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Should Have Called 911
So I’m a sub, one of the schools I go to is a SPED environment. I was called to the gym, a kid had run, headlong into an electric box on the wall, when I got there he was still experiencing an altered LOC so when the principal asked if I wanted 911 called I said yes. That school was great, they had all the stuff needed for the ambulance and a member of admin called the family. When the dust settled it dawned on me that this kid had a shunt. I opted for 911 because of his LOC, but he would have needed the ER for imaging anyhow…right call, wrong reason. I actually don’t know if they dealt with the hazard, fire inspector didn’t want the box covered in padding and I honestly don’t know which side won that fight.
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Vision/Hearing exams on preschool age children
I know of a nurse who has both an OAE and an audiometer, she uses the audiometer first and only resorts to the OAE when the audiometer isn’t working out. When I worked at a head start I used an OAE, it had one big flaw, as far as I was concerned, if a child had a recent ear infection that ear would refer for some weeks afterwards, even if the infection had been found and treated. It was the bane of my existence.
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C'Mon Now!
As a sub I’m not making those decisions at this school. The nurse I’m subbing for is on maternity leave, we can ask her questions as well as the two other nurses the serve the elementary schools. They also have a designated staff member that is tracking and such for the entire district. He’s working closely with the county health department. It’s both helpful and not. Students being sent home wait in his office as well. I don’t have a positive impression of this person at the moment. Although that’s simply because he was on some kind of webinar and didn’t speak to me when I walked in multiple times. If/when I talk to parents I suggest they add an antihistamine as recommended by their doctor to reduce allergy symptoms when they’re at fault. My MIL, status post vaccines in February got a false positive (pre procedure) that was negative 3 days later so I’m just dubious about everything right now.
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C'Mon Now!
Why do they send them to school if they’re feeling crappy from the vaccine? At a HS, 16 and up getting vaxed, then going to school feeling like crud, I have to send them home if they have any one of a distressingly large list of symptoms. They have to be covid tested if they’re on their first vax... guardian answers phone “now what?” why? So sick of the mixed messages the public is getting while schools are still following the strictest of rules for symptoms and exposure...and it’s coming into allergy season!
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What is your opinion on "calling in sick" when not really sick?
I’m going to frame this in the context that I’ve always lived in small communities. When I was in college I worked for a grocery store so not high stakes, someone called in on a Friday night in order to go to the demolition derby at the county fair. And the boss went too, and fired this person on the spot, with a few choice words at that. Ever after, sick or just needing a day, if I’ve called in sick you will NOT see me in public outside the doctor, pharmacy or perhaps the grocery store. I don’t even know who lost their job, but the story stuck with me! I’ve called in as a result of childcare fails, failure to sleep prior to night shift and sick children issues, my employer wasn’t sympathetic to any of these so I’ve generally had to say I’m the sick one. It never failed, the following week or maybe two weeks later I would be struck down with whatever I claimed before. It made me very very careful. Don’t get me wrong, when I’ve had childcare fails it led me to switch daycare families! The sitter in question nailed me three times, once my weekend sitter bailed me out, once my mother-in-law bailed me out so only once did I have to call in. And when your three year old comes to you at 1258 and barfs on your shoes, you call in for evenings even before you clean up the barf! We all need mental health days. But people who abuse it make it hard for everyone. I don’t feel guilty calling in. But I am very mindful about it.
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I think our country needs a central repository for lab orders, imaging orders and prescription orders
We would need medicare for all to make this work. As well as a backup system of some kind. It would be fantastic though!
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Male Adult ICU Nurse Transition to NICU
I think you'll love it. plus you will be a great role model for dads scared to handle their babies and dads who need to understand the importance of breastfeeding when it sometimes looks like a great big hassle.
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CNM/WHNP...why or why not?
I would suggest a slightly different dual certification, Peds! imagine being able to care for moms and babies together, what that could do for breastfeeding! Especially when it's not going so well. I remember so many times when that would have helped me. It actually sort of did, I know a PNP who is also a lactation consultant who was able to help me with a painful latch... OTOH when I got mastitis I had to see a provider who was scared to death to prescribe an abx for me. he was an PA and I suggested he choose an abx he would also give to a 3 month old with confidence. What if I wasnt a nurse who knew that? He'd have told me to pump and dump and that would have ended the breastfeeding! That's why we could all benefit couplet care continued after the hospital stay! I wish you the best!!
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Practicing in Canada
Decide which provinces you are interested in living in. Some are more protectionist than others, Ontario has a terrible reputation with incoming RNs (Canadian student who attended Northeastern in Boston and was licenced in Massachusetts and had critical care experience was given such a run around by Ontario that she gave up and went to grad school out in BC!) I don't know how it it goes with midwives. Do your research! It may be the best way to practice in Canada is to be educated there. Best of luck in any case.
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Got The Vaccine! Share Your Experience
I received my second Moderna dose about 0945 Friday morning. Started feeling cruddy around 6pm and went downhill from there. Fever and a frontal lobe headache. I was trying to avoid taking advil or tylenol. I had a fussy belly all night, no actual nausea, but it kept me from considering other options in the back of the medicine cabinet because eating something beforehand was breaking my brain. So I behaved myself. around 5am I took tylenol and then again around 10am. The headache hasn't returned although I do miss the night's sleep that I didn't get. Hopefully I'm done, but I won't fully believe that until I wake up tomorrow morning feeling chipper. Also of note my tonsils were swollen and annoying and I had a bilateral earache most of today, that's still going on, but it was drowned out by that headache until recently.
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Got The Vaccine! Share Your Experience
My daughter had her second Moderna yesterday and it's kicked her butt. nasty headache, random body aches Lots of chills but no actual fever. I'll be getting mine Friday and I'm not looking forward to my weekend. We're opting not to treat fever. Lets see if I turn out to have a fever. I had a mild fever after my second shingarix but it only dawned on me the next day that it was in response to the vaccine.
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Ethical Dilemmas of Correctional Nursing
I've only had the tiniest brush with corrections nursing, but honestly OP you sound like someone ripe to be gamed. See the abuse in the prison system isn't coming from the men an women who work directly with the inmates, its coming from above. it's the way our laws work, it's institutional racism and poverty that both cause trauma which can lead to addiction and crime. You as an LPN will be in no position to touch any of these issues. When you are an RN you will have both more and less power. I learned something about myself in my tiny brush with it (Float nurse sent to secured unit at hospital 20 miles from a major NYS prison) I don't want to have to look at a patient and wonder if I'm being lied to. I don't want to have to mistrust my patient's description of subjective symptoms because they're trying to get some narcotics. I especially do not want harm to happen because I couldn't trust that description. Once I understood these things I knew that corrections nursing was wrong for me. So OP if you want to work on the things I mentioned in my first paragraph you need to get involved from a different angle. Corrections nursing isn't the right avenue. If you just want a juicy state pension go find a different state agency to work for. Corrections is probably NOT for you. I wish you the best. maybe your state has an agency like NYS OPWDD that works with adults and children with developmental disabilities. You can make a lot of difference there.
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C'Mon Now!
I had this happen, pre-covid. HS Student complaining of feeling poorly, no objective symptoms, shared that she was in danger of repeating a grade due to absences, I gave her a pep talk about responsibility and what an employer would expect of her, and sent her back to class. Later on I had a call from her grandmother complaining that I hadn't called. I explained our conversation but told her that if she felt her granddaughter needed to come home it was her decision, she was quite welcome to pick the girl up. She said her granddaughter said she'd thrown up. I responded that if she wanted to come back to the nurses office we could assess it then, but I had my doubts. The girl never came back and the regular nurse never complained.
- Parents STILL Sending Sick Kids to School
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Frustrated about covid symptoms. Does everyone need to go home?
One of the districts I sub for, plus one other school wants students sent home for even one symptom. Not fun. Other districts I can use some judgement. Thankfully there hasn't been that many sub days. Come April that will change, one of the nurses is having a baby.