your copy. Other than that Laurie was right on. Best of luck!

to start this off allnurses.com has been very beneficial for me trying to figure out how to complete my transition from lpn to rn. i am ever so grateful to have come across this site where nurses can gain knowledge and support from other nurses or soon to be's! i have been researching for days and wanted to compile all the info into a current thread with links, from reading threads and posts from this site and others. this is my ! why i want you to read this before signing up is to help anyone possible save time, money and regret. reading a post like this would have saved thousands of $ for me, and hours too! i signed up with tcn 3 years ago and have yet to take an exam. i struggle with my learning type. find out yours before signing up for any online courses, the following link will do this for you. http://www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=questionnaire not that you can't do them with a certain learning style but you may need more resources to study. for me sitting and reading is not me. i have to listen and interact using my hands. as for starting lpn school (vocational type), if you think you may ever want to continue your education afterwards or to get pre-requisites done prior to lpn you can get them completed with clep's or ece's with a small amount of money invested as opposed the loans you may acquire later. ** make sure the school you want to go to accepts these, a lot of them do** you can go to the clep website, it has lots of info too http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/clep/about.html to find out who does accept these or ask the school. be cautious asking the school, i have read that one had said they did not when in fact they did, but the counselor was getting commission for signing people up with classes. if you are going to a vocational school like i did, the courses you take there are not credited. this means you will have to retake all of them for rn transition. if you can take these prior to vocational school you should not have to take those courses there- check with the school first. my thought, get these courses done before lpn school starts and if you want to later go back then you already have the credit. as for study material on clep's keep reading. ohhh the acronyms... they give me a headache! i'll give a guide to them at the bottom. lpn to rn or bsn like i said i have purchased tcn modules which are only study guides for clep's, dantes, or ece. academic support not as "supportive" as i think they should be, and everything is on their terms. i found more support on my own through forums. allnurses and instantcert are free and have very motivating supportive people, just like you. http://www.degreeforum.net/ there are so many study materials out there for free or a little $. some people only use instantcert flashcards to study and pass. got to following website and click the flashcard subjects. http://www.instantcert.com/college.php4 keep in mind that they are not a nurses site but in all fields taking some of the same pre-req's. it takes some research to find out what pre-req's are required @ your school of choice. you can also get free study materials from your local library or on your states virtual library site, some also have free pre clep test exams. also you can get lectures on you tube (free) and sent to mobile devices (cost under $10-like iphone, ipod, etc.). check out ebay or amazon for modules and test prep too! ec and isu accept the clep's and more than likely isu accepts the ece's, keep in mind ece are excelsior exams. you find this info at ec's website cause you have to register there free first to test but you do not have to be enrolled, also check out the credit by exam tab for a lot of helpful info. see exam other options. http://www.excelsior.edu/ecapps/exams/creditbyexam.jsf for ec you have to enroll to take faac and cpne. i know that isu and tcn are partnered up so if you are thinking that route contact isu and don't let them force you to buy tcn. btw... isu is now accredited in california according to the ca bon website (08/2011), which brings a point to look at. make sure the school you choose is accredited by your states bon! as far as not getting hired b/c you got your schooling at ec or isu, most places do not look at your school or check references for that matter, they only check if you have a current valid license without any restrictions or disciplines on the bon website and if you are breathing! if they do have a problem with it i wouldn't want to work for them anyway. dl is not the "easy way out" you have to work even harder, learn everything on your own and be more disciplined. also you have to consider the cpne, not a breeze so i have read. as far as tcn being a scam, well they do send you a module if you call them; they will only send 1 every 30 days. they sell very expensive study guides. and do not let them finance your exams fees, like i did. big mistake and not motivating like i thought it would be. so it is legit. i plan on going through ec, isu would have been nice but the clinicals seem complicated (getting your own preceptor). i first am completing my exams then going from there, already paid for tcn so i am using it. i joined instantcert and already have retained more info in a much shorter time (3hrs)than traditional reading. i also used a promo code: 34463 and saved even more (14.95 1st mth then 19.95/mth) but to me well worth the extra cash cause time is money:d! this might not be for everyone and there are free flashcards out there http://www.studystack.com/ but those are not as interactive as i needed. please understand that i am not employed by or advertising for any company nor is that my intent. i am a lpn that works ltc and hope to help out any person considering distance learning or nursing. if it was not for all the people caring enough to post on these forums, i would still be stuck in the mud, so thank you all contributors! i am still on my journey so i have not yet mastered the dl road but i feel i have a real handle on things and haven't felt so positive about this in my life. i appreciate any feedback, more suggestions, free learning websites, cheap websites or if i have inspired you! i will keep you posted on my accomplishments too! acronym's: ec= excelsior college; isu=indiana state university; tcn= the college network; dl= distance learning; ece= excelsior college exam; clep=college level examination program; bon= board of nursing

Thank you all for the help. I have looked for hours with your suggestions which I believe will help me. My biggest area of concern is the CLEP exams. I am more of a visual type of learner and psych, sociology, etc... are my most feared. I'm going to try Vango notes and Instatcert.com. Also on youtube UCBerkley has lectures in these classes!!! That was a great find. I even did a test to see what kind of learner I am. Kinesthetic learning is my style which means I have to work twice as hard in distance education, it is actually not recommended for my education but a little too late. I think TCN should review what type of learner you are before selling you something that is useless.... but if that were the case they wouldn't be called a "scam". Thank you guys soooo much, you have given me hope! Allnurses.com has been awesome! :[anb]:

Are you in a hosptal or LTC? Well I deal with a lot of falls too...unit manager(LTC). Are these falls on any certain shift? I assume you work night shift if you are waking them up to toilet. Look to see if diuretic meds are given at appropriate times, not before bed. Also track the voiding patern and use that as a tool to anticipate toileting times. Are they slipping in urine due to incontinence, is the lighting inappropriate, are they weak, educated repeatedly on call light use, offered plenty of fluids during the day to reduce UTI that causes confusion, frequency, urgency? It is going to make a difference on the setting you are in (IV fluids) and what the population is like (dementia). Try to think outside the box to see why these people are falling. Do they have mixed incont? A bladder training program or even pelvic floor excercises by PT can help with that. In my opinion, waking someone up every hour to toilet is barbaric. Yes we want to protect them from injury but would you like to be waken up every hour when you are sleeping? To me that could have some adverse effects from interupted sleep. Also every patient has rights and you are the advocate! Congrats on not having a fall, you must be doing something right. However it happens to the best! Hope this helps. Good luck!