bagface

On her facebook she was extremely vocal this weekend about her opinion. Since Monday though nothing - can't help but wonder if she was terminated over her post. There's no take backs on social media!

It depends on my mood honestly. A lot of times I'll eat dinner foods before going to bed (my system says it's dinner time). Which can vary from a salad to soup to any sort of meat. If you're looking for more breakfast type foods I use the carnation breakfast packets - which are AMAZING! I have all the flavors but my favorite is taking the chocolate packet and mixing it with powdered PB2 peanut butter. It's like a chocolate peanut butter milkshake. Generally I drink this on my way to work anyways but it keeps me full for 4-6 hours. I love these things. The carnation packets I recommend getting at a Costco or Sams club (you get bulk for like $10) and the PB2 I recommend getting off Amazon. You can get two huge containers for $15.

Here is the original post: Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet - hope it doesn't violate TOS.

I think it depends on the program/person. For example: 1) Our school refused to accommodate a fellow classmate who had cancer - she needed the cancer removed - urgently. She took two tests three weeks before the semester was even over, only for the program to come back at her and tell her she needed to take the final before she had her surgery (this surgery required her to miss a week of school). 2) During my time in school nothing was excused - the following things happened: a student's parent died, some were hospitalized for appendicitis/pancreatitis, another student's son died because she ran over him with a car accidentally trying to leave to get to clinicals on time. Our program made zero exceptions for these people. 3) Your life is going to be hectic. Is it worth it? Yes. But my years through school were hell. And to be honest I don't know if I could do it again if I had to. If your life is in a good place - do it. If not - fix all your family drama/children needs/spousal support/savings accounts prior to starting. This will set you up for success in the future. Good luck!

I wanted to say I am sorry you are going through this hard time. However, please know that this mountain is not unclimbable. I was a single mother, my son's father left when our son was about 6 weeks old. I was working as a 911 operator (which was amazing BTW), and I lived in a house with an air mattress and an infant swing. I had nothing else, my son's father wouldn't let me take any of the furniture and left me pretty much bankrupt as I had unpaid maternity leave (I was at my job for less than a year so my vacation time barely covered any time, plus I had to be on bedrest, etc). It was a mess. When my son turned 1 I signed up for college classes. I started taking it one class at a time - year round, until I could apply for clinicals. After that I started working 20 hours a week - at a local hospital who had tuition reimbursement. I continued through school and made it through. It took me FOUR years to get my ASN, but you know what? I did it. What you're about to go through is harder than anything else you will encounter. But if this is a dream you really want, go for it. You don't need to work in a hospital right now, just start checking off classes. You'll get there when you get there. Good luck :)

Bingo.

Thank you for this. We also give back all belongings at discharge regardless of whats in them. The links were helpful - thank you for the detailed information. Heron, it really is a "bucket of stinky worms". I know if I were a patient in the hospital and I were alert, awake, and oriented x 3 and saw someone digging through my belongings I would be giving them an earful. I don't carry anything illegal or participate in any activity that is such, however as a patient I have rights and I don't feel like being treated like a criminal just because I've been involved in a "trauma". Definitely a bad situation all around. Thank you all for the replies and links - much appreciated!

I work in a very busy ED, my husband works in another hospital in our area that is also a very busy ED. While we were talking something he said caught me off guard. His hospital searches their patients pockets if they are a psych/trauma/intoxicated patient. If they find any illegal contraband they call the police and give patient information to them. Is this actually allowed? For our hospital we scan patient belongings in a psych/trauma/intoxicated patient and give the items to security. We don't ever call the police for contraband. We service a very poor/high crime rate/high drug rate population. However this community trusts us and knows we don't turn them over to the police. When a shooting happens or something of the like we always bag our items for evidence and obviously police are involved. However we do not call if we find marijuana products on a person. Actually because of our relationship with the community members we have had a decrease in "drive by shootings" (you know where they push the victim out of the car and speed away so they aren't involved). We also release information if there's a bad batch of heroine going around and notify the police of that. My question is, where can I find the exact fine line on this on the HIPAA guidelines website? It seems like it's a gray area and there is no definite answer. However I definitely feel it violates patient rights to have their pockets gone through simply because they are a "trauma" patient (coumadin + fall = trauma). Thank you for your guidance on this matter.

Honestly a head to toe takes me less than 10 minutes, usually around 8 minutes give or take depending on the patient severity. When I did med surg in school we would have 4 patients assigned to us and their full care was ours and ours alone. I always did a focused assessment first, did my med pass, and then went back and did a head to toe. A lot of people say they do head to toe first, which is practical when you have 1-2 patients. Not so much when you have a full section though. When doctors start rounding I didn't want to be the one that had no clue why or when patient in 421 had strayed from his baseline, and I didn't want to not know what I was facing when the doctor was coming around. It'll get easier. Practice practice practice. You'll go far :)

Life is life.. you are going to get terrible instructors. Unfortunately this will happen. I had an instructor that had it out for me because I reported her for unethical behavior (she made me take patients who didn't want a student nurse and then when I told her it was against patient rights to force me on the patient she said it was my fault that I wasn't "confident" enough, she made me miss lunch so I could do physical therapy with my patient - fine and good - but then afterwards I told her I needed to eat because I am diabetic, she shoved me in the nutrition room and told me to eat some of the food they give out to patients, she also would scream at my classmates on the floor, belittling them in front of patients and staff alike, among many other horrors). What did she do then? She held onto a paper I did for 7 weeks. She held onto it until ALL of my grades were put in, and then put my grade in failing me by 0.5 points. That's right, I failed a clinical rotation by 0.5 points. I told my husband I was quitting school after that, because honestly why pay another $10k to a school that supports that kind of demonic behavior? My husband told me he would support me and told me whatever I chose to do he would be there for me. In the end after taking a break between semesters I decided to enroll again and try again - this time I was not assigned the abusive instructor. Bad instructors exist. Then again, so do bad nurses, so do bad coworkers. I wasn't going to let them pee on my dreams. In the end I will never have to see her again, I will never have to work or do business with her again. I reported her all the way up to the dean of nursing. Nothing ever came of it. Now she's stuck in repeat mode all day every day, trying to find a target to be a part of her little game, but you know what? Not my problem anymore. I've gone on to bigger and better things, and in the end I look back and laugh at how miserable her life must really be to pick on others. I mean seriously - you're going to throw away everything you've worked for because one woman/man has permanent sand stuck up their genitals? Not even worth it.

Pretty sure this is going to be all the costume rage this year...

I am so sorry for your loss. My husband and I have had multiple miscarriages and one ectopic. The hardest part about the ectopic was after years of trying to conceive we had to willingly terminate the baby we spent so long to conceive. We've undergone fertility treatments - everything short of IVF (but we will be starting that next July thank the Lord!). Nothing makes the pain of infertility away. Nothing takes away the pain of losing a child you so deeply longed for. I still have little charms/memories of when I was pregnant with each child and save them in a special place. I also pray to the children I've lost frequently and tell them I still think of them and love them. A mother's love is eternal, regardless if you held them in your arms or not, you held them in your heart. I hope your days get easier and your able to carry again soon. Good luck to you and your husband.

Although I don't camp out in the breakroom this has been a huge issue in our school. I've had to leave the OR during an active procedure because I had to go to post-conference, I've missed out on cardio cath's because if I went it meant not completing my paperwork on time and failing an assignment, and the list goes on and on. I've honestly gained more skills as an ER tech in the past year and a half than I've encountered in my 3.5 years of nursing school clinicals. I can interpret EKGs, do foleys/straight caths, successfully draw labs on a heroine addict, change a bed with little to no assistance, etc. After our last batch of new grads though I think this paperwork trend is common. So many of them are completely unprepared for real world floor work. I saw a new nurse not clean a member properly before attempting to cath him (I say attempt because she stopped when he started screaming - she didn't hold it straight up), I've seen new nurses avoid patient care because they are so uncomfortable in front of them because they've been so busy doing paperwork/patho maps/care plans they don't have bedside manners yet. It's sad. I hope more instructors like you are out there though - Lord knows we need the good ones now more than ever!

Windsurfer - I care because I'm on a committee that students give feedback to the college on policies that are developed each year. Several of us were handpicked from the beginning and we have made a huge difference in the current practices/policies that do exist. That's why I was CURIOUS as to other colleges and asked their opinions. As someone who works in a hospital already in a very busy ER I know what professionalism is. I have been working for over 15 years at this point in my life. I know how to handle myself in a proper manner at this point in my career or I wouldn't have made it this far. In the end they aren't able to work with me for my illness. However my doctor is FINALLY clearing me for school again with minimal restrictions so I'll be able to participate in clinical. Hopefully no more acute pancreatitis attacks are in my future!

Ours also discourages working. However if you work at the hospital affiliated with them you get a 90% discount off tuition so -- why WOULDN'T you work with that discount? I work for a different hospital in an ER as a tech and I love it. I think my hospital experience brings a lot to my education. I feel far ahead of my peers at clinical. I can do a cath in less than two minutes, I can draw labs first try, I can interpret EKGs without using my guide book. I work per diem at the hospital though since I don't really need to work (my husband has two jobs). However I love what I do so I pick up 12-20 hours per week during the semester and go full time during breaks. If you ever get the chance at a tech job - take it

Our school recently had a change in the attendance policy for clinical. We have more clinical days for an associates program than any other college in the area. We used to be able to miss 24 hours a semester for illness. Now they backed our time down to 16. Here's where my problem comes in - I ended up in the ER this week with acute pancreatitis. I am going to miss my first two clinical days because I'm in the hospital. Literally on an NPO diet, receiving fluids, antibiotics, pain medications, etc. I do not normally miss clinical days. I usually reserve those absences for when I am legitimately sick. Like when I was in the NICU rotation and broke out in shingles - I missed clinical. My doctor said I need to miss a week of school. I'm on day six in the hospital. I should get out this weekend hopefully. They tried to give me food twice already and I started vomiting profusely (not to mention the pain - the horrible horrible pain). I would rather go through childbirth than this again - and I went 20+ hours without pain meds during that. I had my husband bring my school work to the hospital so I could work on it between pain spells and naps. I'm not as productive as I usually am but at least I'm doing SOMETHING. I emailed my clinical instructor to let her know what was happening. She pretty much wrote back that I should just drop the semester and try again next time because I'm maxing my absences in the first week of school. I was FURIOUS. One week of school (which I'm still doing my classwork) and I'm being told to give up the other 15 weeks of the semester? I'm being told to delay my graduation? For an acute illness that I had no control over? Are you kidding me? I emailed the nursing director of our school and asked her about the policy changes and asked why I couldn't make my clinical days up with another group (there are currently clinicals every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday). Am I being unreasonable trying to fight this? Should I even believe this clinical instructor? I'm a great student - all A's and B's in nursing school. Should I just grind down and show up even when I'm sick? I'm not giving in and dropping the semester. I just feel that you should be able to make up clinical time. You used to be able to make up clinical time by paying $50 per clinical absence and attending your clinical with another rotation but they got rid of that policy. What policy does your school have when you're ill? Are you allowed to make up time? Has anyone else had an acute serious illness that was told pretty much to just drop out of the semester? I'm really frustrated right now. I hope this instructor never gets sick and has to take a day off work. Heaven forbid we as nursing students get ill occasionally!

In the ER I always hate to see a child die. It just makes me feel so bad even though I know we did everything we could. Recently we had a three month old that had been abused and neglected by his parents. I had to go to the bathroom and cry after that one because I just felt so bad his little body had to endure something so terrible for three months, and he deserved the world and was given a horrible life instead. It just felt so unfair. When I worked at 911 I had a few calls that still play in my head. One was when a woman called 911 as she was being stabbed to death by her boyfriend. I heard that awful screaming and eventually the gurgling as she was dying. She didn't make it. There were a few people I talked to that died on the phone, knowing I was the last person they were going to talk to made me appreciate life just a little more. The other call I distinctly remember is a man who had his truck fall on his chest as he was working on it. He was going in and out of consciousness as I was talking to him. Some areas of our county are in remote spots and it takes a while for EMS to get to them - especially if all the trucks are out. Well this call came in and I was talking to him as he was struggling to breathe, and about two minutes later another call came in for the same area with an officer shot. The ambulance rerouted to the officer shot call and I was on the phone for 30 minutes with the man as he passed on. I couldn't imagine the pain he endured. I just was glad he wasn't alone as he passed. Most of the time death doesn't bother me... I actually find it incredibly interesting. I try to go down and watch as many autopsies as possible. I love hearing people's stories, finding out the people they were and the life they lived. I really hope the next time a coroner position comes around I'm able to apply (part-time). I'm pretty sure I'd love it.

In my own experience I can say once I got married I felt so much more secure and confident in my life. It was a huge step for my son and I. I felt like as long as I could go home at the end of the day all my emotional needs were met and that gave me the opportunity to be care less what others thought of me? I think I learned to not put so much stock into others perceptions of me when I worked at 911. We had 60 workers, 9 of whom were women and they knew how to ruin someone's life. Seriously. They spread rumors of me sleeping with officer x officer y and officer z. It ruined my credibility for a period of time because it made OTHER officers see me not as a dispatcher but as someone to sleep with. I was disrespected and treated very poorly by them. I even had some of them "pulling me over" after work just to "talk" because they wanted to harass me and "joke". Once I got married (to someone who was never in law enforcement) the rumors stopped and I was able to regain my credibility as a dispatcher. Another reason I feel I'm not bullied is because of my age. I look very young, I get carded if my husband and I go to an R rated movie. However I'm a few months shy of the 30 mark. The older I get the less I care about others in that way. Not everyone has to like me. Not everyone needs to think I'm full of rainbows and sunshine. Doesn't matter. I've had a hard journey in my 30 years. Between getting kicked out of my parents home when I turned 18, having a baby in my early 20s, being a single mother, being laid off, being so poor that I literally couldn't afford a mattress and slept on an air bed with no other furniture in my house, being laid off again, almost dying from meningitis, and several other things in my life.. I've learned to be a little more tough and not cry over something as simple as "someone not liking me".

1) Often times students are so busy studying, getting to class, handling other obligations, etc that sitting down in class is the only time they can eat. 2) Some students stress eat. It isn't healthy but if they are managing they are managing. 3) Personally our lectures run 4-6 hours with only two 15 minute breaks, so most of us bring lunch or dinner to class with us. There are far worse things that can be done in a classroom that can be found rude, volatile, and offending. Perhaps you should sit in the very front and focus on what is being taught and it will drown out the noise you find so horrid? FYI perhaps this should be posted under nursing students - not under the general nursing discussion.

I understand where your husband is coming from.. I really do. Maybe he's sad or depressed about his job and it's hard to hear about your job and all those responsibilities that he wishes he could have. Recently a coroner job came open in our county. My husband and I BOTH wanted this position (it's a part time position, pays extremely well, and is very rare to come by). Anyways, since I'm going to school and already work in the ER (and guaranteed a job after graduation) we decided he should be the one to apply since it would be more beneficial to him at this point (we didn't want to compete with each other so we didn't both apply). Well he got the job, I was really happy for him, but when he brings work home I do feel bitter about the situation. I told him I don't want to hear about his job at the coroner's office anymore because it made me jealous since that was a position I too have held out for for years (it just never came available in the past four years I had been trying for it). I know he isn't doing it to be mean or spiteful, but it's hard hearing him do all the things I wanted to do (especially since he only had a mild interest in pursuing this field until I told him all the reasons I WANTED to do it - autopsies, figuring out true cause of death, etc etc). Perhaps your husband needs to look for a job that makes him feel like he's contributing more to the field he wants to be in? Or even a supervisory role himself - maybe that's what he is most interested in. Either way he needs your support. After he becomes happy in his own career he will probably be more willing to listen to your vents as well. As long as he isn't degrading you it's obviously best to just let him get over this hurdle in his own life. He's hurting right now.. I'm sure he isn't doing it to be mean and spiteful, but it feels hard for him to not achieve his goals/dreams too when he may have been trying for so long.

I'm so sorry you've gone through this :hugs:. As health care PROFESSIONALS we should ALL teach each patient with empathy and compassion. That means treating the inmate on your stretcher who has raped and killed four women with the same amount of professionalism as the man who has donated hundreds of hours of his time to the local foster shelter. I go out of my way to treat those in less fortunate situations with compassion. Not saying I don't necessarily inwardly cringe when I see an inmate and a guard with one of our patients in the ER, but I walk in the room with a smile and explain to him that I'm drawing labs or need to cath him for a sterile urine. I still go as gently as possible because that's what a good professional does . I once went into my OB/GYN office because I had stopped getting my periods and gained 30lbs in a span of two months without changing my diet. I started exercising and restricted my diet to 1200 calories a day. I was worried something was wrong so I went to see her. She said "you know what's wrong? You like food too much and you eat more than you should. Increase your exercise and eat less." From a NP no less. I walked out of there in tears and vowed never to return. No solutions were given, no tests were done. I found out later that I had Hashimotos and my thyroid was enlarged and barely functioning. Needless to say I wrote her a NASTY letter and also sent a duplicate to the office manager explaining how poor my care was. I never received an apology, I never received a call, but it certainly felt great to get that out there and let that NP know how WRONG she was. I really hope you are able to find someone else who treats you with the compassion you deserve. And spread the word near and far about how horrible that PA was. Best of luck to you in the future!

Ugh don't even get me started on magnet. Inflated staff numbers, being forced to smile all the time, "coaching" on how to respond to questions, etc etc. Oh and those inflated staffing numbers always seem to disappear the moment those accrediting us walk out the door. I've gone through TWO magnet renewals at both the hospitals I've worked at, I hated both times and saw it for the scam that it was. Exit - I like your rant

YUP!!! Had this last night as a lady was cursing at our triage nurse screaming the "f bomb" every other word and calling her names because her four year old with a fever of 101 wasn't taken back yet but the 78 year old man who walked in with chest pain did. I love the inflation times people yell at us too - "I've been here FOUR HOURS." "Nope, you've been here 38 minutes. I'll let you know when you hit the four hour mark"

I found out from a friend that works at the same hospital that she got a raise - she works in the sterile processing department. It's frustrating because their department is a complete JOKE. They send us our code carts without proper equipment (our last code we went through FOUR code carts to find a doppler that works because they didn't check the batteries like they were supposed to), and our intubation trays we use had a bunch of mismatched items in it so we couldn't even intubate the lady until we grabbed another tray. Or our suture trays - two sections are supposed to get four trays every day brand new and lately we've only been getting one per area and needing to run to sterile processing for additional trays later in the day. Our housekeeping dept received a raise too, and they are pretty horrible. They are always on "break", they lie to us that they've been in a room (we are designated sections and when you tell me you clean a room and I can walk in and see blood and feces on the floor still I KNOW you didn't clean the room). I noticed since this happened a general attitude of bitterness floating around - a lot of nurses don't feel like they should put forth an effort to go above and beyond since they did that and it resulted in nothing. I can't say I blame them, I feel the same way. There are four major hospitals in the area within 30 minutes of each other, if you expand it out to an hour that adds another two in addition to that, if you include more minor hospitals there are eight pretty close to each other. I guess I'll apply to all of them though in hopes of getting in one that DOES include pay raises. I just hope the other hospitals have the same teamwork efforts that this one does. I really feel bad for all of you going through this as well. I've never seen a nurse that didn't deserve a raise in the ER!

I drive an hour to school and an hour home five days a week. It depends where you are in the program for us. First/Second semester students are only at school three days a week, third/fourth semester students five days. Ideally though because you have patients to prep for or assignments due that require school computers (because you have to access patient info) I'm usually there five FULL days (12 hours some days) and sometimes I go in for a sixth day. Driving is a PAIN. If you can move closer - DO IT. I can't tell you how many days I almost fall asleep at the wheel from pure exhaustion and have to pull over for coffee. Good luck in your program :)