OUBobcat94

Yep. I got punched in the face by a head-injured patient because I was trying to convince him NOT to leave his room. I work as a CNA on an acute rehab floor.

This whole thread has me :roll I answered a call bell once and entered the room to find a male patients shifting in his wheelchair and looking mighty uncomfortable. I asked him what was wrong and he said to me "I can't get comfortable because I am sitting on my utensils!!" :chuckle It took me a minute to figure out what he meant- he wasn't too steady on his feet so I had to put on a glove and haul everything out for him while he stood up. Still gives me a chuckle to this day when I think of that man!! :chuckle

I live in Maine and we do have LPNs that work on our in-patient rehab unit. They bounce back and forth between being team leaders and helpers (depending on the staffing that day). I know we have rehab nurses that have moved to ICU, telemetry, and med-surg so it is possible to be "portable". The nurses on our foor (I am a CNA in nursing (RN) school) are involved in transfers and toileting, but most of the major physical stuff is done by the therapists (OT, OTA, PT, PTA). I know the school I go to does not even offer and LPN program anymore, but they do offer an "Bridge to RN" program for those who are already LPNs. Have you considered PT or PTA school? It sounds like you are definitely interested in the physical asprect of rehab so that might be something to consider. Good luck in whatever you decide. -Bobcat

I was a Certified Athletic Trainer (Sports Medicine/Sports Rehab) then a stay at home mom for 4 years. Now I am in semester 3 of a 4 semester ADN program. Right now I am a CNA on a Rehab floor and I work 2 shifts a month. I also work 1 night a week as a hostess at a local restaurant. Even that is too much sometimes, but somehow I manage. Good luck with school. -Bobcat

Hi! I am a single mother of 3 as well (ages 9, almost 6 and almost 4). I am in my 3rd semester of a 4 semester RN program. I say if you have the support of family to go for it. I am living with my parents right now and they are a great source of support for the kids and I. My kids are in daycare/school during the day when I am at school/ clinical. You would be gone as much as if you were working. I know at my community college the LPN to RN program is 1 to 1.5 years. It's a lot fo work, but it can be done, especially with the support of family. Good luck in whatever you decide. :) -Bobcat

Holy Moly!!! $19 an hour as a CNA?????!!!!!!! Now that I have recovered..... I f you have the means to quit and not work, then I would do it. The instructirs told us when I started school that nursing school is a full time job in itself. We lost 6 students las semester (didn't pass the class) and 5 out of the 6 were working full time jobs. Not to say that it can't be done, but if you can survive without working, I would. I am a CNA in RN school right now and I work 2 shifts a month. Enough to keep my CNA skills fresh, but not enough to overwhelm- I have time to spend with my kids and plenty of time to study. Good luck in whatever you decide. -Bobcat

I know when I tried to get into nursing school and was getting my vacinations in order, they titred (is that even a word? :chuckle ) my blood and it came back negative for HepB antibodies even though I had been vaccinated 10+ years ago. I decided to redo the HepB series. I got the 1st injection, and when I went for the 2nd injection they ran another titre. Lo and behold!! I was immune. So I think for some people the antibodies kick in once there is exposure to the virus. I was just happy I didn't have to go through the whole series again. -Bobcat

"Orientate" drives mp the wall too. :chuckle As in "I orientated with the IV team this week". Ugh!! So how would one use orientate in a sentence correctly then?

These are some great ideas!! Thanks so much everyone. :) Please add to this thread if you think of anything else. I have a little while to choose a topic so any other ideas will be appreciated as well. -Bobcat

I have to write a paper for school and I am stumped for ideas. The only ones I can think of off the top of my head are euthanasia and abortion- not bad topics, but I am trying to come up with something a little more original than those. So I figured you kind folks here at allnurses might have some ideas- just a topic is all I am looking for. I wll handle the research from there.... I have to pick a topic and write a "position" paper on it. Thanks in advance, Bobcat

You're going to want to check with your state, because I am pretty sure the rules are different from state to state. I know here in Maine, CNAs have to work one 8 hour shift per year in order to stay active on the registry. Good luck to you. :) -Bobcat

The Luer lock syringe has threads so the needle screws into the end of the syringe. There are some needles that you just push into the end of the syringe- the Luer lcoks are much sturdier. Hope that helps. :)

Thank you for all of your kind words everyone. I am not pressing charges against this patient. Like I said, he is functioning at the cognitive level of a 3 year old right now, albiet a very STRONG 3 year old. I don't blame the patient. I am going in to work tomorrow to file the incident report and talk to my NM about the concerns I already mentioned here. Not sure what can be done about it short of redesigning the whole unit, but maybe they have some ideas. -Bobcat

I work on a rehab floor as a CNA. I am also in my second year of nursing school. I was at work yesterday and was 1 on 1 with a brain injured patient with whom I have had a very good rapport with in the past. He is 29 years old and is cognitively functioning at about the level of a 3 year old. He wanted to leave the room and I told him no. I was standing between him and the door per protocol. He grabbed my shoulders and shook me violently and then punched me in the face. I was quite shaken (literallly and figuratively) up yesterday, but am doing much better today, except for the fat lip I have. So I was wondering, has this ever happened to you? And the other thing- not sure how this is handled in other facilities...he is in a monitored room, but the way the room is set up, the camera couldn't see us. The door is shut so he isn't tempted to wander the halls, and the call bell is across the room so I was nowhere near it to yank it out of the wall. Since I was near the door I just spun myself out into the hall and yelled for help. But what if he had knocked me out? Does your facilite have a panic button or something that nurses (or CNAs) carry on their person for 1 on 1 with volatile patients? I don't know if I would have even had time to access a panic button because everything happened so fast...just wondering I guess. Thanks for any input.... -Bobcat

I am in Maine and am a 3rd semester (in a 4 semester program) nursing student and we are allowed to give IV pushes this semester. I start clinical on Thursday so I haven't had a chance to push any meds yet. LPNs cannnot push IV meds here- it is beyond their scope of practice. -Bobcat

It's a dog eat dog world out there, and I'm wearing Milkbone underwear. -Norm from "Cheers" -Bobcat

I use the following formula for my calculations: D -- X V H D= Dose H= What you have in stock V= Vehicle So the first problem you listed.... D= 0.024 g which you need to convert to mg because that's what your tablets are in so D= 24 mg H= 8 mg tablets becasue that's what the problem says you have in stock V= 1 because it's 8mg per 1 tablet (the vehicle is almost always 1 in tablet/pill questions- it changes for meds in syringes questions) So the problem is: 24 mg (D) --------- X 1 tablet = 3 tablets 8 mg (H) It works for me...if you have any questions about it, let me know!! -Bobcat

At my school we took the HESI at the end of our first year. We got the full print-out that showed us where our strengths and weaknesses were, but the test didn't count for anything....more of an FYI type thing. I took it in May and did well, I am getting ready to start my second year next week. We are also required to take it at the end of our 2nd year (2 year ADN program) and if we don't pass that HESI, we don't graduate. I consider it a HUGE comprehensive final of everything we have learned in nursing school.

Wow!!! What a great idea. I work on a Rehab floor and we have a morbidly obese patient who (as of my last shift) used the bedpan and every single time I placed it under her she leaked everywhere. I am going to mention this to her nurse this weekend (I am a CNA in nursing school right now). I will report back if anything comes of it. :) -Bobcat

I work as a CNA on a rehab floor. We had gotten a new admit and I was assigned 1:1 with her. Her diagnosis was TBI- she was ambulatory, a little confused, and restless. She wanted to go for a walk down the hall so I steered her away from the elevators and we headed towards the PT gym. The hall was empty except for one patient walking towards us who was on crutches. The TBI patient says to me with a little gleam in her eye "How much will you give me if I trip her?" referring to the patient on crutches. :chuckle NOT what I expected to hear from her. I tried real hard not to laugh, told her that probably wasn't a good idea, and moved between her and the patient on crutches....just in case.

I went to college for an athletic training degree right out of high school. I then got my master's in counseling and worked as an athletic trainer for a few years. In the meantime, I had a daughter and got married. Athletic training hours were too funky for a family with only one car. Hubby (at the time) was making good money so I stopped being an athletic trainer and decided to be a stay at home mom. Got pregnant with daughter #2 who was born at 26 weeks gestation. I spent A LOT of time in the NICU and watched and learned from the nurses there. The idea of "Hey- I might like doing some of this stuff" was planted in the back of my head. Daughter #2 came home and my days were filled with therapies and developmental clinics and RSV shots. As she got older and healthier, I started looking into nursing school and what it would take to become a CNA first at that point. Got pregnant again and had a son so everything got put on the back burner. Divorced my husband about a year after our son was born was born. I decided that since child sopport was sporadic at best that I needed to be able to support myself and my children without having to rely on my ex. Working as an athletic trainer was definitley NOT an option as a single mom. I went to CNA school and have been working as a CNA for almost 2 years now. I finished up the pre-reqs for nursing school (had to take A&P again since it had been longer than 10 years since I had taken it last) and I am now in the middle of my first and second year in an ADN program. I absolutely LOVE it!!! I have really enjoyed reading everyone's stories :)