starbin

Is there any screening process to determine the risk level like high risk, medium risk and average risk? Or everybody gets a standard treatment? I wonder if it is common to do pre-op screening for DVT (like venous doppler ) on people with a history of previous blood clot.

Thank you so much Proppy. That helps alot.

I am doing a paper on prevention of DVT following joint surgery. I would very much like to hear from the ortho nurses on what policy their facility has in place to prevent DVT after Knee or Hip surgery.

Fresenius as such is not a bad company to work for. They have good benefits and other programs. The experience varies depending on who you work with. And manager plays the big role, followed by your co-workers. I am a charge nurse with fresenius for 2 years and have had both good and bad experiences. My manager sucks.....she is a good human but she doesn't care about our problems unless it directly affects her............never finishes the staff evaluations, or resolve the interpersonal issues between staffs, never forgets to say 'I am working on it' but god knows how many more years she will keep working on the same thing. At one time I had to go to the area manager to solve problems because she was just so indifferent about it. Sometimes it frustrates everybody but .......other than that the company itself isn't bad.

Yeah. If you go to a place where everybody has one leg, you should also learn to walk with one leg.................otherwise you may find that you aren't welcome in that society..........Not respecting others and expecting to be treated with respect is not only rude but insane.............

No offence to anybody but I have experienced that too. They even give the report in native language. We had english only policy but the DON, supervisors and the nurse managers were the first ones to break it.

I am not sure which point you didn't get. In a nutshell, I was trying to say - there wouldn't be so many nurses and other employees from foreign country in one work place had this land not welcomed foreign nurses. I am not a native English speaker, but nobody in that place happens to speak or understand my native language. There in that break room, I felt like I was in an ethnic conference but couldn't present my paper because it didn't seem to be relevant.

I happened to be in the break room of a Nursing home during their lunch hours two days in a row last week. Here is my observation: There were four large round tables with six to eight chairs around them. In one table there were a group of spanish speaking nursing home workers sharing their ethnic food with the people around the table while waiting for the lunch trays, and enjoying the chat. Another table was filled with Phillipino employees, they also seemed to be busy chating in their own language while waiting for the lunch trays to come. Another table had polish employees (this NH is in a neighborhood of multinationality) busy talking and eating. This table had few chairs empty. The fourth table had three indian nurses chating. I didn't know where I should sit. I don't understand any of their conversation, i don't want to look like an intruder there, and disturb their nice break. Should I just grab a chair and put it on the corner and sit alone? I didn't know what to do. I warmed the food in microwave, and returned to my car and finished my lunch. This is the answer to people who think foreign nurses aren't welcome here. They are more than just welcome.

It is unfortunate that your sister didn't get visa. The officials need to be convinced that you will come back to your country after visiting the US. Probably she wasn't able to convince them strongly enough for them to believe that she was really going to come back. She had hard time because the fact that all of her siblings and her only parent were in the US makes them question her reasons for seeking visa ( which shouldn't because she should be able to visit them). She may not stay illegally in the USA, but they have reasons to think that she will (because most of her family is living in the US). If she could have shown strong tie to her country which will make her return before the expiration of visa, they would definitely give visa. Even if she didn't have any intention stay, the situation was not on her favor.......... I hope your sister can convince the officers next time.

Just spoke to two research nurses in a hospital who learned a week ago that their employer couldn't afford them anymore. There was an interview on the local news channel few days ago. A nurse practitioner who was working in th county hospital for more than ten years here in Chicago, was laid off because she was too expensive for them. Along with her they also laid off a neuro surgeon and a few other nurses. They closed a unit too. Hospitals and other employers have been cutting off hours. They make you take your PTO if the census is low. Employers are negotiating with the new hires for a lower salary.......... Economy has affected the employment of nurses that have no issues with visa. Can't say it will not affect the ones requiring visa. I think the higher paying positions will be the ones to be cut first, but I can't be sure that it will not affect the ones on the other end of the scale.

Agree with what you said-------- million percent.

No doubt foreign nurses are hard-working. But I don't like the justification for tolerating exploitation. This is one reason, I think, the nursing organizations should be careful about endorsing the idea of importing foreign nurses. I am a foreign educated nurse myself, and have a very high respect for and support those who want to migrate to the USA for better career. But it doesn't mean that I support the idea of putting up with the abusive attitudes of the management. It may be beneficial for the nurse, financially, to some extent. But in a long run, they are costing a lot for themselves and the thousands of other US nurses. Employers like those who are quiet, tolerant, and work dangerously more for less wage. The nurses who come to the US should come with a mentality to be part of this country/culture/profession as a whole, not just a wage earner. Comparing the standard of a developing nation with that of USA may be a comforting approach for the foreign nurses, but it is not realistic. If the nurses keep that only goal of "surviving" somewhere on the corner, and attempt to see themselves in a bigger picture , everybody will benefit. I have seen a lot of exploitation and frustration among foreign nurses but very few protests, if any. For the US nurses, they are aware of their rights and try to fight for it. I don't think this is being choosy.

I agree with the PP about the meaning of awake. If you aren't sleeping- you are awake. Alert doesn't always mean that you have to be oriented. Awareness of time, place and person may be categorized as oriented to TPP. "Alert" to me is actively responding to stimuli. The intensity of response may vary from person to person. For example- if a demented patient responds to her name when called or turns her head to you when you are talking, I would say she is alert. People may be alert but confused.

Based on experience ranges from 27 to 32 dollars. If you do acutes, you will get more.

I think we should dedicate this forum to helping international nurses with their licensure, immigration, credentialing issues rather than attacking somebody personally. Suzanne is here to help. Trying to twist something she said is just ridiculous. SSN is one of the most important documents an employer requires before you can even start a job. The board of the nursing gives license to practice ...not for fun. If somebody choses to be licensed as US RN for fun, then probably only a fraction of the Licensee will do so.... But the BON doesn't make rules based on the need of those fun-license holders. The board required you to have SSN, because it expects you to be practicing this profession. Employers reserve the right to ask for your SSN card and employment eligibility verification anytime during your employment. Having an EAD once doesn't mean that you are immune to any further verifications. If the INS finds out about you working on an expired EAD, both you and your employer will be in trouble.

City College of Chicago has seven colleges throughout the city. $72 per credit hour for chicago residents. I thought there can't be anything cheaper. visit www.ccc.edu

On the matters of illegal immigration, I am with Lou Dobbs. I wish the new president would listen to him.

I am not sure about the salary- probably depends on the years of experience. But in a typical night shift at LTC, you are expected to be responsible for at least 40 patients.....or even more. The job is basically to pass meds, accucheck, treatments, and other SOS nursing interventions.

When I saw the topic of this thread, I thought the writer must be 75-80 years old. I saw you are 45 years old. I think you should edit the subject of this thread. 45 years is not old, I have many co-workers who are in their late forties are are planning to go to nursing school. There is a whole lot to do before you will be able to eligible to work here. As Anna has pointed out, take some time to read those stickies on the top. They answer most if not all of your questions. Since you have been out of the profession for a while, I would say take a nursing job where ever you are right now. It will help refresh your skills and knowledge (you will probably have to do some reading too, which will help for the licensing exam as well), and eqip you better for your new job abroad. Employers love to hire somebody who already has the skills than having to spend money on training somebody brand new to the field.

Religion has been a big political issue in this country. Anybody who isn't deaf or blind must have heard/read the non-sense arguments about whether or not Barrack Obama is a Muslim. American public is misinformed about Islam, and many people think Islam means terror. Hopefully, things will change for good, and we will see religious harmony one day.

Having said all that bitter/sweet experience Muslim and muslim looking non-muslim people have to go through in everyday life, I still can't agree that the delay in processing of your application was due to your religion. In recent years, the DHS has become more strict in enforcing the law to facilitate legal immigration, and discourage/stop illegal immigration. As a result, the applicants go through various background checks and other stuff. And, also the volume of immigrant applications has been more than double, slowing the process and reaching the caps quickly.

Few months after the tragedy of 9-11, one of our family friends (a physician) had to fly to Buffalo, NY for a conference. He already had a hotel reservation for the night. When he reached the hotel at 8 PM to check in, the receptionist told him that the room wasn't available. Our friend presented the printout of the confirmed reservation, and his identification. But the person said it was a mistake, and they don't have any vacant rooms. Then the receptionist asked him to wait, and made few phone calls from inside the room. After 5-10 minutes, 3 cops came in and started inquiring our friend about who he was, why he was there etc. He provided the details of the purpose of his visit, who he was, where he worked, and whatever they asked for- then the manager apologized, and escorted him to the hotel room. I think body searches at the airports are random. However, the people of Indian subcontinent and middle east are more often the targets because of their names, looks/color/dress or whatever reason. Discrimination due to religion and race is illegal in this country, so it doesn't happen overtly. People show their curiosity and sometimes make offensive comments too- pretending that having a different faith than theirs is some kind of sin. This kind of comments come often from your co-workers and sometimes (very rarely) from your patients. I take their comments not as racial/religious discrimination but just as ignorance and poverty of their knowledge about the rest of the world. No offense to anybody- but majority of Americans have no clue of how diverse the outside world is. Many people have been brain washed with the notion that "Islam is bad". This affects the people of the subcontinent in their everyday life, no matter whether you are a bad/good person. These things do happen, but I don't get mad at the public for being concerned about their security. Public has been tailored by the media and the political parties to feel threatened and unsafe in presence of people who have a different appearance/religion/color/language. This is just part of life, I do my best to make people feel comfortable with me, and develop trust. It is very difficult to change the attitude, but we can still try.

None of the specialties are for everybody. I am glad that Nursing offers a variety of specialties that suit the interest of different people. What you have described here as your 'one day' of dialysis experience is very superficial. It takes months for one to have actual 'clue' of what it is. It is more than just a routine or repetition. I don't mind wiping the blood from the machine or the chair because I know this prevents cross contamination of germs. Not a single task done in dialysis is without a scientific rationale behind it. And , i guess this is what we learn in nursing school......back your actions with scientific knowledge. If you train a monkey for a few months, I am sure he will also learn how to amputate a leg but it does not make the monkey a surgeon. Wiping the machines with bleach water will never make me a housekeeper. There is so much more challenge in dialysis nursing than just wiping the machines/chairs or even just poking the patients with those giant needles. Just my opinion, but I think you didn't give enough time for yourself to actually have a feel of what exactly dialysis nursing is. And, best of luck for your new career as LTC nurse. I doubt you will find LTC more dynamic than dialysis. your day starts and ends with passing the meds, then bandaging the bedsores, passing the lunch trays, making 3-4 phone calls to the physicians, x-rays, labs, pharmacies and family members. This is the same task a LTC nurse has to do every single day. I hope you will enjoy it.

I admire you for managing to go to school and passing the boards while taking care of six children. Your plan to further your education is even more impressive. There are many schools that offer online BSN degree :typing, some of them are teleweb courses meaning that you will read the lectures, and also watch the videos. I did a lot (yes alot) of online courses and teleweb courses, I hated watching that video, I just like reading the lectures better. Teachers are always available if you don't understand something ( actually they like it if you approach them with questions and ask for guidance). The advantage of online classes is that the schedule is very flexible. You can print the lectures and read them while traveling on the train, or watching the kids in the park. All the best for your career.