beshacohen

I can understand an A&O x4 patient at risk of death wanting to sign out AMA. Some people just don't want to die in a hospital or nursing home. Some people are terrified of the thought of losing control. To some people, death in a taxi or a driveway is a better option than months or years of life hooked up to machines, or lying in a bed getting stage IVs. I watched my dad go that way. I can see their point.

I voiced this fear to one of my instructors a few weeks ago. Her take on it was that as a DON she would rather have a mature employee with a little life experience in her tool kit. She said that she has seen very young new nurses get out there in the field and then decide that nursing is not for them. It costs an employer dearly to train someone who ends up leaving. You know, 30s and 40s isn't old at all.

I know some of the nurses where I work do this. I don't and some of the residents get irritated with me because of it.

I'm also in PA, about 2 hours away from Philly. There are plenty of jobs for LPNs here, just not in hospitals.

I would bet my license that your facility has a policy requiring two staff members to participate in any transfers using a lift. At my facility all transfers requiring lifts require two staff members, but the aids never follow this policy. If they did, they would be hard-pressed to get their work done. It's a real problem that your co-worker said, "No" when you asked for help.

America is not a civilized nation. Civilized nations have a security net. Civilized nations take care of their own. A civilized nation has a single payer health system.

I took A&P I and II at the York campus. We used models, photos an drawings to learn anatomy. The was no dissection.

Another way of saying this is: Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, The courage to change the things I can, And the wisdom to know the difference. You can't change the past. You can't change your situation. You can change your approach. You can change you. That's all you need to do to get through this. You've got this. You WILL reach your goals, in spite of any setbacks that get in your way, and you'll be a better nurse for it.

I am an LPN, currently in a bridge program, with 6 months of school to complete before I finish my RN training. I really wish I had gone straight to RN. I never wanted to be an LPN, but I thought I might be able to find a job at a facility that would help me get my RN. It's not worth it IMHO. It would have cost less money and less time to just go straight for my goal. If you can do that, I recommend it. The time I've spent working as an LPN will count for nothing when I'm finally an RN. That's something I didn't know when I started down this road.

Get out of there. It's a toxic environment. Find another job before you get sucked in any deeper.

Um, "Nurse"ladi, if you DO attend nursing school you had better check your attitude at the door. The instructors will devour you if you let them know you think this way. They are all powerful, and they can fail you if they don't like your attitude.

Thank you for this post. Well said, and necessary.

Central PA here. Most of the hospitals in my area are going for magnet status. They phased out LPNs a few years ago. LPNs are needed in long term care and home care.

It makes me INSANE to go to get a dose of a scheduled medication and find that there is none, or even worse, that the card is still in the cart, empty. This stuff happens because people don't reorder. I always wonder about the nurse who took popped the last pill. If I see that she re-ordered (I can see the re-order date on our eMar) I calm down a little bit. But if I see that the last pill was used and no-one bothered to reorder, steam comes out of my ears and nose.

I just bought Nursing Central at 20% of the regular price at www.unboundmedicine.com. This smartphone app gives access to Davis, Drug Guide, Tabor's Dictionary, a bunch of journals, and several other resources. It's for sale at my college bookstore for $170. I paid $135. I've been watching for this kind of discount and thought I would share this info with the rest of you. If this violates the TOS, please delete the post. I just want to share my good fortune with anyone else who might want this handy app.