PHTLS

You don't know nothing about me, kid. Don't make assumptions. Belittle? please. I'm speaking that damn truth. Maybe if you have more experience, you'd understand. As for the turd comment? Well... let's just say it's good thing this is an internet forum..you get me? civilian?

Duh...of course it can be done. But you try doing everything by the book 5 days a week (excluding overtime and doubles) and see if you can keep that up. Don't work hard, use your brain. What? you believe is killing yourself slowly physically and mentally? I've been around alot of burnt out nurses WITH YOUR MENTALITY and I'm getting there.

Listen. I work acute and LTC and you know what? I've notice the habits of both types of nurses the past 14 years. That's 14 years! I know what I'm talking about it. What? you think I'm a post-dot.com nurse?

Hoo-ah! Are you motivated and dedicated? Army Reserves by-the-by. Graduated from good ol' Fort Sam ( Delta Company or Psycho Medics) back in the early 90s as a 91 Bravo. Currently a Whiskey Mike Six. Hoooooooo-ah!

Thank god my co-workers and I are one big family. We don't have crap issues like that at my hospitals and we watch each others back ( CNA'S, house keepers, kitchen, managers, visitors, licensed, docs, and so on.)

Of course! What do these "State" people think? We're super nurses. If you want to be perfect all the time, go get a home health job where you only have one patient to take care of. Better yet, work ICU.

Who cares! just do the best you can. What are you? a martyr?

Either way, 99% of nurses working LTC don't give a rats butt about assinine policies (this is the damn truth too). Here's one policy at my hospital: Never take medication from another resident to give to another resident. My take on this? whatever! if my resident is due for DIGOXIN @ 5pm and his/her meds aren't there, I'm going to "steal" from another resident supply and give it to him/her until I can replace it. Quit being self-rightious and get real! There's no freaking way a human being can pass meds (within 1 hour..what a joke), do treatment, AND PAPERWORK without cheating a little bit. All you people that go by the book would never survive in the hospitals I work at. These hospitals would eat you alive and steal your soul. You can go by the book in acute care, but not LTC. I had a registry nurse work at my LTC hospital and she pre-poured her meds. And guess what? she didn't even go home in time. Also, if I came across pre-poured meds and they're not labeled, you can bet that they'll end up in the garbage. You'e not supposed to pass meds you didn't prepare yourself. That's one policy I follow.

Uhh..yeah. I'm sure we're all going to go out and smoke every day, have a fracture, and leave our pills lying around (label that damn cups) without bothering to tell the replacement nurse what's in those pre-poured meds. Ummm.yeah

Damn right. Ever try assembling an AIDS patient's cocktail meds? Takes me like 5 minutes to get all those anti-viral meds ready along with their other meds (pain meds, psyche, vit, stool softners, appetite stimulants, etc).

Look, you're not in a acute setting( residents tend to be more stable), so it's cool. Just as long as you don't make major medicine errors, you're fine. Now, if the States around...

Well, my manager says that she attended an inservice warning nurses about cell phones screwing up IV pumps, but the telemetry thing was okay.

Well, Tylenol makes you sweat and wouldn't dehydration lower a pt's BP?

]You forgot CNA's

Oh yeah? What meds were these? I hope one of them isn't Colace ordered Q.. ERR..every day.

Good one! :chuckle

Wow, times have changed haven't they? Actually, I've never witnessed a telecomputer going haywire over a cell call. I also heard that cell phones can screw up a Baxter IV pump.

And yet another one: Admissions and discharges! The Med Surg floor I worked in as an LVN, clerk, and CNA had discharges/admissions every shift (mostly days and some on PM). LTC? Our last admission was 3-4 months ago? Discharge? 1 resident a month ago. LTC and Acute care are as different as night and day. CNA's? CNA's in convalescent hospitals worked there butts off with them Hoyer lifts, while PCA's in Acute think taking vitals every 4 hours is hard.

Here's another difference between Acute and LTC. Doctors and interns. When was the last time you saw an "intern" write screwed up MD orders in LTC only to have him/her change them 5 minutes later driving the Unit Coodinator mad along with the LVN/RN? When I worked acute, I had 20-30 patient charts that I carried out with the licensed staff and minutes later, an HBS doctor will come by and re-write the interns orders. LTC? Only the established doctors visit and write legit orders.

1) An old guy is just ONE Person. You work acute, a majority of the patients will be bugging you left and right (half of them are on PCA's already). And guess what? You'll be bugging the doctors too for pain orders 2) You're supposed to monitor them after you give them anything that puts them at risk for falling AND THEY SHOULD BE IN BED WITH THE SIDE RAILS UP after giving Ativan. 3) Not as much as ICU and Med Surg. I've work for years in LONG TERM CARE and I've only heard/been involved in codes 3-4 X. I've worked 8 years in Med Surg and intensive care and there's always a code every week practically. I've also placed deceased pt's in the local hospital morgues more than a dozen times. 4) You forgot Telemetry machines. Do the ratio. Who do you think uses the most beeping machines? Acute or LTC? 5) Just $0.02 6) Really? I just yawn half the time showing up for work and the only changes I see are....*thinking* ...

0800 and 1000 ? Why can't you just passed them at 9?

I know how you feel. I felt like crap too leaving that computer 5 years ago, but I passed with my first try I don't know where you live, but here in California, you can check this website to find out if your licensed before you get your test results back. http://www.dca.ca.gov and check under "License and Complaint" link. I've heard of testers seeing their official LVN license number long before that envelope arrives.

I floated practically every day (sometimes twice in one day) for 5 months until I quit that stupid hospital. After 3 months, a new employee shouldn't have to float anymore. :chair:

Code Brown? I've heard of Code Blues, Gray (security), Red, Pink (kidnapping), and other technicolor codes, but never brown.

Everything that's been said above and CLEANING THE tele boxes Qshift with Monichlor. You're also expected to change the tele boxes batteries and replace worn out leads (you got the black, white, green, and red leads). I used to be a CP, monitor tech, and unit clerk on a telemetry med surg floor. Man, those were the good ol' days It sucks being responsible. If you got free time, go to any plugged in tele box and tap it rapidly. That should wake up the telemetry tech (V-TACH). :chuckle And no cell phones on a TELEMETRY UNIT. They're supposed to interfere with the sensors.