IEDave

Don't have to tell me twice - did it for three years before moving up to LVN. Got one of my classmates a CNA gig at an LTC facility I was working in. Came close to passing out a couple of times, 'til I gave her some tips on how to pace herself. Vastly underrated in their importance, and I don't begrudge them a bit of what they get. Wish I could give 'em more. ❤

As for me, I was terminated just under a month and a half ago (long story, but it boils down to a toxic relationship with a DON, and an accusation of not charting something that didn't happen) and reading this post really made my day. Really wished I could've gone back to the facility and gotten a video of the following: (1) Put a fall mat outside the night entrance; (2) Find an empty bed; (3) Spread out a Hoyer sling on the bed; (4) I lay down on the sling with my personal belongings; (5) Get 4 of the staff to pick me up with the sling; (6) Open the night entrance door; (7) Have the staff run down the hall, carrying me in the sling, and throw me out the door onto the fall mat; (8) Have them all shout in unison "AND STAY OUT!!!"; (9) Slam the night entrance door shut. That would have been a proper termination! The terminated would've bought pizza for that one. In any case, I opted to use all the lovely overtime money I made because the DON refused to hire replacement staff until after the state survey occurred to keep me financially solvent while I finished up a prereq class for admission into an LVN to RN bridge program. Got contacts to back me up (2 of the 3 RN supervisors) and looking at moving into hospice, which is my dream job. So...not hurtin', and was warned about nursing's rather vicious reputation. Lessons learned, and movin' on.

We started with 24 in the cohort (VN program, BTW) and ended up with 18 that completed the program. Had 1 who came in from an earlier cohort (missed a semester D/T pregnancy), lost a bunch during second semester. About half of those that flunked out petitioned for readmission and passed on the second go-around. Ain't easy. Dave

Depends a lot on how the pinning ceremony is run. In ours, there was a Powerpoint slideshow showing the students as children, next to their graduation pictures that cycled on the displays in the auditorium prior to the beginning of the ceremony. You might want to put a picture of you and your mom up there. In my case, I honored my mother by wearing her LVN pin during our pinning ceremony. Hope this gives you some ideas. Dave

As for me - really, only 2 (in no particular order): 1) Survive 2 more semesters of VN school; 2) Get a part-time CNA gig to bring my bedside skills back up to full speed/power, and to keep me off the welfare rolls. ----- Dave

Well...if you did, I most CERTAINLY did! Had to remediate back in to the VN program I was previously accepted into 2 years ago, aced 1st lecture & ripped skills a new one. Had to sell my late mother's house & liquidate all of my personal belongings to do this (at age 52 - turned 53 last month) so I'm assuming a fair amount of risk to try and pull this off. Upside - started clinicals 2 weeks ago, loving it, and for the naysayers re: job availability I've had more interviews since I restarted NS than I had for all of 2014 trying to restart my former IT career. I tend to agree that it's not always about the age of the applicant, so much as whether they're willing to pay what you're worth - as an IT guy I could theoretically command a much higher salary, but employers really don't want gobs of experience right at this point in the economic recovery. Hence, an LVN or CNA tends to make more economic sense for someone in my boat. And...if bedside nursing turns out to be beyond me, having a dual Bachelor's (Computer Science & BSN) will make me a shoo-in for a Nurse Informaticist gig. Got a ways to go to pull that off (I'm much more interested in an acute care DNP) but at least I'm not likely to be living under a bush anytime soon. So...never too late to give it a second shot. Kudos to the OP for "feeding the need", and the very best to those who choose to challenge the status quo. ----- Dave

Then, with all due respect FlufferNutter - whose place is it? A crucial part of this profession is to advocate for our patients, which can be a tricky task at best. My take is that you were in a perfect position to observe and advocate for yours, and need apologize to no one. As far as certification - I know there are cert programs for hospice, but don't know if there are any specifically for palliative care. Realistically, given the difficulty that hospice providers have finding healthcare staff to work for them, just getting a year or two of floor experience in LTC or Med/Surg is usually ample. If anything, I'd advise looking into other areas of certification as well (e.g. gerontology) and volunteering is an excellent way to get your foot in the door. If your schedule permits you may want to look into working as a home health aide for an area hospice as well. As for me - I was my mother's primary caregiver from 2004 - 2008, and a goodly portion of why I'm inclined toward hospice is exactly what you noted - end-of-life patients are far too often marginalized and denied even the simplest of dignities. Certainly I squared off with plenty of healthcare professionals that tried to deny my mother basic rights & necessities during my stint as her advocate. Not always - there were nurses who went the extra mile for us, but far too often I ran into nurses who did the minimal amount of work needed, pointed out the call light & left. Pretty sad, really. ----- Dave

Interestingly, there's a genre referred to as "creative non-fiction" that this would fit into perfectly, assuming this describes a real-life event. It's in the form of a thriller, but describing an actual occurrence. And, yes, it also feels like we've got half of the story; more, please.

Nicely written - I can relate. As a CNA, one of my tasks is to do pt. escort runs. Which means I get to wear my scrubs in public, plus name badge - and, yeah, early on I figured out that's going to make me target #1 for every medico-social situation out there. Sometimes it's heart wrenching (one woman chatted with me for a good 15 minutes about her friend who died in hospice), and sometimes it's amusing (the time a woman mistook CNA for CRNA, and I politely explained some of the differences between the two; not the least of which is the $140K/year salary difference). So long as I'm on the clock I'm tolerant of it, but for the most part I've learned not to advertise the fact that I work in healthcare. Good read! :) ----- Dave

When you arrive at a fork in the road, take it. ----- Yogi Berra.

Really only one thing I can say: :hug: For the OP, and all the parents that have to make that soul-searing call. ----- Dave

"All LPNs secretly wish they could be RNs." Totally preposterous & absolutely absurd! Some want to be NP's! Seriously - can't speak for where you guys work, but where I work the lion's share of the patient care is done by the LVN's & CNA's; the RN's tend to function more as management staff than anything else. Not belittling or denigrating - just an observation. And, as far as whether LVN's are "real" nurses - well, the CNA's thinks so; the patients think so; the families think so; and presumably management thinks so as well, 'cause they're making more moolah than I do! As for me - should be joining the ranks of the LVN's in about, oh, 24 months or so; Ghod & NCLEX-PN willing. ----- Dave

Likewise - I've been one of those who stood by as a loved one passed away, and in the agonizing pain of loss, self-doubt, guilt & emotional torment found some release by dedicating myself to helping others meet this, the ultimate challenge to one's humanity. Thanks for sharing this, MommaNurse - it helps to know I'm not alone. ----- Dave, Hospice volunteer, CNA.

And...sometimes the teacher teaches the best, by not teaching at all. Thank you, Dianah - and Miss Tander, wherever you may be. ----- Dave

Alaur74: Oh, do I WISH I had to time to compare notes with you - when I had the responsibility (and, honor; and, privilege) of acting as my mother's caregiver I ran into that attitude so very, very many times. And, yes, there are many reasons for it - from simple exhaustion, to the "hide of a rhinoceros" getting just a wee bit too thick, to the need for quantifiable metrics running amok (I have yet to see a metric for "held a patient's hand" - although there ought to be)...and the list goes on & on. I'm very pleased to hear that your Dad's doing better (BTW - a flyswatter does wonders for the spiders... ) and that you're there to advocate for him. In any case; haven't gotten to the point that I've forgotten that my patients (we call 'em "residents" where I work - although a goodly percentage of 'em return home, a few are actual long-term residents) are people - see me in a few years though; most likely I'll need a reminder! Not a promise - I just know me. Living up to high standards takes a lot of time, effort & energy, and I'm a bit short on all of the above. GrnTea: +1 on getting the AHD & DPOA paperwork squared away, if you haven't already done so - trust me, you'll be saving yourself a lot of grief getting it done now. Nothing more I need to say - we're both on the same page. :hug: ----- Dave