Sable's mom

I've never worked with OnAssignment, but they have a new recruiter that I have worked with and she is wonderful!! I don't want to break any rules so I can only saythat if you email me privately I will get back with you. Having travelled for over 4 years, I will say that your relationship with your recruiter is the MOST IMPORTANT part of the entire process. Any recruiter can make or break a company regardless of the other aspects of the company.

These are wonderful. Here's another murphy's law - when you small OB department - 11 staff members total - have 2 on vacation and 2 with emergency surgeries you'll do 1/4 of the month's deliveries in one 12 hour shift!

105. You read threads more than once 'in case I missed something'.

Another vote FOR joining. Besides the magazines (Lifelines & JOGNN) with their respective learning opportunities, the chapter meetings are a great way to learn AND to network. You never know when you might need that name in another hospital for advice, assistance with families moving ot transferring, etc. Best thing of all - last time I was deposed, one of the questions I was asked by the plantiffs attorney was about professional organizations and keeping up with changes in the profession - I think he figured since I was 'old' I probably hadn't kept up - and he was quite taken aback to find out I had been an AWHONN member for years and a FHM instructor. (Good news - case was dropped).

To answer the OP's question re: Bradley vs. LaMaze: my first child was lamaze - it didn't work very well in transition my second was bradley - it worked great for me Now, 28 years later, I tell any patients/family/etc that asks to take as many classes as possible, or read books on each potential method and then choose which one seems most like your personality, BUT remember that no childbirth prep method is foolproof and the health of mom and baby is the priority.

QUOTE:Sounds like you need to move. Seriously, where do you work? With that much experience you should be making a tidy sum. Plus, you could do travel nursing and make some serious money. I applaud your years of experience, but if you think you're not making what you should, you should take that experience elsewhere" Unfortunately, I am in northern MI (as I imagine Wildcat81 is) and the wages up here are just not that great. The trade off is less traffic, crime, pollution, etc. I decided after several years of travelling that I'd rather make less money and live where I want. Choices all have positive and negative results and we each must live with our choices. PS we're unionized (I'm management) and top RN is about $26.

Just want to say I'll be thinking of you in my prayers.

:flowersfo as nursemaa said thank you!! :balloons: we need to be working together not tearing each other down, regardless of our roles.

Been here since 2000, can't remember anymore. (Too old to remember much it seems).:smackingf

I agree- if you come to me with a problem, come with a possible solution. That is the policy nursing admin has for the managers, so we have adopted it with our staff. It has cut down on the '*itch and moan' sessions:uhoh21: Point of interest - I have also told my staff - if you have a situation that you know is not changable, but "just want to vent:angryfire" , I am happy to listen, but please tell me that upfront, so I don't spend time or energy trying to fix the unfixable or trying to find a way to tell you that it is unfixable.:chair:

Siri, I agree with you that it is different with grandkids, but sometimes it can be VERY frustrating to have parents complain when they don't have a clue!!We had a baby we were resusitating - apgar 1 at 1 min - and the whole time the parents watched us, afterr baby was OK - 10 min apgar 9 - no apparent sequalae - the mother FREAKED because the baby had a small (.2mm) scratch on her arm!! I could have screamed when she was demanding the nurses get 'disciplined' for hurting her baby!! Took a lot of calming down before I could talk to her and explain what was happening and why without getting the hospital, doctor or myself sued and without 'disciplining' my staff. Some people are nuts!

I agree with llg's reply. You may never know exactly what happened:( , but handling this in a positive and professional manner will do you more good than any other response at this point. It's hard to handle the anger and dissapointment, but nothing positive will come out of confrontation or negativity. Keep your chin up and I'll keep you in my thoughts and prayers.:balloons:

I think 1 other person said this but . . as a manager, I can't deal with issues if I don't know they are happening and I can't be there 24/7. This issue is one that won't go away. Sooner or later she will be caught and fired, and it seems to me that she doesn't plan to go quietly or alone. As others have said your reputation can be affected forever for an "investigation". I know this doesn't follow the innocent until proven guilty idea, but it is true. I've seen parents in trouble with custody issues, etc because someone had accused them of something years ago. Even though the charges were never proved and the custody eventually came out ok, it was a lot of time, stress and money spent in the meantime. Last of all, you are not getting her fired - SHE IS.

Welcome!! Deb is very correct!! It doesn't matter if what your educational track - you have to pass RN boards and then you are an RN. It may matter in some hospitals for management positions - it depends on where you are and how many BSNs are available. Ditto, also, to 'if you need anything, ask' comment.

i've read this thread with interest (i'm a manager - for 1 year now) and have to say that treesawrn put most things in perspective. i took the management job because our unit had been without one for 6-7 months and you could see the effect of having no one to 'fight our battles' on a management level. i was forced to decide if i was going to be part of the problem or part of the solution; so . . . i'm the manager. i spend many days crying on my way home from work because i couldn't convince admin to do/buy something we need or because one of the staff nurses (used to be my peers) have done or said something that really hurt. i would give up this job in a minute and go back to the bedside where at least sometimes you have the satisfaction of a job well done, it seems like mine never is. i get out on the floor as much as possible, but must spend time working on a presentation to the budget committee for new equipment or meeting with other managers to deal with staffing/patient load/etc or talking with a family member or patient to smooth ruffled feathers or explain a medical situation, etc. i do like my job, i can see that i have made a difference, that keeps me going. please remember that gaspasser is right - i got no training for this role and i know i've screwed up several times. (i worked christmas day 7-7 because i gave too many people vacation). but i try and if any of my staff has a complaint, concern or problem i'm willing to listen.

Great advice Deb. So often we nurses seem intimidated into not instituting the chain of command and then compuond the problem by not documenting on an incident/event report and/or notifying managers. Frequently just informing the physician/resident "I am going to have to initiate the chain of command" will get them to rethink their decision.

I am a veteran OB nurse (25+ years) and now am a manager (sorry - I went over to the dark side). Anyway, one of the best L&D nurses I know is on my present staff and had to have a sudden hysterectomy in her 20s (due to cancer). She's now 50 and is VERY good with our patients. Linda

I walked out of an assignment in NYC - the only time I've ever done that. My advice: #1.make your company get your housing for you (yes you make more $ doing it yourself, but unless you know NYC it's dicey) #2. Be very certain what area you are in - if you want Manhattan, only take Manhattan. I was in Queens - not far from Manhattan in miles, but light years away in other ways. (The cops wouldn't travel in pairs - only triplets!!! SWAT team take down in front of my apartment, crow bar marks on apartment door (inside security doors) when I came home one morning. Thaat was the last straw. I'd love to go back to Manhattan or southern CA, my favorite assignments.

After 25+ years, yes, I've seen dads faint, but very few and most of those were due to hypoglycemia not 'gross stuff'. It is very important to make sure someone feeds dad, especially if the section is after a long labor (even a glass of OJ will get him thru the surgery). I agree with the posters that have said 'tell him to suck it up'. This is one time he can be there for you and believe me you'll always remember it. I have a joke on my wall that says: Q: Is there any reason I have to be in the room with my wife during labor and delivery? A: Does the word alimony mean anything to you?

Possibly what your friend was supposed to have been told is that anyone receiving rhogam should get a card to carry that gives the date and # of rhogam units they received. For approx 72 hours after rhogam injection it can affect type/crossmatching. This would only matter if something occured in that 72 hours that required a tranfusion.

:roll It's not fair - since I work OB, how can I make money like that?? Canoehead, that was a great link - just what I needed to start my day with a laugh.

I totally agree with you Deb. I was at an AWHONN conference last month and one of the things the speaker said is as professionals we have to stop worrying about "the doctor's gonna yell". We need to do our job - be an advocate for both our patients (mom & baby) - and expect the doc to do his. While it's inappropriate for docs to yell, it's more inappropriate to sit on a bad strip and thereby give inadequate care to the patient.

As a new manager, I was made very aware of the fact that FMLA is federally mandated and whether I agreed or approved was irrelevant. At our institution all leaves - for any reason - are handled throught HR. It prevents the kind of crap that you're going through right now. :angryfire: I wish I was nearby and could have a talk with your manager - she sounds like a real jerk. Good luck kelbel - keep us up to date.

I just got an update from our state lab and for the PKU (at least in MI) there is no longer any need for feeding at all. The important thing - according to them is to wait 24 hours because some of the tests (we now do 27) are inaccurate before that. The only time they want one done early is if the baby is going to receive a blood transfusion or TPN. In terms of the lab tech from hell - 20 minutes and large tubes - we had a phlebe much like that a couple of weeks ago. Came into our nursery to get blood on a baby we were transferring and wanted 7cc of blood!! The doc had a fit, nurse instituted chain of command, and eventually drew micro tubes for lab. New plebe is no longer working here!! Linda

Now I snorted iced tea all over my desk. ROTFLMAO!! FECALETTES?!?!?!