Shazoom

Id like to hear some opinions on a matter that I myself have just experianced. I have been an LPN in LTC for almost two years now and have pronounced residents passing, this is nothing new to me. Now the issue in question is when; as in I fully understand that a residents apical should be taken to pronounce the time they have passed, but I had the situation where I came on shift, went directly to the room as this is my top priority, to be informed by the residents family that the resident had passed some.. say 5 minutes befor my entering the room. As Im offering my condolences and offering the family my support or if there is anything at the time I can do for them, they request time alone with thier loved one. I give them that, I exit the room stating I will be back in a bit to check on them. Now, they left some 35 mins after, I then took the residents apical and pronounced time of death. I am wondering what peoples feelings on this matter are, I personaly felt I was respecting the families wishes to have time alone. I was disiplened and my ability to do my job correctly has come under question. Am i fully in the wrong here? I have asked RN's and other LPN's in LTC and acute settings and so far only the company I work for and the RN manager have told me what I did was incorrect. Please keep responses civil please, Im not looking for get talked down too, im just trying to wrap my head around this issue. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Shazoom

Why is that?

So... How else might I find work in the USA as an LPN... If i was to apply in person for work would that help at all?

Hello! So I'm trying to figure out how to get a work visa, like what paperwork needs to be filled out and who I need to contact or talk to to get there. My GF's VISA just ran out here and she is now back in NJ, so I'm trying to follow her. She gave up allot to be here with me for 3 years and I would like her to be near her family. I am .... beyond confused with this amount of information, I am not sure where to start so if anyone at all has any information on applying for a work visa in the USA that pertains to my situation and my level of education please share! I'm 27 and am a Canadian resident, I am an LPN in LTC / more on the complex locked facility care. I have been nursing for over a year now .. Have my high school education and plan on going for my BSN in a few years. Anyhow, I'm going on and on so yeah if anyone at all could help point me in the right direction please do! Best of luck to all of you, and thank you for taking the time to read this. Shazoom

LTC on nights right now! 50 residents to 1 nurse (me) and 1 HCA. Iv been pushing for a 2nd.

name - d.k. age - 27 years of experience - 1.3 years how was your experience with your studies? - tbh i felt very overwhelmed, was about a year and a half program crammed into a year with no breaks or time off. how long it took to find a job after graduation? - about 4 months, but i can say i'm one of the few people in my class who works with a fulltime line. how was your starting salary? - i started off at what i'm still at, 23.70$ where you work at (hospital, home-care)? - i work in ltc facility for people with dementia/ psychiatric/ behavioural issues. for how long have you worked at this place? - just over a year what led you to become a lpn/lvn? - the economy, needed a change, needed something more in life then being a welder/ machinist - i have always been a first aid attendant and enjoy helping others on a normal day, how your workday begins? - report/ rounds/ reminding my hca's of anything going on, any residents that must be up and ready to go for apt's or if labs coming in to draw blood. what are your duties during a normal day? - running the floor/ medications/ assessments - i have 8 hca's, 50 residents, and any number of family or md's to work with each day do you apply intravenous and / or med? - iv medications are not within my scope at the moment; while i can hang and change ns i can not start an iv or add medications to an iv at the end of the workday, what you do? at the end of my shift i make sure i have charted anything pertinent that has happened throughout the day, do my last round to make sure everything is in order for the next shift, then give report to the next nurse coming on. did you do "double shifts"? - i have, if staffing is short then i stay for the next shift, pretty much just continue with everything listed above how patients and patient's family treat you? - depends on the situation, and the person. i've had family be extremely rude and then i've had some be kind and understanding. i work with residents who have diminished cognition, so if i upset or a resident disagrees with something at that specific time, i can try again a few min later and generally change the outcome of negative or unhappy behaviour. it's one reason i love working with these people, once i find out what they like i can make every day a great day for them. how your fellows lpns / lvns treat you? - most of the nursing staff here works very well as a team, since we don't really work side by side there's not much head butting, but during shift or if someone decides to stay after or come in early we bounce ideas around or talk about new things we have learned or heard. how your fellow rns treat you? - my rn loves me as far as i can tell, always in good spirits, good humour, same as with my fellow lpn's we bounce ideas around and have good communication what is your personal opinion about your professions? - couldn't ask for anything better, i get to come to work and have fun, make peoples days better, assist family's through everything from med changes to death and dying. deal with doctors on all levels, gp's and psyche mostly what would you say to a person who study or think to study to become a lpn ? - make sure your inner self understands some medications will need to be administered rectaly lol, but i'd tell them it is a great thing to get into, id never go back, i only plan to move forward. if they want a job that allows them to do good in this world and always learn something new, become a nurse. do you have any regrets about your profession? - hell no. hope that helps.

Im in Canada BC Working in LTC/ Dementia, atm im at 23.70$ - Looking into moving to NJ to work in LTC.

Resident asked me when meeting me "are your bits mixed up?" since im a guy and introduced myself as his nurse lol.

Hay neat you used one of my quotes! #4. "The moment you had the thought that your class lacked "diversity" you isolated yourself." Thats a very helpful statment if you think about it, you should also quote the part where i state im not being rude and to base your ideas of thoes around you by character, not color, as being a nurse you will always be in thoes situations. Its good to keep this ball TROLLING tho. Have a good day!

Sounds like your doing a fine job. Alot of nursing is observation and you seem to have that. 1 - monitor the congestion, if it goes on for 1-2 more days, fax the MD with your concerns - mabye a sputem sample? MD may want Atropine started to clear up the secreations, still first step is to monitor. 2 - Where i work, this is the residents home, and they have rules we must follow. Residents have the right to refuse medications. You as a nurse must try to help them understand why they need it, if they still dont want to take it, its within their right. A res asking for a medication that they are not prescribed by an MD - thats impossible, you can lose your lisence for that. Fax the MD with the residents concerns, let them decide. 3 - Blood outsdie the cathater is probly from them tugging on it, so you are correct there. Monitor again, if they have urinary retention there may be a blockage, in that case im sure you are able to irrigate the cathater (im an LPN and it is within my scope) If that did not work I would then check to see if this person has an order for a cathater, generaly if its in them and you need to put in another, you can go ahead. You can ask your RN what they think, or just let them know what you found and what you did after. Thoes are just the things I as a nurse would do, and as time goes on you will become more indipendant in your judgment calls. You honestly sound like your doing fine! keep up the good work!

This ones my hero.

Swearing.......................... Like holy hell is it hard to keep my mouth shut in general conversation. Not like angry grrrrrr kinda swearing but like "hay man hows your ******* day going?" "awww kinda ******" Working in a steel mill will do that to you lol.

honestly... i wear a pair of skate shoes. i find them good to walk around in a lot, and there stylish for guys. try circa.com or something and just take a look, mine are black with red and red laces. people always comment on them and i find pt's remember me better simply because my shoes are bright and different. you can always get inserts as well if you feel you need more support.

i’ve only been a nurse for just over a year, i do however work in a facility for dementia pts/residents... the way i see it is this, she has down syndrome, she’s 84, and she’s early stage dementia with no behaviour issues except yelling at staff and being resistive to care? i’m not sure i see the point of even doing ect. i could totally understand seeing her more restless after treatments, moving people with dementia around a lot is one of the things that can cause high anxiety as they are not familiar with the surroundings. what exactly are they trying to accomplish? i thought ect treatment was for bipolar / depression. this is really interesting; i hope more people post their thoughts.

I have the best of both worlds so I do understand where you are comming from. I work 2 days, then 2 nights, then have 2 off - repeat. If people are late for report then they can read the charts and the 24 hour report, I would just hand over the keys/phone whatever it is you use to communicate and head home, you are not obligated to stay later due to someone not being professional and on time. In saying that you must also be on time and show up early and ready for report. I hope your shifts go better, I dont think the days vs. nights will ever be over... seems to be a trend not just in nursing! Good luck! Shazoom