moonmaid50

The license plates in our state are in being developed to support our nursing foundation and to show support for nursing in general. Anyone can get the special plate, nurses, their family members, students and future nurses. Our plates were designed with the WVNA Foundation logo and the stylized lamp from ANA. Be proud of your profession and support it on your car. After all if NASCAR, firefighters and other special interest groups can have their plates why can't we, we save lives and have super powers:yes:!

Check your state as to overtime for nurses. In my state there is a law on the books which reads: 21-5F-3. Hospital nursing overtime limitations and requirements. (a) Except as provided in subsections (b), ©, (d), (e) and (f) of this section, a hospital is prohibited from mandating a nurse, directly or through coercion, to accept an assignment of overtime and is prohibited from taking action against a nurse solely on the grounds that the nurse refuses to accept an assignment of overtime at the facility if the nurse declines to work additional hours because doing so may, in the nurse's judgment, jeopardize patient or employee safety. (b) Notwithstanding subsections (a) and (g) of this section, a nurse may be scheduled for duty or mandated to continue on duty in overtime status in an unforeseen emergent situation that jeopardizes patient safety. © Subsections (a) and (g) of this section do not apply when a nurse may be required to fulfill prescheduled on-call time, but nothing in this article shall be construed to permit an employer to use on-call time as a substitute for mandatory overtime. (d) Notwithstanding subsections (a) and (g) of this section, a nurse may be required to work overtime to complete a single patient care procedure already in progress, but nothing in this article shall be construed to permit an employer to use a staffing pattern as a means to require a nurse to complete a procedure as a substitute for mandatory overtime. (e) Subsection (a) of this section does not apply when a collective bargaining agreement is in place between nurses and the hospital which is intended to substitute for the provisions of this article by incorporating a procedure for the hospital to require overtime. (f) Subsection (a) of this section does not apply to voluntary overtime. (g) In the interest of patient safety, any nurse who works twelve or more consecutive hours, as permitted by this section, shall be allowed at least eight consecutive hours of off-duty time immediately following the completion of the shift. Except as provided in subsections (b), © and (d) of this section, no nurse shall work more than sixteen hours in a twenty-four hour period. The nurse is responsible for informing the employer hospital of other employment experience during the twenty-four hour period in question if this provision is to be invoked. To the extent that an on-call nurse has actually worked sixteen hours in a hospital, efforts shall be made by the hospital to find a replacement nurse to work. Each hospital shall designate an anonymous process for patients and nurses to make staffing complaints related to patient safety. (h) Each hospital shall post, in one or more conspicuous place or places where notices to employee nurses are customarily posted, a notice in a form approved by the commissioner setting forth a nurse's rights under this article. Check your state laws & keep in touch with your state nurses association as they can be your advocate in these matters. Good luck

Your state nurses association along with ANA is a must for every nurse. After all your state nurses association is the place to go to find out what is happening at the legislative through the federal level that affect nursing. Together the cost is about $30 a month & you can find free CE's on the ANA site just by being a member. The $45 online ANA membership does not come with free CE's.

ask for a confirmation test to include etg. it's your right to get another test on the same urine. that's why the split samples are done. contact the testing company now & get your request moving. there are such things as false positives and by doing an etg it will do a breakdown on the metabolites of ethyl alcohol. bear in mind it's going to cost you but the peace of mind is priceless. low levels(

Thanks Jack, In my monitoring program I've seen one positive for EtG and it was traced to hand sanitizer. I was fortunate to have a test 2 days before and 2 days after the individual tested positive so it was easier to read the lower levels as incidental. Most of us are not that fortunate. There are 2 routes of exposure to the ethyl alcohol, absorption through the skin and breathing the fumes. Your body metabolizes both and the metabolite is what is measured on a urine EtG. While most hospitals have conveniently placed hand sanitizers everywhere there is still a good alternative, soap & water.

Case Management is good one

I am a nurse in recovery, still being monitored & most likely I'll continue that monitoring after my consent agreement is over. At first I was so ashamed at the pickle I'd gotten myself into I was afraid of everything. But then I started going to Caduceus & Impaired Nurse meetings & low & behold I wasn't alone any more. In fact I saw many nurses & docs I had worked with over the years. Yes it is hard to get a job while under contract. I tried saying "I am in a program with the Board of Nursing" and that got some understanding. But the bottom line is getting someone to take a chance on you. I've heard many people say they would hire a monitored nurse over one not being monitored but let's get real. Doesn't happen that way. I finally got a job as guess what?? A case manager monitoring other nurses! I finally got the point too. I see why we need monitoring, meetings, and most of all advocacy. I don't get all upset when I have to call in EVERY day or get my meeting lists signed. I like the meetings now, a lot. I miss them if I'm traveling or work keeps me away. And no, being a case manager doesn't make me a hard a$$ to the other nurses. My PHP handles Docs, PA's, & a host of health care workers but the nurses have my attention. I do my best to let them know what is going on and why. I've spent hours on the phone trying to get a broke, out of work nurse with no insurance into a decent treatment program finding help with finances and even driving a few there myself. We as nurses need to stick up for our sisters & brothers who need help, not throw them under the bus. Until we recognize that addiction can get it's hooks into ANYONE and that treatment really does help we are still in the stone age when it comes to our own care. Living happy, joyous & free

My mother was a graduate in 1942 from a hospital run nursing school. Since she & my father decided to get married before she took her boards she was not allowed to take them. When the Board changed their rules 5 years later she still was not allowed, because she had been out of school too long!( She had been working in the same hospital as the nursing school the entire time, teaching the newer students and being paid 25 cents an hour.) When the hospital closed she went to work at another hospital in the same city as a nurses aid for 52 cents an hour. At the urging of some of the doctors she had worked with at the former hospital she took night classes to become an LPN. Her pay then increased to 85 cents an hour. To add insult to injury my mother had a B.S. degree in biology and was turned down by every medical school where she applied .The "reasons" were, married, never taking her boards, women didn't have the fortitude it takes to be a Doctor, and countless other excuses. How many other nurses had the same problems.