ucavalpn

VISN #6 - Asheville,N.C.

I work in HH . I often pre-fill insulin syringes for my pt's. 1-2 weeks at a time. When I was working on the units I did often ask another nurse to double check .

In NC to it has to be 2 licensed people {LPN/RN , RN/RN} one of which must be an RN . Either can hang /monitor ect.

I live in Asheville,NC . There are several hospitals around the area . The largest is Mission-St.Joe's , these were separate hospitals now combined into one corp. Mission has the larger ER . St.Joe's has a wonderful cardiac unit. Both are good places to work . I currently work at the VA hospital . I'm biased , but I feel this is the best. Love my job. All have good benefits. There are several smaller hospitals in the surrounding area. Pardee in Hendersonville , Park Ridge in Fletcher , Grace in Marion and Haywood Regional in Clyde. Don't know much about these , but haven't heard anything bad. efiebke , Oct is a good time to visit . There should be lots of leaves left to see and it won't be as crowded as in Sept. Welcome to Cool Green Asheville.

Got them all but the gum. I may have even seen that and just forgot . My memory ain't what is used to be. Heather , my baby is older than you.

I don't think your pt. will go for it , but I once worked LTC and had a pt. who wore a helmet . He still fell but at least his head was protected.

I work Home Health for a VA . We don't work w-ends or holidays , so no problem. I used to work as a staff nurse . at the same hospital. On the units I worked it was every other holiday . If you had Christmas off one year , You got Thanksgiving the next. If you wanted to change with someone that was o.k. as long as you both agreed . Or you could vol. to work. I would usually work Christmas , for someone who had little ones . My daughter is grown and we do "Christmas" on Christmas eve. Always vol'ed for New Years /EVE as well . I'm not to much for the party thing .

In NC LPN's do not push iv meds , mix iv sol. for meds or draw blood from a central line ,no charge duties . Other wise we work pretty much the same as the RN's . Oh and we don't do the complete assement on new admit's . Nurse /pt. ratio is the same as for RN'S . Varies day to day depending on staff / #of pt's on unit { to many pt's , not enough staff } Typical staffing for a 30 bed unit would be . 1 RN - charge 2 RN or LPN - team leaders 3 Staff for pt. care - can be Aid / RN / LPN - Once in a great while we get another person.

Good luck to you, and when you get frustrated with your coworkers, give yourself to your patients. KateWright , what a wonderful way of thinking . I'll try .

I say go for it . You can't go wrong learning something new .:)

- i guess you just did . - why ?

- i guess you just did . - why ?

This brings back memories for me also . I rember my mom's crisp white uniforms , with long cuff sleeves . I loved to hear the russle when she walked by . I also rember my first "paid " job was ironing these . I wear regular street clothes with a lab coat now . Don't iron anything . Thank God for perma. press.

I agree with you. Suzy K asked a question ,just a question. As for C.LO's reply , I don't agree with it . So what ? I am an LPN and I do know I make a big difference for my patients and as part of the nursing team where I work. I am lucky enough to work with a group of FNP's , who have always encouraged and showed me respect for the work I do .I have learned a great deal from them , even though I had plenty of hospital experience before I started here. I have had jobs where I did most of the things the RN's did , except IV pushes . I think the real difference is education and Responsibility. Bottom line is everyone is entiled to his/her own opinion . It will not change my ability / competency .

Mustangsheba , well said . I agree with you 100% . [This message has been edited by ucavalpn (edited March 26, 2001).]

I agree with you 100%.

While working on a cardiac unit ,I had a pt. tell me - I'm going to have a heart castration in the morning .

I should have said , in my earlier post that the major difference between a LPN and RN is the level of responsibility . About starting IV's, it is not that hard . Mostly just a matter of practice.As you said it is change . Change can be fun .I love learning something new .Good luck to you . I don't think nurses in general are paid enough. But I do make a little more than imigrant labor .Just got a raise! ------------------

Jo-deye-yuh - I am also an LPN ,who works at a VA hospital in North Carolina - When I graduated from nursing scool in 1992 , it was the first class of LPN's that were required to be I.V. certified . Where I work I have {if doing meds that day } always had to hang my own IV's , blood , ect. - The only thing LPN's don't do that RN's do is central lines and IV pushes. You just get used to it . However most of the time if I am the med nurse it's for half the unit and don't have a pt. care assignment .Sometimes we do primary care where I would do both meds and pt. care for just 5-6 pt's. ------------------