dogwalker

These employers many of which are profitable yet operate under non profit status have CEOs who are paid millions annually and I guarantee many of them are safe at home telecommuting this very minute. This is a personal crisis management situation. Listen to your own good judgment. Don't be sent to an early death for a paycheck. Nurses are in the drivers seat now. Not corporations who weren't adequately stocked with PPE. Does the military ever run out of ammunition? Be safe and take care of yourself and your family. You're all they have.

If that happened to me, I would tell them you are going to home quarantine for 14 days due to exposure to a patient who died from complications due to Covid19. I would put it in writing and cc the hospital's risk management department and your state nursing licensing board. Then apply for unemployment. I am staying home from my job as a case manager. I have offered to work from home, but my employer never made provisions so that is their problem. Not mine. My problem is staying healthy and keeping my family healthy while this invisible enemy circulates. You are a hero in my book.

For wandering minstrel, try checking out indeed dot com it is the best job search engine out there and you can find several potential positions for infection control nurse. Many facilities will hire without the CIC-those are the spots you must hunt for in your search. I took the CIC today after working in this field for three years and three months. I have been an RN for over 30 years. The test was not easy, but I did pass it and am quite relieved. I bought the APIC study guide and read it from cover to cover about 4 times, doing all the practice problems. Smilingbig I really like what you have to offer on this board. I need to check in more often.

Hi-are you still working at San Quentin? I recently applied. How do you like it? What are the shift lengths? Are the staff good to work with? I have worked with inmates before in county jails but not in prison system. Drop me a note if you can. Thanks, Dogwalker

Yes! Congratulations on your new position. I joined APIC and highly recommend checking the webiste daily. Soon I will be going to basic training with them in SF. I recently started tracking the HAIs on Word instead of on a written form. I can get a better idea of what's going on in house this way. My IS person developed a template for me and I can sort by unit, by infection, by date, etc. I didn't know Word did so much. I open a new template for each month. Then of course, I have to follow up on each infection to see if they meet the NHSN criteria for HAI etc. I am still new to this but finding it very challenging and stimulating. I also do rounds on the units and observe care particularly hand hygiene compliance.

I have been getting lots of calls from units asking about downgrading from contact to standard on patients with mdro infections and colonization histories. If I understand the cdc correctly, they advise that patients with mdro infections and colonization remain on contact precautions. See March 2010 issue of APIC magazine.

would love to network-am new to this role - working for a huge snf/acute facility-am taking epi 101 in 2 wks

Yes, study F441 in the SOM. It was just revamped/revised, but I found an error already: it advises use of a 1:10 hypochlorite solution but in parentheses it erroneously instructs: "9 parts bleach to 1 part water." It should read the reverse:1 part bleach to 9 parts water." I am a state surveyor and have pointed it out to my supervisors to contact CMS regarding the error/typo. Regards, and best of luck. My two cents: Best practices now dictate that not all UTIs warrant AB administration-only those that are symptomatic. The APIC website was good advice. Also, set google alerts to infection control or infection control nurse and you will get daily newsfeeds on the topic.

1. Wash your hands between patients or use etoh based gel frequently 2. Don't lie to them 3. Don't falsify records 4. Don't embellish 5. Do be honest and straightforward 6. Do know your policies and procedures 7. Try to relax and be yourself

Hi-what does your state regulations say about badges and last names or your board of nurses? I'd check with them first. I think your first name and licensure or certification status is sufficient, but your boss apparently disagrees. Sometimes, you have to use your own good judgement in instances like this-policy be damned-I'll cover my last name when and if if I damn well need to! Do what you have to do, and keep it to yourself. Privatize your addresses and phone numbers as best you can, but if someone wants to find you they can-you just don't have to make it easy for them. Just my opinion, but then I've always been a rebel. These other posts about being proud of your name blah blah blah are irrelevant and miss the point that there are a lot of crazy people/patients/inmates, etc. who don't deserve to know our last names or where we live.

Seems to me that you are going to be fine as a nurse. Working in L&D right out of school is a big undertaking. If you love it, stick it out and this will pass. I am a firm believer in life's lessons and this one will make you a better nurse. The positive in this was that you did the right thing but it took you several hrs. I think everyone can relate to that intimidation. Now you know to trust your first instincts, don't second guess yourself and remember your first obligation is to the patient. Don't keep kicking yourself for it. Move on and consider yourself with good character. Chris RN,CPAN,HFEN

It is a new philosophy of care for LTC. Supposed to be groundbreaking. I'm going to google the term and learn more myself. Hey Deb, would you mind emailing me? I am also state surveyor and have a question for you. Was on a dreadful survey last week and have a question for you about about pressure ulcer care. Thanks, Dogwalker

Thanks Chris! I guess I'm a not much of a catholic (just baptised as such). learn something new every day...

Was there even a saint named Rita????I know there must've been a hurricane named Rita! This story is one of the saddest of all. Hopefully, the residents were all cognitively impaired. Not that it makes a difference in the inhumanity of it, but maybe they suffered less. Excellent article in Sacramento Bee today regarding this tragedy. Shame on us. Our system for caring for our elders is severely broken.

I'll just repeat my previous opinion-it should have been reported. At the very least, the entire scenario is inappropriate, and at most, constitutes abuse of power, abuse of staff and above all, resident abuse. Failure to report can have serious repercussions.