cherielpn23

ive been workiing there for about a one month and a half; im still in my probation period! ive decided to see the DON in person tommorow to tell her that ill be resigning, i just wanna see what she says

hi i appreciate your comment, but the DON's reaction has a lot to do with why im so discouraged. she even asked me what nursing school i went to, possibly implying that she regrets that she even gave me a chance. yesterday i spoke to her and she told me that she'll be writing me up (understandable); but then she told me that the administrator and her "will be in touch with me." could she mean that they're firing me? should i ask her?

made my first med error today at work; gave a patient a discontinued 7.5 mg lortab fo.r pain i knew she had always had this med pr for pain in the past, but for some reason, i didnt check the mar before i gave it. what makes me feel more worse is the fact that the package no longer even had"prn" written on it (though she has had it prn in the past), and for some reason i just went on that "assumption", instead of checking on the actual mar and rechecking the label on the med pack (stupid i know) im even more upset about the fact that this med had been d/c for 2 weeks now (the pt was d/c to a hospital for surgery during that time), and no one even bothered to take the d/c med out of the cart to help prevent any error (though i take full responsibility). felt like a idiot trying to explain what happened to the DON. this is the second time im being written up this month(first time was for missing a dressing change). the administrator warned me from here on out i cant let anything like this happen again (which is understandable), but this means im basically hanging onto a thin piece of thread as far as my position goes for a really long time. i know safety of the pt comes first, and i assessed and reassesed her throughout the shift, and she had no complaints. totally fine. but the administrator told me they have to notify the fam as well, and im terrified cause they have given us a hard time lately (dropping hints that theyre ready to sue :S if anything goes wrong) im thinking its probably time to throw in the towel...god it's like everytime i make a mistake and learn it, another comes out of nowhere...all i wanted was to be the best nurse i can be... im seeing the don tommorow, and im thinking of resigning before she fires me....my self esteemis at an all time low now

i really i appreciate you response. its just i really want to become the best nurse that i can be, without any of my patients having to suffer because of MY stupid mistakes....i know im not perfect, but theres seems to be x number of mistakes that can be made until a)someone gets hurt or b)you realize this kind of professon is just not for you. but as for myself, im willing to get thru the mistakes to learn from them, but it seems like the stress and anxiety combo. is not doing me any good. but i really want to stick it, given that i JUST started. as far as the ltc setting, im sure theres a certain amount of yrs recommended to gain exp before moving on, if i am correct?

for the particular pt i had, the drssng had to be done twice a week...so missing the change meant that it was left on for approx. 3-4days, give the fact i worked on only one of the days the change was scheduled....thats what concerned me

4 days, wouldve been only 3 if i had not begged the DON to give me a extra day....obviously wasn't enough

thanks for replying, and yes you are right. either way, there would have been some discomfort to a certain degree, and im sure the pt is resting just fine now, but im paranoid that this single incident will come back to haunt me in the future....

thanks for replying, and yes you are right. either way, there would have been some discomfort to a certain degree, and im sure the pt is resting just fine now, but im paranoid that this single incident will come back to haunt me in the future....

i appreciate your reply, it's just that im constantly worried about making mistakes, esp those that lead to harm and god forbid, death of a pt. and the 1:30 nurse-pt ratio doesnt help either. i notice that i am constantly very concerned about these things, esp cause im relatively new to this profession. like anyone, i just dont wanna end up screwing myself over, losing my license, getting sued and jailed. im so grateful for this job oppurtunity, but it taking a toll on me emotionally...

or atleast a verbal warning/ write up as the don called it? it was due to a missed dressing change ( not intentionally, it seems like i missed it on the treatment record, and so it wasnt done. i was just hired at the nursing home i work at, and everything is computerized, so its taking a while for me to get acquainted with the system.) apparently the patient had a drs appt to have the wound looked at and debrided soon after, and because the drssg had not been changed & stuck to the wound, it was very painful for the doc to remove it. its understandable for the doc and fam to be very upset as a result of inaction on my part, and all the DON told me was to "make sure it doesn't happen again". now im sitting here completely distraught! this past month and a half has been so overwhelming, have 30 pts in the rehab sec. of the nursinghome, & feel so stupid sometimes because im making alot of mistakes...and its also taking alot out of me physically and emotionally (was planning to continue in the nursing field but thinking about switching majors. its too stressful :/) and for this to happen worries me even more, esp knowing that the fam got involved and i could possibly be named in a lawsuit in the future? just in writing this, its hard to hold back tears. not only am i genuinely worried about the pts well being, but the fact 'that my license is basically on the line for any harm that the pt suffered from the drssng removal is driving me into a hole of depression & guilt (these days my stomach is always turning and i think im losing my appetite to even eat well). im just asking anyone here for any helpful advice/suggestions for me in this situation, please. -Cherie

hi heres the backstory: im new grad lpn, just got hired about a month ago in a nursing home. they started me out with $18/hr, which is pretty good compared to other nursing home facilities in my area, esp. being a new grad. i work mostly weekends and some weekdays if ppl call off....of course just starting out, esp in the field itself, is pretty rough. but things are getting better, im more acquainted with the patients, and my coworkers are absolutely amazing! they have been so patient and helpful to me and i appreciate that so much! but heres my real issue: before i got hired, i laid it out to the DON which days i am unavailable to work for religious reasons, and i assumed they would consider that once they hired me....after all they could have sent me on my way if i didnt meet their requirements as far as the days they need me(unless they were desperate?) but it seems like lately, they have not respected my requests. my religious beliefs comes before this job, and it seems like they are putting me in a position to choose between the two by scheduling me on days i have my religious services! so today i contemplated leaving this job, perhaps finding another elsewhere, but as new grad (having no exp at all), im asking all the exp &wise nurses here if quitting this job at this point would be a smart move? or should i wait for a certain time period to go by first ? otherwise, im so grateful to have this job! the company i work for is one the best in my area, and although its been rough (30 patients on the regular !! :S ) everyone tells me everywhere else in the area is no better, and given their exp, ill take their word for it. everyone also advises me that working in a nursing home in the beginning as a new grad is the way to go to gain exp. but if i leave this job right now, the next best thing in my area is probably homecare( but theres not much exp to gain and they tend to be unstable, atleast the ones in my area, when your case dies, thats it.) any advice for me????? (, in the meantime, im starting to look for other openings