tnmarie

One of my new patients has a severe oral aversion. There is no physical reason the pt can not eat PO. Any tips on getting a peds patient with severe oral aversion to eat? The child is 8 y/o and I'll be caring for the child in a home environment. ...

Thanks for all the replies. I still haven't decided what to do yet. Gonna see how much continued coverage through COBRA will be before I decide anything and also gonna find out when exactly my coverage through previous employer ends. I do know tha...

Hello all and happy New Year! So here is my situation: I went directly from one job to another at the end of December. I am not eligible for insurance through my new employer until February. I have a chronic condition and maintenance meds so I can'...

Main duty is keeping the pts comfortable and helping the family and pts cope. Pain management is a biggie. The skills I used in hospice weren't that different than LTC or other places; you just focus more on palliative care. It can be emotionally ...

We have a younger res that acts out when you don't do what they want when they want. S/he sits down and then lays back in the floor. If we don't actually observe the res in the process of laying down, we have to chart it as a fall. We also have an...

Wow, I think you are working at a place I recently left! I was determined to stay a year. I made it 10 months. I bought the supplies. I loved the residents. After buying barrier cream and other supplies, our pressure sores cleared up (imagine th...

@Dana: that is why we do neuros after unwitnessed falls. It is safer to proceed as if they did hit their head since we don't know. As far as getting the nurse in the situation, I don't think I understand what you are asking. Just call the nurse fo...

We have a whole fall packet: pain assessment form, change of condition form, neurochecks, investigation report, ect. We do the same as everyone has said: CNA stays with patient and calls for nurse. The CNAs take VS while the nurse assesses and then...

Back when I was living in a more rural area, I worked PRN at LTC to help offset some of the bumps in the PDN road. It had the added bonus of keeping more more marketable because in my area, facility experience is valued over HHC experience for the m...

They know what is happening and they also know that nurses are working for them FOR FREE because they don't know or won't fight for their basic rights as employees/humans. You know how much money you are saving your employer buy working through ...

My former employer took away the only other nurse in the building on my shift. This of course meant that I could not leave the floor and would not get lunch. I promptly called my state board of labor thinking it was illegal to not be able to take l...

I have rarely heard of an instance of a PDN doing "a little extra" that didn't end like this. Once they see you will do the little extra, they will expect more and more. Then when you put your foot down, they throw you under the bus. That is why i...

The skills you use are going to depend on where you end up and even the shift (night shift did all the U/As, colostomy and PEG care in my last SNF). My last SNF didn't let LPNs do IVs but most SNFs do. See where I am going? You may want to see wher...

What medications absolutely must be given daily? All medication MUST be given as ordered. Unless it is PRN, it must be given daily as scheduled. If it is not given, it is a med error. "Borrowing" from another resident is technically insurance/m...

It is hard to transition from HHC/PDN back to facility nursing. In my personal experience, it was hard to get any position outside of HHC/PDN since that has been my primary field of practice in nursing. Most jobs want a minimum of "one year of RECE...

I don't think it is necessarily that we don't want to be friends, some of us would rather just be doing our work (shocking, I know). The more time we spend schmoozing with our coworkers, the less patient care is being done. After all, we are being pa...

Something to keep in mind: most agencies have a non-compete clause. You can not take your current client away from your current agency if you have signed a non-compete clause. It may not be applicable to your situation, but you'll want to make sure....

My mom started out at $8.00/hr as an LPN in LTC in the early 1980s so I don't even want to think of what the pay was like BEFORE that

Chare has left you with the link you need regarding transferring your license. Just a clarification on another post in this thread: the nursing compact is more for people who live near a border. I am close to MO and KY; if all states are part of t...

I am just a peon LPN but this is so true in my area. Every year, usually just after state makes the rounds, all the DONs/DNSs quit and go to other facilities in the area. It's crazy. I've been at my current job (honestly, it's awful and I just pu...

The last two companies I worked for, it was against company policy to use laptops, tablets, etc. so I can't really offer much advice. Oddly enough, they didn't care if you brought books to read or studied for school as long as the family didn't mind...

Many nursing homes will not accept or keep residents with certain behaviors. I work at one that accepts EVERYTHING, but some nursing homes do not accept yellers, overly combative people etc. If they do get them, they ship them out pretty quickly. ...

In my experience, the majority of PDN patients that require IV fluids or frequent blood draws have PICCs , CVCs, or other more permanent forms of IV access. I don't think starting IVs is a very common procedure in PDN. Curious to hear others' experi...

Found it: Also for vents, you can find most vent instruction manuals and even some videos on the interweb once you know the company and model number.

I've done PDN for almost 5 years and I am returning to it after a break to get one year's recent facility experience. I have an EXCELLENT assessment tool that I took with me everywhere for peds pts. I'll have to track it down and post it for you if ...