punnit_square

In NC, some of the schools (for RN) do make that a requirement: you must possess a nurse aide certification to be considered for the program; you do not have to work as a CNA but you have to have the certification. Too many people go into healthcare (that have no experience) with an "idealized" notion of what is it.

When I applied for nursing school (RN) when I lived in NC, a REQUIREMENT for acceptance into the program is you must have a CNA certification. If you use it, that is your business, but you must possess it and not a HHA certification in order to apply for an RN program. I think its a good idea. Gives the future RNs an idea of what their aides go through.

It sounds like the facility director is trying to scare the snot out of you. A business doesnt open up to lose money or shut down. These nursing homes get between 3k and 5 k per month per resident. Your director needs to take a basic business class, it sounds like. I highly doubt the facility would shut down, but they would be fighting you tooth and nail. The biggest downside to union is, unfortunately, it is hard to get rid of the piece of crap workers.

Your best bet would be to do an online search for nurse aide unions or Teamsters ---- isnt KY a right to work state? If so, (as most southern states are), they are against unions, but try.

I know that you would have to contact the Union and then you would have to have a meeting with your coworkers; they would need to vote on it. A lot of organizations say you cannot distribute literature of any kind on their property . . . this especially applies to union info. Look up the local union in your area and talk to a rep. A lot of people complain about their jobs but none have the guts to go forward with union. Of course Wally world would make you sign a form stating no for the union. Prices are great for consumers but people get paid a little more than minimum wage.

Can you say U N I O N . Numbers really do matter and any nurse with an iota of common sense knows that an aide can get her/his (the nurse's) license ripped out from under her/him; so another words, treat your techs/aides with kindness and respect.

I think you may have misunderstood what I was saying. THE SYSTEM, not me, is trying to get rid of LPN. The actions of THE SYSTEM is trying to phase out LPNs, not me. If I felt that it was beneath me to work as an LPN, I wouldn't have paid $400 to sit in on the boards and then turn around in six months or so to pay another $400 to sit on another set of boards. That $800 could have bought me a dozen or so shoes if working as a lowly PN or RN was beneath me. I feel that working as an LPN for six or so months instead of a tech will provide me with invaluable experience. I feel no further need to explain myself. If you have taken offense to my post, I am sorry for you.

JACHO is in charge of hospitals. As I said in previous post, the MD takes on the responsibility of whomever he hires to provide direct patient care. Their screw up is on the MD and under his license. Many Dr offices are utilizing CNAs and tell me where in the six, eight, or ten week CNA course do they go over IM injection sites. It is up to the doc.

I would love to know how the citizens of California went about getting former Gov. Gray Davis fired, for I would love to figure out how to go about getting George "burning our asses" bush out of office.

Whatever state you live in, you can call health and human services, elder abuse line, Medicaid, medicare. That would cause them to stop accepting admissions until investigation is done (depending on your state) when a cover up is involved

Bring a camera to work, most cell phones have em, take pics and forward to state. That will have everyone's orifice in a tizzy then won't it.

Contact your local BON before quitting school. Find out what rehabilative measures can be taken so you are eligible to sit on the boards

BSN has higher level of theory courses, ADN has a lot of patho and skills type courses. BSN has a seperate course (depending on your school) that is dedicated to community health nursing, rural nursing, alternative meds (like herbal medicines, accupunture). http://www.fgcu.edu/chp/nursing This is the local university where I live. It can give you an idea between the two programs.

It is easier to transfer into a program when you already have a degree---you have proven your worth as a student. The one thing I am learning about nursing is the pecking order. The ones with the higher degrees ( forgive me for I am generalizing here and I know this is not always the case), look down upon the ones with the lower degrees. But the one thing to always remember, all of the licensed nurses are valuable . . . you cannot run a hospital or nursing home without us.

I agree. I know in my current nursing program, all of our exams have been "NCLEX based" but we have not had one fill in the blank or choose a hotspot; whereas recent grads had to pick the hot spot and/or fill in the blank. It is best to stay up on the newest trend. With a test bank of 3000+ questions, we are not bound to know every answer, so going with the new trends is best. I have purchased online with Kaplan, the Qbank, which has 1000 questions, NCLEX format and teaches you HOW to recognize what the question is actually asking you. I say http://www.kaptest.com It tells you exaclty where you are and gives you a cumulative average of all material you have gone over. Which ever you choose, good luck.

The question is what is she doing when there are no grown ups present. If that were me, I would have grabbed her by the arm and pushed her to the floor and yelled, YOUR FIRED

It is the norm where I am at. I am sure they are afraid of law suit, BUT if the patient comes to the facility with a pressure ulcer, it may be in the best interest of the facility to photograph it incase it comes to litigation.

Yes it was. Since I have been gone for (June will be) two years now, I can't honestly say what has happened to the LPNs. It is a matter of cost effectiveness. Why pay the LPN (I have no idea so I am throwing out a number) $16.00/hr when you can pay the NA II $11.00 and get a portion of the work accomplished. It isnt right. Yes, I am in an RN program, but I am challenging the PN NCLEX in a few weeks. I hate to think that my value as a nurse is less for the six months or so that I will be working as a PN.

i don't think lpns should just be able to test out to become an rn. it is like saying an aprn should just test out to receive her doctorate in medicine (md). as an rn student, i have put eight months of time just in pharmolcology. with the advancement of title, come the advacement of education. i have met many wonderful, knowlegable lpns that were awesome, but, if you want the rn title, go back and finish. i want the title of aprn therefore, i am going through the ropes to get it.

Your senario is the exact reason why we nurses (and soon to be) need to step up to the plate, get into administration's butt, and speak loudly so the people in legislation can hear us. My instructor told my class that it is important for us to join and maintain memebership to the National League of Nursing. Power comes in numbers ya know.

when i was living in nc, (i moved two years ago), there was talk about trying to phase out the lpn, or just keep them in ltc. the hospitals were using na ii to do the work that an lpn would do; the hospital i worked at was giving the lpns 36 months to get their rn licensure or they would be forced to resign. needless to say, the more education and training medical personnel have, the better the patient outcomes. it's a damn shame that hospital administrators (and nh as well) have degrees in business or health care management instead of nursing or md. medical people should be the ones to run medical facilities. but that is just my opinion.

From my understanding, CMAs only work in an MDs office and are working under an MDs license, not a nurses license. The MD is ultimately responsible for the CMAs actions. They are not needed in the nursing home, and do not work in a hospital doing direct patient care that the nurse or the aide would do . . . at least this is true in NY, NC, Fl. I can tell you, I was in a CMA program some 13 years ago. I didnt finish because of a personal tragedy in my life, but it was a two year program, and we learned the basics of nursing, nowhere nearly as indepth as what I am learning now, but it gave me a strong foundation. There are med techs that work in ALFs that only receive FOUR days of training to do a med pass. That, I find appolling. Imagine the med errors there.

I wouldn't say that an ADN is less demanding than a BSN. As I have said in a previous post, my instructor took the ADN to BSN to MSN route and he said the ADN was a lot harder for him as well as more demanding than the BSN or even the MSN. Mind you, ADN and BSN learn the same skills. BSN is higher level of theory (and more of it). ADN has theory and critical thinking as well BUT also stresses skills. Your best bet would be to meet with someone in the nursing department of both the ADN and the BSN program.

When you insert, do not put it in "straight up", instead, point the tip of the tampon towards your back. And like everyone else said, do it sitting on the toilet. Standing is not very comfortable. Try Playtex or Kotex plastic applicator.

When you are at the end of your years, you should have whatever you want. If the woman wants to eat nonstop, than she should. Hunger, like pain, is subjective. We are not in her body to know if she is hungry. I am sure if she says she is hungry, then she is feeling hunger pangs. It is her money paying everyone's salary.