AKAKatydid

Thank you all for your input! :redbeathe I had no intention whatsoever of actually accepting the friend request from her (felt like it was crossing too many lines to me!) but I needed to know what would be an appropriate & polite way to decline. I have denied her request, and rather than sending any note back, I let my co-worker (who has added her) know that I thought it was weird & that I felt uncomfortable adding a patient of mine into what I consider my private life... gossip tends to travel fast in this small town. And, hopefully, by telling my coworker my perspective, she'll think twice before adding patients in the future!!!

Ok, I find this strange. I've always separated my work life from my private life.. but I live & work in a small community, and I think lines get blurred a little bit. Personally, I prefer to keep lines as separate as possible. Not all my coworkers feel this way, and that makes things a little awkward. (I have a coworker/friend that accepts friend requests from anyone!) This weekend, I discharged a mom/baby couplet, and I received today a friend request from the mother with a very nice note stating that I was her favorite nurse and she saw me on one of my coworker's myspace pages. I keep my page private (visible to friends only), and I really only accept friend requests with people that I know and trust. I don't feel comfortable allowing a patient into my personal page. How should I handle this professionally and politely? I'd like to deny the request, but because of the small-town area (and the fact that she's in my age group) I need to do this tactfully!! I could really use your input!! Thanks bunches!!!

I see a LOT of typos in our admitting Dx's. Most recent that stands out was: "EUROSEPSIS"

I worked with a friend that had MRSA. She was not only not allowed to work, but was also denied workman's comp. She was told that there was no way to "prove" that she received it at the hospital, vs out in the community. Hospitals are not willing to risk the liability of a patient that tests positive MRSA, and claiming they got it from their nurse.

Jayne, I don't have a whole lot of experience with it, but we did have a patient on our floor at one time that had Picks disease. I only happened to work one shift during her stay and the experience was completely new to me. She was noncommunicative. Generally, she was responsive to commands, but not always. She reqired a sitter to be with her at all times because she liked to pull on cords and crawl out of bed. I was told that she could be combative, but did not experience that with her... I do remember one of the nurses saying that they have treated her in the hospital just a few months before, and they were in complete shock over how quickly her disease progressed.

You guys are awesome... thanks for all the responses. I didn't think there was anything wrong with going from the bottom, but watching the expression on my teacher's face made me second guess myself! :)

Ok - I'm enlisting your help in some feedback here... I was taught when emptying & recharging JP drains to squeeze them flat. The nurses where I work usually recharge the drains by pushing up on them, leaving them concave at the bottom. Pushing from the bottom seems to remove more air and is easier to "squish" that way... My nurse instructor in my clinicals said she has never seen it done like that, but did not tell me that it was wrong... she looked like she was just biting her lip about it. I have not been able to find any other examples of JP's recharged like that. I work at a hospital different from the one I have my clinicals on, so sometimes I get to see things done different ways... But this particular technique seems like it is limited to the area I work in! So my question to you guys - how do you recharge them? Is there any reason why I wouldn't want to push from the bottom?

Hi all... I am in complete shock at what I'm reading! I'm a student right now, and work nights as a CNA on a 26-bed med-surg unit. We have been on a hiring spree, and on nights we have about 4 new grad nurses with preceptors. I guess I forget what a great place I'm at until I hear horror stories such as yours! Techs are responsible for vitals, cleaning, foleys, fingersticks, q2h turns, etc... normal tech duties. On my floor, I am usually the only tech at night. When there are 2 techs, we split the floor - each tech is responsible for whatever duties are needed for the patients they are assigned. It doesn't matter who is the nurse - this is what is expected of the tech, and they don't get a "break" just because there is a new nurse on the block. I will say - and maybe this is part of the problem - we have some new grads that have never teched. One of the local nursing schools allows students to rely on techs (big mistake!) and as result, I've seen plenty of new nurses that truly did not know how to do basic functions such as turning or cleaning a total by themselves. (I know a girl that didn't learn how to empty a foley until her 3rd semester of clinicals because she'd been relying on techs to do it!) If the preceptor's goal is to make sure that your are able to perform these functions, great... but I don't think it sends a message of autonomy and teamwork to flat out state that a tech is not to help. What a way to make you feel like part of the team

A WHITE WATCH!?! WOW... Now that's a new one to me! I kinda think that's going overboard. Don't know anywhere where they regulate your watch - that's usually a personal preference type thing. I got a cheap black digital watch at Wal-Mart for like $5. Best watch I've ever owned!!

MrsStock, I would check with the instructor. CNA programs vary, and even the scope of a CNA varies from state to state. You shouldn't need too much equipment... I would expect that you'll wear scrubs. (If you don't have to, you'll probably still want to. Trust me.) Make sure you have good shoes, because you'll be on your feet a lot. You'll also probably want a stethoscope for BPs if the school doesn't provide you with them. Part of our competency included manual BP, and it's nice to use equipment you're familiar with. (I bought myself a steth & bp cuff to practice on just about everyone I knew!) :)

We have a few MD's in my family. I didn't want to go that route. Apples and oranges, my dears!! I had a nurse instructor that explained it once - best way I've ever heard it: "Doctors treat diseases and conditions. Nurses treat people". ...Amen. I also agree with ali gator... it is a long wait for those of us who WANT to be a nurse to get into school. I'm sure I'm going to get clobbered for this one, but I'll say it: If you don't want to get into the nursing profession, please don't take those coveted seats. Remember these critical nursing shortages when you transfer in for all the wrong reasons.

:chuckle Ok now I can't believe how much I can relate to that!! And bloody hats are awful, but it's true, you do get desensitized!! I'm beginning to feel like I'd take that over C-diff any day!! About a month ago, it seemed like half the patients on our floor were pos for c-diff. - and maybe it wasn't half, but it was a LOT of them. (Yeah, I came home every day smelling RANK!!) And scooping it into the speci-cups is another one of those "Why am I bothering because it's obvious" tests!! Don't know where it came from, but can we say nosocomial infection? :rotfl:

Don't feel bad... I think we've all been there at some time or another! Before I even started nursing school, in my CNA course, the nurses on the floor were very eager to show us EVERYTHING. On like my first or second day, (cant remember which) I helped a nurse change the dsg on a pt that had a HUGE wound from a flesh eating bacteria. It was awful - she had a hole in her calf about 6" long, 2" wide, and about 1" deep... Her leg was so weak, I had to help hold it up while the nurse re-packed the wound. You could see straight to the bone! After a couple of minutes, the room felt like it was closing in, and I got dizzy. Ended up asking another student to cover for me because I had to go in the hall and put my head between my knees!!! I'm sure I looked pretty green. ick... still gives me the heebie jeebies!

Charlotte area is about $8 to 8.25. I get a .50 diff on nights, and .50 if i pull a weekend shift. Personally, I was working at a much higher paying business job, but was still broke... While I liked that job, I left to become a CNA. Gonna be broke anyway, might as well go for what you like!! I find being a CNA MUCH more rewarding. And as a student, I don't think there's anything out there that can BETTER prepare you! Just my

I had one patient a couple months ago that hit her call bell because she wanted me to tell her what "that" was on the desk on the other side of the room... (as she was pointing to a box of tissues). What's so great was, she didn't want it, and she wasn't delerious and afraid of it or anything... she just wanted to know what it was. When I told her it was tissues, she just said "oh" and that was it.