HarryPotter

Right on, Destiny Star!!!

Thank you for responding. I have posted in the general nurses forum, and your right, I am getting responses. Thank you so much for your concern. I am a Catholic and trust in our Lord completely. I know everything will be ok, no matter what, but sometimes I do get anxious and angry about the whole situatiion. Guess I have always been an optomist, so its very unnerving to be treated the way I have been treated. I really appreciate concern from my fellow Nurses. It does help. If you believe in prayer (I do), please pray for me. Thank you again. Harry

Thank you all so much. Keep your ideas coming please. I am no longer working in psychiatry. The type of work I was doing was in a Public Health clinic, immunizing children to adults. I could not control the movements of many of the children as I attempted to immunize them-they kicked, screamed, wresteled away from the parent who usually could not hold them still. (thank God a needle never broke; what kind of emergency would that be for me to handle). And, yes, this whole situation is degrading and humiliating and scary (I don't want to be homeless). Thank you again for your responses. Again, please keep them coming. God Bless Harry

Hi- Boy, do I ever need your help. Because of a patient attack and my injuries, I can no longer lift, do power grasps, do repetative at or above shoulder level work, or struggle with children who I was immunizing all day, 3 times a week. My employer is fighting my disability retirement. They hired a MD who discounts my disabilities, even though I have had to have surgeries and have had relapses of my injuries because of having to use physical strength to hold children still while being vaccinated (the parents are often as freaked out as the kids and are unable to hold them still). The only thing this idiot Dr. admits to is that I cannot respond to emergency situations that would require physical strength or would strain my shoulder, neck or knee (where I am injured). My attorney says it is vital that I catagorize types of emergencies that would require physical exertion and strength in emergency situations. I know of lots of them, like responding to someone fainting, having a seizure, having a heart attack, becoming violent, falling, restraining-I cannot help them to the floor or struggle with them to be still. I cannot lift. Please, please respond with anything you can think of. Thank you so much and God Bless. Harry

If you have ever had to handle an emergency while giving immunizations to children or in a in Public Health Clinic, I need your help desperately. Whether or not I retire destitute or have a minimum retirement income depends on whether I can get a strong response from other professionals (you) indicating the number of emergencies and the types of emergency situations that other nurses have had to face giving children immunizations or in a Publlic Health Immunization Clinic setting. I was disabled in 1999 by a psychiatric patient attack and have undergone shoulder and knee surgeries. I have lost 33% of my left shoulder use, and 50% of my right knee use. In my "real" life, this has had many consequences, including having to file for early social security to avoid going bankrupt. After a long recovery, I was transfered to a Public Health RN position that required me to immunize children. After 3 weeks, I had a complete relapse of my shoulder injury-I couldn't move and required substantial medical treatment to become stabilized again. My problem is that the employer hired an expert who claims that I should be able to do the job and, as a result, my retirement benefits may become lost. I have a hearing for a disability retirement pension, which is my only hope for any retirement since I am 65 and couldn't complete the required number of years for normal retirement because of the injury. Add to this, the Dr's I saw for treatment and for surgeries from 1999-2006 were paid for by my employer and will not testify in my behalf at my retirement hearing-even though they have said to me that there is no way I could do that job. The one thing the employer paid for Dr. did admit is that I cannot respond or handle emergency situations in the Public Health Immunization Clinic job that I had, but otherwise discounts my injury totally. I need you, my fellow Nurses, to help me categorize the emergencies you have seen or have had happen to you while giving children immunizations or in Public Health clinics. Please help. I need you! Thank you Harry

Boy, a lot of us like to learn....any advice for me? I am 64 and am going back to school...my quandry is do I go for the aa to ba in nursing, or do I get a ba in health administration. I am disabled, and can't do direct care anymore, but would like to open an assisted living facility and, in the meantime to case management, which often requires a ba. In actual fact, I am not that interested in Nursing, per se, but want a leadership role. Any suggestions will be appreciated, especially from any of you who are healthcare administrators. Thanks.

I am 64 and going back to school...You can never be too old to learn...as a matter of fact, learning will keep your brain from deteriorating.

Hi Sue: I am still here in Psychiatric Nursing at 64!!!

No.

Hi there neighbor. If I were you, I would contact the hospital and see what they know about the area or if maybe they could post a notice on the employee bulletin board that you are looking for a place to live. Having a room-mate at first might be good.

I absolutelly agree. I recently did research for the company I work for on Nurse Retention and Recruiting. In the surveys I did and read, all talked about the number one value that Nurses look for in an employeer is that they are respected and valued as professionals and knowledge workers. The bullying that occurs within the healthcare industry could very well be associated with the lack of respect. Unfortunately, many Managers are not respectful and the staff under them learn that kind of management style: micromanaging, being part of gossipping or allowing it to go on, etc. I do see more females being part of the bully/victim mentality. And, tholgh I had not looked at this before, perhaps it is done more by women as a reation of being discrimiinated against for so long. Salary is, of course, very important, but I found that if respect and being valued is not there, a Nurse would rather work for an employeer who does respect and value them even with a lower salary. Sign on bonuses, etc., will just get a nurse in the door, and then out the back if respect and value is not there, to say nothing about the bully mentality. What do you think? And what can we do about it?

Sounds like a good book, I'llcheck it out.

San Marcos to Palomar is 5-10 miles, depending on where you would live in San Marcos. You could probably find someone to car pool with. There is a car pool site for San Diego. I believe there is a link from the San Diego transit district to the car pool link. Its free. There is probably a bus as well if your shift is days. You could easily ride a bike too. I wouldn't suggest living in Escondido alone, especially the area around the hospital. When I was getting out of nursing school, OR was one of the areas I thought I would like, as there is such teamwork there. Also a lot of humour.

Palomar Hospital is a very good hospital. What kind of nursing will you be doing? Depending on what you can afford, I would look for a place in San Marcos which would be pretty close. San Marcos is between Escondido and Vista. There are some nice condos there, but am not sure of the rental price.

Hi there> I work for San Diego County. The County is running into problems because the salary is lower than local hospitals, however, with the County you get a chance to work with very diverse populations and cultures, like the Homeless. The County is the safety net and helps those who need help the most. In terms of salary, retirement, etc., I don't think the problem is unique to San Diego or Northern San Diego County. San Diego County has a very good retirement system. The salaries in San Diego, compared to national averages, are low because of the high cost of living here. The housing and rental prices are also high. 'As compares with San Francisco, the salaries there are higher, but I think that the cost of living there is also higher than San Diego. In terms of problems I have encountered, other than the salary issue, I don't think that they are unique to San Diego. In general, nurses are very commited people and really go into the field to help others. I see the main problem relating to being valued, respected and knowing you make a difference to the organization and to the patients/clients. There is also the culture of bullying in the healthcare industry which makes it even more difficult. The culture needs to change from the Florence Nightengale perception to the truth, which is that nurses are knowledge workers and without their interventions, the quality of care that patients get would be horrible. This situation is reflected in problems as high case loads, Doctors not respecting nurses, nurses "eating their young", some managers and supervisors with tenure not creating an environment that is positive and uplifting, nurses going home at the end of the day being exhausted and emotionally overwhelmed. I also think there needs to be a higher effort in retention. Some places give huge sign-on bonuses and, the nurses flock in the front door, experience the "reality" of the place, and run out the back door. All of these things and more can be found in many nursing articles on the web, if you look. You can google, nurse retention, nurse shortage, bullying and find out. In any event, its a big problem. The baby boomers are retiring, the nursing schools have long waiting lists, there is a shortage of nurse educations/teachers. I don't remember the figure, but its pretty frightening. If the trent keeps going, by 2010 the shortage will even be worse. I would love to meet with any of you if you are in this area. Leets keep the dialogue going. Harry.