shavsha

My sister had this same test and it came back "positive." Caused tremendous worry for a couple of months. Then she had an amnio which was normal. Her little girl is completely healthy and a cutie too. I will pray for you and your daughter.

I use to be so proud of the great care we were able to give our patients at our hospital. The maximum nurse patient ratio on our floor was 6 with a CNA to help. Now a consulting firm has come into to help us work "smarter, not harder." First they took away our charge nurses. Then they said they didn't want the nurses to be doing CNA work because they wanted us to be doing more analyzing of the charts (along with everything else) so that our patients can be discharged sooner. Of course, since we would be freed up from the CNA-type tasks we could be assigned a few more patients! Now there's half the CNA's (who are exhausted) who are assigned to the whole floor (not a specific group of patients) and of course, they can't be everywhere at once...so we are still answering call bells and cleaning patients (which believe me, I am not above!) The last time I worked I had 14 patients with an LPN (but I am still "in charge" of my team) and that was before a complicated admit and two CNA's for 25 patients. That night I had post-op bleeding, stat critical lab values, two very miserable end stage patients (one of which died!), another in chronic pain, one afraid and anxious of being discharged due to an unsafe home situation, one patient with a very demanding family, complicated orders that needed numerous clarifications. Everyone is crabby and stressed. A fellow nurse broke into tears in the report room when she saw her assignment. We have plenty of staff but they are all "on call" due to the new staffing grid. If we go one minute over the end of our shift we have to have the supervisor sign a waiver (to find out who the "inefficient" nurses are!) If we miss our lunches and breaks it is our own fault for not working them out with our co-workers... I am an organized nurse and I do not mind hard work but I absolutely hate feeling like I am giving crappy care due to too many demands. I feel set up! One of my patients was distraught because she apparently had her call light on for 15 minutes needing pain medication! (I was with another patient and I guess the CNAs were busy too). Despite the frantic pace when I found out I went in and sat down and profusely apologized for her long wait. (Of course I didn't mention the staffing to her...I just "ate" it!) Oh yeah, I was 25 minutes into overtime at the end of my shift...shame on me! I take pride in my profession. I have high standards. How can I remain if this is the way it is going to be? :angryfire I am sorry! I just have to vent.

Do not let your parrot visit you in the hospital...and especially do not attempt to give your parrot a kiss when you have an NG tube and extremely small nares...or the parrot might just bite the NG tube in half you you'll have to get the NG tube replaced.

(((hugs))) I once made a potentially FATAL med error regarding route. I gave a med IV instead of SQ!! (Lovenox) The reason was hurrying. I was so very busy that shift and already running behind when I got called away to a code and when I came back I grabbed the syringes I had prepared before the code. I millisecond I gave it I realized my error, stopped the IV, changed the tubing and then nearly fainted. I knew in this case there would probably be no adverse effects of consequence, which the doctor confirmed when I called him. (Also, my managers were very understanding as well given the circumbstances.) NEVERTHELESS I am haunted to think of what could have happened if it had been another medication! There was however a very good thing that has come out of it. Now, when I am running late, or something strange or unusual is happening I force myself to to slow down, keep my wits about me and NEVER NEVER NEVER give medication without doing the three med checks. When I start to feel guilty because in a given shift the workload is causing me to get behind I say to myself "This med may be a little late but I am acting as a prudent nurse would" Better a late med than a catastrophe. Please do not beat yourself up about this. Continue to give the compassionate care you give. As a Christian you know that God will use this unpleasant experience to produce something good in your life. Our mistakes, when we can learn from them, make us better nurses in the long run. Hang in there! :kiss

I am going to have surgery soon. Do I have a right to read my own chart while I am in the hospital? A collegue said that I have a right to read my chart on a "need to know" basis. I replied that I need to know everything! Does my nurse friend have a right to read my chart if I give my permission? I was in my Doc's office last week and asked the medical assistant if I could see my chart and she said "It's better if the Doctor goes over it with you" I had a lot to talk about with the doc and so I didn't bother. I wasn't in an assertive mood but I was tempted to argue with the MA that it was MY CHART! Does anyone know? Thanks in advance.

Worthy, Don't let fear and doubt keep you from following your dreams. 95% of success in school is desire and perseverence. You have suceeded in your previous jobs which is a good indication that you will be successful in nursing school too. And remember you don't have to be a straight A student to be an excellent nurse! Your response to the nurse that inspired you shows you understand the essence of good nursing...so go for it! And about that math. Start out with the basics and move along. Even if you have to repeat a class or two...do it. It will be so worth it. Keep us updated and good luck!

I have a 14-year-old travelling through the minefield called adolescence. She wants her belly button pierced (absolutely not) and a tattoo (absolutely not). But just FMI - has anyone seen or had experience with health problems associated with belly botton piercing? Also, has anyone ever heard of a "six-month tattoo?"

A couple of years ago there was an article in our paper about a mom who gave her toddler bubble gum as an incentive to potty training. The kid swallowed a lot of gum and ended up with an obstruction...so bubble gum swallowers BEWARE!

I recently "wrote myself up" regarding an incorrect sliding scale dosage (due to poor doctor handwriting grrrr...but that's another thread!) The nurse that double checked the dosage also signed it. Later she handed me a copy of the report. I guess a lot of nurses make their own copies just in case the issue ever comes back to them. I discreetly asked a charge nurse if this was Kosher and she replied that "It wouldn't be a bad idea...those things always come back to bite you." The nurse who gave it to me takes hers home and I wondered about patient confidentiality. I thought about keeping it in a file in my employee locker but someone said if anyone found out about it it could be supeoned if a suit were ever brought and the plaintiff's lawyer found out about it. I know that if I were ever questioned I could not lie that I had a copy....so I ended up shredding it. I'm pretty sure it's against my hospital's policy to photocopy incident reports but I'm reluctant to ask because I don't want to get anyone in trouble. Has anyone ever heard of this practice and what do you think?

I have some great scrub jackets but I get too hot in them. I have two scrub vests that I found in a catalog but not too much selection. Does anyone know of any good have any internet sites or catalogs that offer a decent selection of vest scrubs? Thanks!

I did not take a review course. (Too expensive for a poor student!) I did, however have several good NCLEX books. I found that rather than reviewing content (Way too much to cram for), a better way was just to do lots of practice questions. Get use to how they word them, etc. Additionally, Kaplan has a paperback book out that tells you the way the test is written and gives you lot of good tips. It is an excellent resource. My computer shut off in about an hour at 75 questions and I passed. (Although I was absolutely convinced that I had not!) They way the test is programmed is to keep giving you harder and harder questions if you are getting them right...so everyone I talked to was freaked out...but my whole class passed- even the students that seemed to struggle with bookwork. GOOD LUCK and let us know how you do.

Tonight I admitted a gentleman with painful diabetic neuropathy. He takes a lot of neurontin but states he still suffers. Apparently he has a friend who swears by plexi-pulses (intermittent pressure machine for increased venous return). My patient asked his doc if he could have an order for plexi-pulses to try them out because if they give him relief he said he was going to shell out the $3,000 for a machine. Has anyone ever heard of anyone getting pain relief for neuropathy in this way? Just wondering. Darn, I am not scheduled to work till Saturday and I betcha this gentleman will be long gone and I won't get a chance to ask how it went!

Oops! Please excuse the typos...I guess I am more tired than I thought!!

Last week my assignment included a gentleman from my church. A very dear man who I am very fond of. I usually arrive early and when I saw his name I asked if I change assignments because I was concerned about his privacy. My charge nurse reassigned me but, in a way, I felt like I was asking for special favors and perhaps irritating the coworker who was asked to change. He ended up having a major stroke a few days later. The following days when I worked he was not assigned to me. One those days I touched base briefly with the family since they were on my wing and went to see him on my breaks. Well yesterday I was on after several days off. I arrived later that I usually do to work (Just a few minutes before taped report started). My assignment included this gentleman who is now not expected to live. I felt very uneasy about taking him but I didn't want to inconvenience anyone. Some of my coworkers had already started taking their notes off the kardexes. He is now comatose which made it easier for me to care for him (He is incontinent and we changed in 4 times, turned him every 2 hours, gave him some suppositories...) Had he been lucid I'm not sure what I would have done! Furthermore I was very aware of how precarious his health is and it grieved me in a more personal way than it usually would. His family, who had been in the room almost constantly, was not there on my shift which was a mixed blessing because I had four other needy patients. All through the shift I was hoping that he would not die on my shift. I live in a small town. This situation will most likely come again form time to time. Am I being unprofessional for not wanting to care for people I know? What do you do when your "patient" is a friend?

I am a person that tends to be late. I am a very poor estimator of time. However I have NEVER been late to work because I tell myself and everyone I am with that I have to leave for work at 2:30. I only live 5 minutes from my work and my shift starts at 3:00! I like having the extra time to greet my coworkers from the first shift. Sometimes, like yesterday...I arrived at 2:54...just enough time to go to my locker and clock in. When you have three kids sometimes things just happen! There is one nurse that works my shift that is always late. Because we have a time clock she does not get paid for that time however when she is scheduled we always have this conversation: "Has ______been seen yet? Well, we'll wait a few minutes before we start the tape. (We have taped report). "Oh, she'll get here soon.....Well, guess will go ahead and start..." Then she comes in. Off goes the taped report so she can get settled and those of us who are trying to get report can hear. Part of me understands....if you are a late-type of person it is difficult to "get it together". But on the other hand it is not acceptable that one person can hold up an entire shift!