Grasshopper11

The hospice I work for is Monday to Friday only for Case Managers with 4 weeks vacation. We have evening and weekend dedicated staffing.

Personally, I think we should just go salary with time and a half for overtime. Currently, we have to fill out logs for everything we do and turn them in to get paid.

I would like to know what Nurse Managers are thinking of doing to give Home Health RN's more downtime in the evening. Most of the RN's finish their 8 hour shift and then go home to document for 3 to 4 hours especially if they have starts of care. Any ideas?

I am a nurse for over 9 years and will be starting hospice nursing. I am hearing about nurses in Home Health going home and charting until all hours of the night. Is this the same in Hospice Nursing? I heard it was not because Hospice Nursing does not involve the oasis requirements. Also does your company schedule you for office or documentation time during the week so you can catch up on paperwork?

Hi all! I am about to start home health soon. I see people documenting in the car, leaning on steering wheel, etc. There must be a more comfortable way, isn't there? Any tips and tricks? I have a SUV and was thinking of turning down 1/2 the back seat and setting my computer on that, like a desk. Does that work? Also how about organizing paperwork and keeping track of mileage....

I work dayshift but I would love 11a-11p. Too bad you don't work where I work. We could "team up"!

Thank you. I could just imagine being in someone's home and looking like an idiot because I can't do something and I have no back up.

Did you ever have a situation or emergency in a home. You are by yourself so you can't call a "rapid response" or notify a charge nurse who is right there.

I've done Med/surg, LTC, Rehab and now I am thinking of changing to Home Health. I just wanted to find out the pros and cons of this line of work.

Where I work, we have a really nice supervisor/charge nurse that is older. She is ready to quit but unfortunately she has a mortgage to pay. The twenty-somethings bully her to death just because she is older. It has been reported to management but nothing happens. She is so stressed out. So if you are wondering where the older nurses are, they probably get fed-up and quit.

I work with a lot of twenty-somethings that are absolutely wonderful. I want to hug them everytime I work with them. I just gave you their ages to give you their background of being tweinty-something and no previous job.

We have two new twenty-somethings that just graduated a few months ago from nursing school who are our supervisors, yes-they are supervisors of nurses who have been nurses 8-10 years. All they do is complain for a full 8 hours, not exaggerating. They never had another job in their life and expect everything to be perfect at the end of the shift when they take over. If not, they expect the previous shift to stay and complete "their" work. All we get is bratty back talk as soon as they come in. God-forbid they have to get a stool sample that was not able to be obtained or a dressing that was unable to be done because the pt was in an activity. With them there is no 24/7 and it is causing some of us to stay much later and getting in trouble from overtime. We are now starting to document everything in writing to the ADON but it does not help. Anyone have any suggestions out there?

I would have shipped both out. Good decisions on your part. Better safe than sorry!

We have two new twenty-somethings that just graduated a few months ago from nursing school who are our supervisors, yes-they are supervisors of nurses who have been nurses 8-10 years. All they do is complain for a full 8 hours, not exaggerating. They never had another job in their life and expect everything to be perfect at the end of the shift when they take over. If not, they expect the previous shift to stay and complete "their" work. All we get is bratty back talk as soon as they come in. God-forbid they have to get a stool sample that was not able to be obtained or a dressing that was unable to be done because the pt was in an activity. With them there is no 24/7 and it is causing some of us to stay much later and getting in trouble from overtime. We are now starting to document everything in writing to the ADON but it does not help. Anyone have any suggestions out there?

I actually like working in a place where all RN's wear one color and CNA's wear another. This way the staff and the patients know who is who. When I worked in a facility where anybody can wear anything, a patient told me that she was talking to "somebody" about her medical tests and the "somebody" was giving her wrong instructions about her diagnosis. Turns out the "somebody" was a CNA. The patient stated she did not know because everybody looked alike.

Anyone out there apply tubigrips? How do you apply them? I have a group of fellow co-workers who state you have to look at the order as some are applied from above the knee to the ankle, some from calf to ankle, some from calf to toes. Another co-worker states they should only be applied from calf to toes, they should never be applied from calf to ankles.

No matter where I work it is the same question....Why does management refuse to hire someone to help with admissions and discharges????? Management would rather see us pulled away from our current patients in order to complete an admission or discharge. which is quickly followed by another admission. Management then acts confused and can't understand when this results in overtime in order to complete the admission and/or discharge.. Admissions/discharges is one of the biggest complaints on Press Gainey yet management refuses to hire an RN to handle this exclusively, one who would be able to handle them on the unit in a calm, pleasant manner because he/she does not have to rush to take care of other patients.

If they hired an admissions/discharge nurse, we would not be doing overtime.....

No matter where I work it is the same question....Why does management refuse to hire someone to help with admissions and discharges????? Management would rather see us pulled away from our current patients in order to complete an admission or discharge. which is quickly followed by another admission. Management then acts confused and can't understand when this results in overtime in order to complete the admission and/or discharge.. Admissions/discharges is one of the biggest complaints on Press Gainey yet management refuses to hire an RN to handle this exclusively, one who would be able to handle them on the unit in a calm, pleasant manner because he/she does not have to rush to take care of other patients.

No matter where I work it is the same question....Why does management refuse to hire someone to help with admissions and discharges????? Management would rather see us pulled away from our current patients in order to complete an admission or discharge. which is quickly followed by another admission. Management then acts confused and can't understand when this results in overtime in order to complete the admission and/or discharge.. Admissions/discharges is one of the biggest complaints on Press Gainey yet management refuses to hire an RN to handle this exclusively, one who would be able to handle them on the unit in a calm, pleasant manner because he/she does not have to rush to take care of other patients.

I would never say to an auto mechanic "all you do is tighten a few bolts" so what do you do with the rest of your day. P.S. I am not saying that busing tables is not exhausting work. I am just saying that all of us in all occupations work hard and should be respected.

I personally don't think it is an overreaction. This is just an example. Having people in general think and make comments to the effect that all we do is carry a little pill in a med cup and then wonder what we do with the rest of the day, doesn't that get you upset, even just a little. I am just looking for a positive way to respond to these comments that would make the nursing profession proud. Any ideas?

You have to learn to say the word "NO". The more you help out, the more you are enabling the unit. We had a unit secretary that was knocking herself out by coming in extra shifts. Working nights and then coming in for days with no sleep. I told her to start saying "no". The sooner she does, the sooner mgt will hire a new unit secretary. Sure enough, she started saying "no", she got her life back, feeling more refreshed from more sleep, and.......we got a new secretary within a week.

I work as a bedside nurse in a Rehab facility with very busy admissions and discharges with higher acuity each year. Just had a holiday dinner with family. My sister is working at an assisted living facility busing tables and helping in the kitchen. My sister turns to me in total confusion and asks "So what do you do? If your patients are there for therapy then what is there for a nurse to do?". My mother announces that my sister is the hardest working person in the family (which also includes my brother, brother-in-law, sister-in-law and me). Mom got me a coffee mug to keep at my desk. Didn't know that bedside nurses have desks or even have time to sit!!!! What is a good verbal comeback if I should hear this again (and I am sure I will at the next gathering).

There are many units that rotate the position of Admissions/Discharge nurse on their own unit. They just pick someone who is on the schedule that day. It speeds up the discharges making pt's happier. Also, the admissions questions are asked right away and not 8-10 hours down the road when the pt wants to sleep. However, the bottom line is more important than pt happiness/comfort/safety, unfortunately.