LightCommaStix

Being such good friends, the doctor isn't going to reprimand her. And why would he/she? He/she keeps a good friend in the office, and all the work is completed (by YOU!) You can either look for another job, or ignore her (easier said that done, I know). If you press the situation, you'll just look like the bad guy.

I wish I had pursued something like this when I was single. I'd love to hear someone's experience with nursing on a cruise ship!

In my facility, (home health care) we have been told that LPNs cannot legally perform assessments as far as Medicaid/Medicare are concerned. Therefore, all our assessments are performed by RNs. Several LPNs friends working the floor at a large hospital here in town tells me they have the same policy. Go figure!

In my graduating class of 29 students, I was the only one under 30! Nursing as a second career is becoming the standard, not the exception. Many, MANY nursing students are juggling families and a job on top of nursing school. You can do it!!

1 - I wouldn't waste my time/money at a medical school that didn't have those requirements. Even if the school was somehow accredited, it couldn't have a decent reputation. Your degree wouldn't be worth much more than the paper it was printed on. 2 - Without those courses, you'll be at massive disadvantage when taking the MCAT - it covers physics, organic and general chemistry, lots and lots of biology... nearly impossible do well when you haven't been exposed to the material in class. I think as a nurse, you'd have a huge advantage over other medical students - as long as you have all the background material.

It depends on your state. Many states allow it, some don't.

One of my instructors in nursing school contracted Hep-B while working in a dialysis clinic. Successfully treated, thank goodness.

CubFan09 just mentioned this, but yeah, it's illegal for an employer to ask about pregnancy, marriage etc. in an interview. You're under no requirement to disclose this, and can file suit if an interviewer would ask. Also: please don't take my word on this, as I could be mistaken. Check the facts with HR should you get a job offer. But I believe unpaid maternity leave is covered by the Family Medical Leave Act. An employer is required to give you something like 12 weeks of unpaid time off to care for a sick child, parent, spouse (I think maternity falls under this umbrella.) and return to your current position. But I also think you have to be an employee for 12 months, so I guess it wouldn't apply to you anyway. Good luck though.

What length of time is defined by "a visit"? Thirty minutes or two hours? I work home health, but am paid hourly.

Thanks for the support, everyone. I'm getting all my documentation ready for tomorrow morning.

This is 50% rant, 50% request for advice. First, background info: I'm an LPN for a large company providing in-home services to MR/DD clients. (I have serious doubts regarding the company's ethics, Medicaid billing etc., but that's for another post.) Like I mentioned, all our clients are MR or DD. They live 2 or 3 to a house/apartment, with 24 hour staff to assist with ADLs, cooking, cleaning, driving to a part-time job, etc. Staff in the home has no medical/nursing training or accredation. Above the home staff are Home Surpervisors, who deal with staff in the houses, make sure bills are paid, bill Medicaid for services, etc. Home Supervisors also have no medical/nursing training. I pass medication at 5 different homes. Our district office employs 4 LPNs including myself, and our supervisor, an RN. Now onto the issue: We have a particular client who is 3 days post-op cataract removal. She's doing really well with the 'don't touch the eye, don't bend over, etc.' stuff. Yesterday the doc said everything looked great, and decreased her Vigamox and Predisolone to one drop each to right left eye Q3-4h while awake. My supervisor (RN) took the order from the MD over the phone and transcribed to the MAR. Times to be given: 8am (when she wakes), 12 noon, 4pm, 8pm. Client goes to bed between 8pm and 9:30 pm, so the 8pm does is last one of the day. I take the MAR to the house and begin administration. When I come back to house at 3:30 pm to administer meds, the house staff asks me, "So who is going to give her 6pm eye drops?" I tell staff she doesn't have eye drops due until 8pm. Staff says "No, Home Supervisor told us to have her drops given at 6pm. She said she really needs as much medicine as possible right now. -" and yes, this is a direct quote - "Home Supervisor told us the nurses are cheating her out of her medicine. She could have them every 3 hours, but is getting them every 4 hours." The Home Supervisor had arranged for staff to bring her to a state-certified Medication Aide at 6pm and give an additional dose of her eye drops. I immediately call my supervisor, who immediately calls her supervisor. The only action taken by management at this time was to tell staff not to let the client receive the additional medication. I scheduled a meeting with my boss' boss Monday morning, and plan on bringing a written statement. To summarize, Home Supervisor: A) Told her staff to administer medication not scheduled at that time, which amounts to B) Practicing medicine without a license and C) Told her staff "The nurses are cheating her out of her medicine"! I can't emphasize how humiliated I felt. Three layperson, house staffers with no medical/nursing training questioned my ethics and told me how/when I should administer medication. Stating something like I'm "cheating her out of her medicine" opens me up for accusations of theft and malpractice. Can you imagine the jeopardy my nursing license would be in if the wrong person had heard that statement? (It may already be in jeopardy as we speak!) What if the staff continues to say this about the nurses? This is COMPLETELY unacceptable behavior. Not that this should affect my decision, by this particular Home Supervisor is open hostile to the nursing dept. She's been overheard (by both myself and other nurses) making anti-nurse remarks such as "They get paid the most and work the least" and "If I had the power, I'd fire them all." So...thoughts? Advice? Again, I have a meeting with my boss' boss Monday morning. Am bringing a written statement of the events. I'm also considering going to my union rep over this. Should I press the 'Home Supervisor is practicing medicine without a license' issue? What would you do?

What is your facility's/state's policy on mandatory overtime? Sounds like this is boiling down to mandatory OT.

Blood sugar is definitely something you want to stay on top of. However, if you follow this line of logic, nearly any measured value could be considered a vital sign for a particular patient. WBC? ABG? At what point is it too much? IMHO, true vital signs help describe the condition of any patient, regardless of illness - not just those with DM.

I'm a 2004 ACC LPN grad. Since moved to Huntington, working at MMBH (the "old state hospital") and an RN student at Marshall. Nice to know there are others in the area!

Are you in the BSN program or the ASN co-op with St. Mary's?

No problem. At least you found out now, before you've signed up for the program!

Look a little closer at MSU's website. Tuition for general courses is $200/hour plus "general fees" of $60/hour, for a total of $260/hour. And it gets better. Nursing courses are $320/hour. With the "general fees", it comes to a total of $380/hour for a nursing course. I'm accustomed to Marshall University with $160/hour tuition across the board. Copied and pasted from http://www.mountainstate.edu/prospective/cost.aspx

I'm also an LPN contemplating the transition to an ASN program. To help in my decision, I crunched the numbers. Tuitions, fees and supplies will run from $13,000-$16,000 (depending on which of the two programs I applied to accept me.) The excepted salary jump from my $13.50/hour LPN wages to average RN wages is greater than $16,000 in a single year. The math says it's a good investment.

Haven't worked there myself, but several co-workers have and speak of it highly. Seemed like a good facility from the perspective of a grand-daughter of a patient last year.

I'm a currently practicing LPN interested in Mountain State University's LPN to BSN program. I live just outside Huntington, which hosts one of the cohorts. Anyone already in MSU's LPN to BSN program? Anyone have any information to share, particularly cost and length of program? Any info you pass my way is appreciated. Thanks!

Thanks for the info, indiananurse and earthflower! I know now to avoid.

indiananurse - I've been thinking about attending Spencerian. Do you not recommend it? If so, why not? Thanks for any input.

I took the NCLEX-PN yesterday in 85 questions. I didn't have any 'check all that apply' questions, but I did have 11 of the blank drug calculations.