Shawn4z

I was in a wound clinic rotation last week and the RNs were debriding. My understanding is that most states Nurse practice acts allow RNs to debride as long as they have "taken a course or been shown how to properly do so" (how vague is that?)But there is no national certification that I could locate.

AGREE. It SUCKS to be in pain. You are pre-occupied with how you are going to get out of pain. I am not a rehab nurse, and I don't want to be, but I do not ever remember being taught , required or expected to diagnose, and then subsequently order treatment for addiction. And really. What is withholding a dose of pain med going to do to treat someone's addiction to pain meds? It's just the same as withholding lunch from an obese person because you don't think they are really hungry at their scheduled meal time. Is my judgement that someone is not in pain worth the risk that I am letting them lie there in pain? I don't want my patient grimacing or groaning or hyperventilating before I give them meds. I want to keep them from getting there, just like I'm not going to wait for someone's scheduled BP meds until their BP is sky high. I wonder how the difference in attitude relates to having been the patient. I have been in severe pain many times with a flare up of a chronic condition and have been eternally grateful to the nurses who were agressive with pain care.

We teach patients to ask for the med before they are in pain, so how can we judge them when they do that? Judgment aside. If it's ordered and safe I'm giving it. I do not live in that person's body and I would not want to be judged that way.

UGGH Maybe I should go lay in a tanning bed LOL:crying2:

Love Love Love when aides keep meticulous beds on the bedbound patients. Love when aides coordinate care with me ex. "I am putting Mrs. X to bed first tonight do you need to look at her foot dressing before I do?" Love when aides give me a heads up on early skin issues, new complaints, BP's that are off, possible areas of concern that they noticed etc. LOVE to see aides treating residents with care, concern, and respect and anticipating their needs. Love when aide helps me with my job because she sees that I am swamped (re-fills the juice on my med cart) , and knows that I will help her with hers whenever I can. Hate hate hate when I ask for a BP and get the sigh and the eye roll because they already did their rounds and I should've asked sooner. ( Maybe I didn't need it then.) Hate hate hate when aides let the patients lie in a messy room all night until JUST before morning shift comes on they run in and tidy everything up. Hate when aides go MIA and don't let me know where they are. (What if I have an emergency and I need you??)

At the local community college nursing information session that I attended when I started nursing school, The facilitator asked if there were any questions, about 12 hands went up. She picked one guy who asked "I am a convicted felon can I be a nurse?" No word of a lie, 9 of the 12 hands went down.

Sorry, New to these boards and don't know why this posted twice.

Mom of 4-- LOL'ing at ta-da you'll have a baby.

Mom of 4 here LOL'ing at TA-Da you will have a baby.

Mom of 4 here, Started nursing school at 40 after the kids were all in school. by ALL MEANS, Have the babies. Time FLIES. I was just yesterday sitting on the floor playing pat-a-cake with my oldest and BAM she is starting High school. It is very do-able to go to nursing school while your kids are in elementary so you're only talking about putting the nursing school off for 5 years until the baby starts kindergarten. Girl, that 5 years will FLY. In my nursing class when I was 40, believe it or not, I was not the oldest student! I wasn't even in the top 3 oldest. When you are at the end of your life, I'll bet you a hundred bucks you're thinking back about the kids, not the job.

My very first nursing job, (Rehab. facility) attempted to isolate for c.Diff but it was a joke. The gown & mask container was always empty, and the patients were mostly ambulatory so they walked around the facility anyway. The infection rate was insane 12-15 of the 20 patients on my hall had c.Diff at any given time and the rooms were only given a standard cleaning after the patient was discharged so the next patient was often infected. I am a METICULOUS handwasher. I did not know better and went to work on antibiotics that I was taking for my Diverticulitis, and I contracted c.Diff. My life has been turned upside down, as I have been battling this infection for 6 months. With some diligent cleaning and meticulous hygiene and handwashing I have been able to protect my family who lives in the same house as me from contracting it, so why is it so difficult to keep transmission down in the facilities, I do not understand.

I am a meticulous handwasher. Absolutely meticulous. I have short nails, I use the gel only after I wash. I contracted c.Diff at my very first nursing job in a large rehab facility... I had a flare-up of Diverticulitis and I was on a large round of Flagyl and Cipro, and after I began to feel better, I returned to work still on the antibiotics. I finished the antibiotics after 2 wks and began to have watery diarrhea 10 or more times a day. First, I was treated by the ER for a recurrence of Diverticulitis although I KNEW that's not what it was. 2 days later I returned to the ER with near constant diarrhea and vomiting I literally could not leave my bathroom for 2 days, and was admitted immediately for dehydration. Finally someone took a stool sample and I was found Cdiff positive. They put me back on Flagyl and Cipro which is what I was on when I contracted the infection in the first place. I asked to be changed to Vanco. The Hospital internal med guy changed me to PO vanco, 125 BID. after this course, I was still positive although the symptoms did subside for awhile. As soon as I finished the Vanco, Symptoms returned. My primary put me on 250 mg Vanco PO BID. Same exact results. Symptoms returned at end of course. I went to my GI guy who I see for the Diverticulitis. He put me on 250 MG Vanco QID at a pulse dose to be tapered over 2 months, along with florastor and align. 2 weeks after I finished the regimen, I submitted a sample, STILL POSITIVE!! 3 weeks after the end of the regimen, I am symptomatic again. Now my GI guy wants to try Dificid. It is going to cost me $2800.00 for a ten day supply. The Rehab facility where I worked maintains that I did not contract it there. ( 12 of my 22 patients were positive, and the rooms were not adequately decontaminated before new patients were placed in the rooms). I repeat. I am a METICULOUS handwasher. There is a thread on this site ( it's closed to new postings) Called RN with Recurrent Cdiff. There are tons of posts on there from health care workers who have contracted it at work while taking antibiotics. My GI DR himself contracted c.Diff while taking antibiotics for a URI. I will NEVER walk into another health care facility when I am taking antibiotics. I won't do it.