NYERNURSE

To the original poster, you've gotten some great advice already. Just want to say I hope things work out for you. A quick note about those foam hand cleaner dispensers. They are ineffective against c-diff. You must wash your hands the old fashioned way when dealing with it.

My sister lives in Saratoga Springs, NY. Beautiful town of about 30,000. It's about 25 miles north of Albany. The taxes are low and the schools excellent. http://www.saratoga.org/ Avg SAT scores are about 200 points higher than the town we lived in NC. http://www.saratoga.org/relocation/schstats.htm

Amen to that, sister.

Some states are seriously considering laws against driving while sleep deprived. Lack of sleep is a major contributor to MVA's. It's too dangerous. I'd discuss the scheduling screw up with your manager. Another point....how the heck are you supposed to learn while half asleep? Maybe that doesn't matter as long as the task gets checked off and out of your managers' hair.

Are you kidding me?? This was proven years ago....anyone wearing art.nails is putting theirs pts health/life at risk. I can't believe it's still a question out there.:stone Hope ya'll wear gloves when cleaning up incont. pts........geesh. Do you wash your hands between pts? ....oy Basic stuff.....double geesh.

:uhoh21: :stone

Yup...opened M-F 8am-5pm. :stone

My friend, Heather, told me about this site.

I found nursing to be very busy with memorizing copious amounts of information in ridiculously short amounts of time and lots of time wasted making beds and giving bedbaths. My A&P Prof attended med school at Harvard and actually compared our initial requirements as very close to comparable. Somehow I don't quite believe him....:uhoh21: Who the hell knows. It really wasn't intellectually challenging until I started working but that was almost squashed by MD gods. I learned to think at work. Sometimes that gets me into trouble but that's life.

One of the best RN's I"ve ever worked with weighed close to 300 lbs. Her intelligence and calm demeanor during emergencies made her quite an asset to her unit. She did have trouble with her knee joints. Nursing is a physically demanding job even for svelt, jock types. She eventually lost 100 lbs before getting a knee replacement. Last I heard she was still working warp speed on a very busy telemetry unit....at age 50. Good luck in your nursing future. I hope everything works out for you.

I had a 3.3 when I was accepted back in '97. I graduated with a 3.8.

I recently left an ICU that employs many LPN's. It's a nightmare for the RN's. They are left with all the codes, all the admissions, the sickest pts and still expected to cover the LPN's pts. :stone I'm sure it's not so difficult if there is 1 LPN during a shift but when there are 3 LPN and 2 RN's it's very unfair to the RN's. Just go and get your BSN or ADN if time is an issue then go into ICU for the experience. You can work ICU gaining valuable experience while working for your BSN. That makes much more sense. Good luck!

I'm not busting my hump to wear a dang halo. I also view RN's as healthcare professionals not in the same class as nuns or missionaries. I certainly didn't take a vow of poverty when I enrolled in college.

This isn't the 1950's but things have changed a lot since the 70's. In 1972 I went to my family doctor with abdominal pain. I was 10. The doc was a chain smoker and I remember him blowing smoke in my mother's face as he said "I can tell by how she's walking that she has appendicitis." Mom practically carried me across the street to the hospital. I sat in the ER for 7 hours in excruciating pain. I finally went to the OR to take care of a burst appendix. I was hospitalized for 10 days. The surgeon placed my NGT and IV's. The residents and interns changed my IV fluid bottles and antibiotics. Nurses didn't touch it. The docs gave me a bag of orange IV fluid. I think they said it was protein but I thought it was orange crush soda. By day 3 I felt much better and very much enjoyed the wheelchair races with the other kids down the long hallways. I received a backrub every morning and evening without fail from the nice nurse. A hippy young resident came into my room POD # 3 and gave me a bottle of a weird yellow-green drink..."new on the market" he exclaimed.."It does a great job of rehydrating pts" he told my mom. It was gatorade. The surgeon told me it was made from Louisiana gator and I believed him. The drink was written as an order in my chart. He also told me that if I got well enough to go home that he would buy me a pizza. He kept his promise. I remember that a kid across the hall died. The docs and nurses all stayed with the family for hours while they cried and hollered. It was heartbreaking. I can't imagine doctors doing that today. After insurance the bill my father received was 25 bucks...it covered everything.

Thank you for understanding my viewpoint. I am in no way belittling the profession of LPN but merely venting about the frustrating situation I find myself in. I am not exaggerating or whining about a miniscule irritation....it is a lawsuit waiting to happen. I did find another postion in an ICU which is RN only. Again, everyone's opinion is appreciated.

I wonder if I can legally refuse to take care of drunks/drug addicts in Michigan because they are immoral people and I disagree with their lifestyle? How about single moms? While I'm at it I'll refuse to care for folks who steal cable or didn't pay their taxes. Martha Stewart better stay away from my unit....I tell ya. :uhoh21: Why stop at gays?

Oh my, how sad.

Exactly! I really don't appreciate being descibed as "evil" and in need of prayers by the crowds gathered at Terri's hospice. In the past I have turned off tube feeds/IV fluids/IV meds/extubated pts when the time had come to cease all efforts. Most don't have living wills either. For the most part families agree as a unit to withdraw care when they understand the futility of their loved ones condition...thank goodness. Sometimes there are disagreements but are usually resolved in a short time. Guess I'm on the highway to hell. :uhoh21:

Oops, I just started a thread about Chapel Hill and then stumbled on this thread. Sorry! It's funny that you describe the real estate as "expensive". They seem cheap to me. I'm looking at the Cary/Apex/Orange county area. The tax rates are so low! I'd hate to live in Florida. Too dang hot for me....but that's just me and my humble opinion! At least NC has some mountains and occasional snowfalls. I like to have the seasons change.

Thanks for the various opinions. I think I am going to look for other employment since the answer I always get is "This is how it's always been". There seems to be no plans to rectify this dangerous situation. The patients are not getting the care they deserve if their nurse is unable to titrate their meds in a timely fashion among other things. The RN can only be at one place at one time. :uhoh21: It's just crazy.

Well, covering all the iv meds/transfusions of the 6 pts cared for by the LPN's and covering the codes, PCI's, my own 2 pts...trust me I am stressed! PS The shift I described had a RN/LPN ratio of 1:3. The work load was certainly overburdening my shoulders. Now...if the ratio was 3 RN's to one LPN...It wouldn't have been a big deal. It isn't a matter of not being able to handle the stress. Having 2 LPN's in an entire unit wouldn't be such a tremendous stressor...it's a matter of percentage I guess.

I've looked around and didn't see a thread discussing this problem so I started my own. Excuse me if it's been done to death. I just need to vent. :stone My anger is directed at the hospital not LPN's...so please read this with that thought in mind. I work in a medium sized CCU in a community hospital. We have RN's and LPN's working in the unit. I'm about to lose my cotton picking mind. We had a rough night last night...scratch that...every night is rough. I've never worked with LPN's before. I had no clue what their scope of practice was. I've come to the conclusion that LPN's in a unit creates incredible stress for the RN's. Their limited scope of practice leaves the RN's with ALL the admissions, ALL the sickest pts, ALL the codes, ALL the PCI's, plus covering the desk which monitors tele's from the tele floor.....AAAARGH! Last night there were 2 RN's and 3 LPN's. One RN had the desk and I was the only RN actually working in the unit. I had the 2 sickest pts plus admitted a code from the tele floor, plus covered the LPN's iv meds, (all ICU pts are on IV drugs...what the heck is up with having nurses on board who cant give iv drugs??) transfusions...then a PCI was called. Give me a freaking break! OK, vent over. :uhoh21:

I feel the same way. Why else would he put himself through all of this? He could have washed his hands of Terri long ago and nobody would've faulted him for that. I admire him for sticking to his guns and seeing to it that Terri's wishes are respected until the end. It has been a long and tortuous road to take. I refuse to judge him in a negative light for resuming his life outside the walls of the nursing home. I used to work in a NH caring for brain and spinal cord injured young and middle aged adults. It was not unusual at all for the healthy spouse to have girlfrinds/boyfriends while maintaining their marriage. They would still come and visit their partner, take care of them and take them out for day trips or weekend visits.....but they also went forward with their own lives. They are not evil sinners....they are people doing the best they can in a horrible situation. It's easy for those of us not in these predicaments to sit back and claim superior morals. :stone