rach_nc_03

\\Sweet! That means 30's are the new 20's! I feel more energetic already!

I hated it. Pettiness, vindictive students and teachers (threats of violence from a fellow student).....the LYING! Being treated like an idiot by nurses in clinicals. Being chastised for standing up for my values and principles (hm, I thought nurses were supposed to be willing to stand up and demand good patient care?). A 75% reduction in income- and I'm talking about my starting salary as a staff RN. Screwing up my back and hip permanently, to the point where I'll probably never work at the bedside again (which is fine with me). Exposure to some of the most appalling treatment by employers, worse than I ever expected (and I worked in a fortune 100 corporation for several years, so I saw all sorts of things). Being shunned for being smart and a hard worker. Having people at my rural school act like I was a snot because I'm articulate (oops, should've dumbed myself down, I guess). All in all, a miserable experience- but it gave me a way to work as a research nurse, which I love more than any job I've ever had. Well, except for being a jazz singer on a cruise ship (that was a sweet gig!) It was worth it. And my husband was deployed overseas through most of my time in school, so I was too busy to agonize much over his absence.

Good question. Is the process for qualifying for a student visa to go to school in Canada any different from the process for getting a visa for going to school in the states? My own experience was much like the others here who graduated in the last 5-10 years. I had a choice between: 1. accelerated BSN program with 3-year mandatory hospital commitment; tuition paid up-front (upwards of $20K). I understand they later changed the tuition policy, but if I had $20K in my pocket, I'd be using it to pay my living expenses while in school! 2. normal BSN program at a handful of local universities- all had extensive waitlists (1-2 years), and none would accept any of my gen ed courses from 15 years ago. Would've taken me almost 4 years to finish, to the tune of $9k. 3. CC programs that had a variety of admissions processes (waitlists, lottery, testing, GPA requirements). I chose a school over 1 hour away because it was the only one that admitted based on testing and GPA alone. I had a 4.0 in my pre-reqs and a perfect score on my admission test (wasn't the NET, but one of the other ones). Closer schools had 2+ years waiting lists. My school accepted 16 out of 350+ applicants. I know of no one in my program who came in with an entrance test score below 85%, and a GPA of at least 3.75. Oh, and the state paid for my tuition because I'd been laid off from the tech sector; they would pay for any degree or cert. program no more than 2 years long, if you took a job in the state in a high-demand field (like nursing, obviously.)

:barf01::barf01::barf01::barf01::barf01:

Amen. Read my recent post about having hip surgery, a failed epidural, and NOT getting any pain meds for several hours post-op. And how my surgeon almost put me in a coma at hour 36 because nothing could touch my pain by then. The biggest problems we seem to have with being judgmental are pain, obesity, and alcohol/drug abuse. (and yes, I've had those same thoughts.) In a perfect world, we'd all see something of ourselves in our patients. If only!! Where's Ghandi when you need him? :wink2:

as for the protocol for having a same-sex staff member in the room during skin assessments- I've seen a lot more attention paid to this kind of thing in recent months, regardless of patient and staff member gender. My physical therapist works in a small practice, and we're often the only people in the office when her assistant steps out. They just posted signs at the clinic stating a new policy like yours. The first time we were alone in the clinic together, she asked if I wanted another staff member to come from the next building. I laughed- I'd already seen her ten times by then. But yes, I think this is getting more and more common.

Here's the other problem with asking around- let's say disciplinary action is taken against him. Now, for just a minute, let's assume that he's gay (or a racial minority, or older, etc....something protected by the EEOC). I'm not trying to infer that his behavior *means* that he's gay, or, if he is, that his sexual orientation has anything to *do* with it. I'm throwing these out there because, if he were to get fired *and* he has a legal reason to sue for discrimination, you don't want to have your name come up as someone who 'asked around' about his behavior. Tazzi is right, you need to report him to the NM. state your observations very objectively. I would make sure to say something to the effect of, 'I have observed Mr. Nurse touching patients in a manner that appeared inappropriate' instead of 'Mr. Nurse has been touching *male* patients inappropriately'. Again, just to CYA. The patient that deflected your questions about being uncomfortable with this nurse makes me so sad. If the patient *did* feel weird, I can totally understand that he would be reluctant to say so. Men are far less likely to report *any* kind of abuse, and that's very frustrating. I worked with a nurse who had been in a facility where this sort of thing was going on, except the nurse was female, patients were male. The nurse was fired, but I don't know what else happened. My friend said staff had noticed behavior similar to what you described- for a long time- but nothing ever came of it until one patient complained. Definitely, definitely report him. This makes me very sad.

I work for a large cooperative nonprofit company that, among other things, offers health insurance to members. I do a lot of research on new drugs, new clinical practice guidelines, new disease info, trends in healthcare, etc, and design programs (preventive health education, disease management programs, etc.). I also write articles on some of the aforementioned topics for member publication. I have a lot of autonomy, I'm salaried (that can be good and bad), and I make twice what I made as a hospital nurse. I like it a lot.

patients or family members who want to talk partisan politics. for some reason, I ran across these types a lot- in the neuro ICU, it was the SAH or MG patients who were totally alert, but stuck in their beds- I refused to engage, and tried to diplomatically change the subject, but this type just gets more riled up when you do that. (And I'm talking about conservatives *and* liberals- regardless of how I feel, I'm not going there at work!) I usually found myself wanting to get in and out of their rooms at lightning speed- name calling is name calling, but people (patients or not!) somehow think using the terms democrat, liberal, republican and conservative as pejoratives is totally acceptable. no thanks. oh, and family members who don't want the terminally ill patient, who is clearly near the end of the line, to receive pain meds because they 'might overdose them'. Huh?? Sometimes this is cleared up with a little education, but I've seen plenty of family members (sadly, a lot of parents) refuse to allow us to make the patient comfortable. It hurts me to see someone suffer needlessly like this.

also, research nursing, and case management/utilization review for insurance companies. if it weren't so late I could probably think of a few more!

I've never ever given anyone a hard time for having an opinion- I'm just pointing out that some of the things you state as facts aren't true. As for the poll of non-medical folks- I assume you mean I should ask them if nursing is 'only' hospital nursing. Well, it's likely that most laypersons think that way- but is nursing defined by what the public thinks? If so, all nurses do is clean up poop, get the docs coffee, and wear skimpy white dresses to arouse the male patients. oh, and don't forget the sponge baths. Please. As for my indignation at you suggesting I shouldn't be called a nurse- yup. I think it's a silly idea. I'm a nurse, I'm practicing as a nurse. Had I not needed a nursing degree to become a research *nurse*, I would've just gone straight into research without bothering to go back to school. I'm not sure where you got the idea that research nursing hasn't been around for long, but my mother in law was a cancer research nurse for 30+ years. And no, she didn't consider herself to be a cancer researcher who also happened to have a nursing degree- she was a cancer research nurse. I'm a research nurse. One can get a MSN in research nursing. I suppose you think that shouldn't be considered a nursing degree, right? Who do you think should be doing all the myriad activities involved in research? Academic PhD types? MDs? I think your view is coming at it from the wrong direction. It's as much about nursing expanding to include more hard science, autonomy, research and critical thinking than it is about 'corporates' saving money by utilizing nurses in research. As for some of your other statements: LVNs/LPNs are licensed nurses. Are you saying men shouldn't be in nursing? And why is it bad that your neighbor became a nurse because he could make more than he could as a police officer? As for the wages dropping- he** yeah, I'd leave if I were suddenly unable to make a decent living as a nurse. And frankly, I don't know a single nurse who would stay under those conditions. It's ridiculous. Nurses are already underpaid, especially hospital nurses. And your insinuation that any nurse who isn't doing direct patient care is somehow less dedicated to nursing is illogical and completely unfounded. I get the impression you think wages should drop to keep out those who don't feel nursing is a 'calling'. Okay- enjoy your tripled patient load. I don't normally have such a strong reaction to posts here, but I think your attitudes are the *very* reason nurses are misunderstood by society. Perpetuating the angel of mercy martyr nurse stereotype reinforces the belief that nurses aren't highly educated professionals who can do more than hand out tylenol and change bedpans. And that is a *big* factor in why nursing isn't getting the respect it deserves.

AMEN. You hit the nail on the head.

I don't know Canadian law, so one of the Canadians will have to respond to that. I have a tough time believing it. Your first statement, though, is specious. How is your health insurance company demanding power to oversee *your* healthcare any different? How can ANY entity oversee healthcare without looking at your private information?

:yeahthat:

yeah....but we *shouldn't* have to put up with any of the above. We continue to get treated this way because we allow it to happen.