ls66

Thank you for your response traumarus, my fiance informed me from info. that he read that if he indeed did get paid for taking care of his parents that after their death the state would take his parents home and or the money he made while taking care of his parents would have to be paid back??? Does this sound right? Thanks again to all that reply, he's at his wits end but doesn't want to put them in a ltcf.

My fiance is currently taking care of both of his disabled parents at home. Father with Inclusion Body Myositis and mother with diabetes and end stage kidney disease. What does fiance have to do to be paid for taking care of parents at home and does the money that he would get for caring for them have to be paid back to the state after his parents die??? Please give as much information as possible re: what is criteria for family members to be paid by the state and / or how one goes about signing up for t19 etc...All information given is much appreciated.

"John, have you met the new B**** I hired yesterday?" hahahahah.

To Racs09_RN, Working in a ltc facility is overwhelming at first but believe it or not you will get to all of your pts/ resident's in a fairly short time just by working all 3 floors. I remember my DON telling me to try to get to know who 10 residents are a day which is sometimes hard but you will memorize all of them and even more than memorize them you'll get to know them all and remember what their idiosyncrasy's are. Just know it takes time and you will learn as you go along. Working in a ltc facility is definitely for you if you want to get to know your patients as in the hospital setting they come and go so quickly that you don't get a chance to know them. The residen't in the ltc facility will also start treating you like family also once they get to know you. It is a very rewarding career choice and isn't easy but is very doable. You can really learn a lot if you research all of their disease processes and meds that you administer. Good luck but I know you'll be great!!!!! Lisa

I believe that the facility by law must post who and how to call if theres a complaint or pt neglect or any serious problem. Dept. of Inspections and Appeals is who regulates our ltcf. Look it up online for your current state that the acf is in. good luck.

Wow, you poor thing. I know what you are going through as when i worked as adon, medicare coordinator opening up a new skilled unit in our ltcf i was swamped with staff complaints, nurses problems, etc. etc. etc. staffing problems. The first thing that I finally learned was that for all of those cna complaints and problems, don't feel like you need to give them an answer right away. Have a meeting w/ your cna's and make up a new rule that all complaints need to be submitted in writing with their name, date etc... unless its an urgent matter. Then you need to somehow teach the charge nurses that thats what they are, CHARGE NURSES and dont need to be running to the DON for everything that pops up. They need to know what they can take care of by themselves and what needs your attention. You have a lot on your shoulders and its a tough job but as long as you prioritize your work load, knowing that you have deadlines with mds transmissions you need to concentrate on that however, with 25 residents that shouldnt be too terrible. I devised a form for my cnas for the res. act. dly living status as to howthe res. functioned in the 7 day assess. period. Im not sure about the forms as its been a while but you need to delegate as much as possible. Assign one nurse an RN to do skin treatments and skin sheets. I would read through the past 3 months of nurses notes to see if the res. had a fall and tally them. I would also read through the other disciplines during the past few months and you can really develop a picture of that person and whats going on. Then you can determine if MR. Smith fell was an adequate assessment done, is he more confused than usual check the labs for the past 3 months to see if he was checked for a uti and what the test results were. Were antibiotics given and a couple ofweeks after antibiotics were finished was a repeat ua done to make sure he was now negative for uti. You get the picture. What you may need to do is give the nurses more things to do as there are only 25 res. I took care of 109 w/ a 33 of those beds skilled so people were coming and going and i was in charge of it all. you may want to look at your care planning program/ mds program and update to a better system if applicable. The word is Delegate, Delegate, Delegate. Treat your staff fairly. Know when to rock the boat. Get support of your administrator. And don't be afraid to help out on the floor if you have time or you are short of staff. Your employees will respect you for it. Good Luck. I don't envy you but know that you have an important position. Also devise some kind of routine and try to stick w/ it. Get around to your residents so you know whats going on w/ them. You will learn a lot as you go.

subee, i stand corrected about one 1 in 3 people have addictions to alcohol or drugs. however, 1 in 3 people in the us ( if not more) are affected by either being an addict or having an addict in the family. http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/news/20040514/survey-addiction-touches-many-lives all's i'm trying to say that addiction is a disease and it is up to the professionals, including nurses to educate the public so their views will change.

Thank you both for your responses to my question that was unclear. What I meant to say was that I wondered how the bon viewed taking Suboxone in Iowa. I've read other responses to the use of Suboxone and feel so sorry for those nurses in the states that don't allow Suboxone to be used. I can't understand how the use of Suboxone would "impair" anyone who's been addicted to heroin or any strong opiate. For me, Suboxone provides me a life where I feel normal every day without going through the torture of cravings, detox symptoms and has never impaired my ability to do anything. I would be much more impaired without Suboxone and personally I would welcome any recovering nurse on Suboxone vs heroin or other prescription opiates. An impaired nurse on either Heroin or other opiates would be extremely dangerous but so would a nurse that was detoxing off of the above. I would think that a nurse addicted to opiates would be far more impaired without Suboxone or the opiate that she/ he was addicted.

In my case, I told my employer that I was wanting to go into an in-pt tx center to wean off of Methadone, I had contacted the hospital which had an addiction unit in it. The day I was to be admitted the staff in the hosp. unit explained to me they couldn't admit me due to the Methadone. I had to call another tx center and was put on a waiting list. When returning to work the next day I was forced to resign. I ended up going through tx and wasn't investigated by the bon until one year later. Then lost my license until all criteria was met. Its been an awful experience. Good luck.

Hello to all recovering nurses. My question is does anyone know if Suboxone can be taken while on probation going through first lab.

Thank you VivaLasViejas, I most definitely concur. As with any addict, it not our fault that we become addicts, however when we do recover, it is definitely our responsibility to do everything possible to remain free from any mind altering chemical!!

Dear RN_2012, First off, my opinion to your response to 10pat seemed a bit harsh as 1 in 3 people in the us have addictions to alcohol or drugs. Alcohol and drug addiction are diseases just as well as any other kind of progressive debilitating disease. Alcohol and drug addiction happen to anybody including health professionals in the " medical field". Some of our best Drs, nurses, and counselors are recovering alcoholics and/ or drug addicts. (Especially if working in the field of addiction.) Sounds as if you have no knowledge regarding the disease of addiction. Just an observation.

Dear RN_2012, First off, my opinion to your response to 10pat seemed a bit harsh as 1 in 3 people in the us have addictions to alcohol or drugs. Alcohol and drug addiction are diseases just as well as any other kind of progressive debilitating disease. Alcohol and drug addiction happen to anybody including health professionals in the " medical field". Some of our best Drs, nurses, and counselors are recovering alcoholics and/ or drug addicts. (Especially if working in the field of addiction.) Sounds as if you have no knowledge regarding the disease of addiction. Just an observation.

Dear waiting2test, I believe that you will be okay as long as you have specific documentation on the completion of rehab and follow up w/ aa meetings etc...You will most likely have to show them a year of sobriety and go through first lab which is the process of where you call a certain no. every day for a year and when calling that no. they will tell you whether you need to do a u/a that day etc, etc. etc. It all depends in the state you live in and the Board of Nursing in that state. I wish you the best of luck with nursing and sobriety as neither is easy but very well worth it. ls66.