reg06

I am new to doing fetal losses on our unit but I can offer some information that might be helpful. There are some amazing books out there for families coping with loss. One very important booklet for parents is called EMPTY ARMS. We give this to all our parents with fetal demise. As for memory kits. Our hospital takes photographs of the baby, even if the parents do not want to see the baby at the time of there hospitalization. The photos are kept and are available for the parents at any time. We also use plaster of paris and do footprints and handprints in it. This creates a very special momento. Our unit also has donated various sized gift baskets in which we line with baby blankets and then place the baby inside when parents are ready to view the infant. This allows for very early losses to use the smaller baskets. The nurses who care for the parents during the delivery and after care send out a handwritten card to the family following discharge offering words of comfort as well as the reminder of baby photos available when and if they are ready to see them. It is such a difficult and deeply saddening experience to be involved with the delivey of fetal demises, yet very rewarding when you are able to grieve with the parents and offer some small amount of support.

Wow, what a great set of posts everyone. I think about nurses and teachers and I really believe they are some of the most important people in our society. What is so amazing is the people who offer little improving humanity, like athletes, business people, CEO's are the people who are paid the most and glorified. While the nurses, teachers, childcare professionals are compensated the least. Isn't that so wrong? What are the priorities in our country? Obviously, improving the human condition is not on the top of the list. Is it any wonder why we have a wide range of problems including environmental destruction, crime, alcohol/drug abuse, domestic violence and so on?

I started out with a new grad position in labor delivery/ postpartum/ antepartum and I am so thankful that I followed my true passion because it is a wonderful area to be in. If it is what you really love to do then follow what you will enjoy. What is it worth to go into an area that you do not even enjoy? Is there a good orientation program? I think that is also very important. You will need a lot of guidance and training due to the specialized area. I was lucky and had an intense orientation with a mentor as well as over a hundred hours of classes on everything from neonatal resuscitation to eclampsia to breastfeeding basics. Yes, you would pick up a lot of skills on a med surg floor, yet if your dream is to work in a birth center, many of these skills will not be used on a birth floor, so is it really worth giving up a year or two of your life working in an area you don't feel passionate about? GO WITH YOUR GUT and follow what you really desire to do. Don't let others opinions infringe on you. I certainly was pressured in nursing school to go into med surg first.

I found this clip on the bill if anyone is interested... Registered Nurses and Patients Protection Act 106th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 5179 To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to limit the number of overtime hours of licensed health care employees. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES September 14, 2000 Mr. LANTOS (for himself, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. MOAKLEY, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. FILNER, Mr. GUTIERREZ, and Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce A BILL To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to limit the number of overtime hours of licensed health care employees. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the 'Registered Nurses and Patients Protection Act'. SEC. 2. NURSES AND OVERTIME HOURS. Section 7(j) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 7(j)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 'Notwithstanding the foregoing, no licensed health care employee, including registered nurses but excluding medical doctors, may be required by such an employer to work beyond 8 hours in any workday or 80 hours in any 14 day work period pursuant to an agreement between the employer and employee before performance of work, except in the case of a natural disaster or except when a Federal State, or county declaration of state of emergency is in effect in the county in which the licensed health care employee is employed. No employer may take any action against or otherwise discriminate against a licensed health care employee for not working more than 8 hours in a workday or 80 hours in a 14 day work period. A licensed health care employee may voluntarily work beyond 8 hours in any workday.

Thanks for the info on articles and journals about the healthcare system. I definitely would like to be more educated about the finer details of our current US system.

Thanks again for more information. I am going to definitely cut down on my carbohydrate intake and look into diets that will help me feel more energetic. It is true that I do eat a very high carbo diet, Have you ever used fructose instead of sugar? Supposedly, fructose does not give you an insulin burst and then the "low" from hypoglycemia. As for symptoms, I definitely have started to develop more hair on my chin then ever before. Enough that I went and got electrolisis! How fun. Not!

Ginger, thanks for your reply. I was tested with a fasting glucose and insulin and it turned out normal, and this was through the lab. After getting the results of my lab tests, I never talked to the Dr and nurse practitioner about any further steps to take. I have been wanting to call and find out, but of course when I wake up, the clinics have closed, so I keep putting it off. Do they do anything else besides glucophage or putting you on the pill? It looks like I am not a candidate for glucophage. Thanks for the information, I hope to hear more from you!

Thanks for the reply IWANT2BANURSE!!!

I have been on the night shift for two years and was doing really well until the last 3 months. I am now really struggling. I sleep sound for 11-12 hours at a time. I have tried getting up with an alarm, but I just hit snooze for hours without even knowing. I have low energy, crave starchy food and sweets, my mentrual cycle ranges from 30-75 days in length and I am so moody!! I feel like a sleep walker when awake. My poor husband has to deal with me being so crabby, I yell at him for the most minor things. I used to be such a positive person with inner peace and happiness. Now I feel very "bummed" out. The things I love to do like hobbies are barely interesting me lately. Although every so often I feel I am back to normal again, then 2 hours later I am back to feeling down and lousy. As a nurse, I wonder about depression, seasonal affective disorder, and every other problem in the mental health books. I am not in mental health nursing so but I am starting to feel like a hypochondriac. I also went to see a physician and they did some tests. They found my hormone levels to indicate Polycystic Ovary Syndrome or PCOS. I think they found the estrogen and progesterone to be off. I wonder if it is just the night shift that is causing this? I am getting off the night shift in a week. Do you think I will get back to normal when I am off the night shift? I worry that my body is forever changed. Has anyone else been diagnosed with PCOS? Please respond if anyone has any feedback, similar situations, or suggestions. THANKS

I hear ya on the weight gaining issue. Unfortunately, my weight gain occurred during my 2 years of night shift. Very difficult to exercise and eat right working 11-7. I was on weight wachers right after college and it helped a lot. As much as I have a hard time forking money over to the Weight Watchers Corp. The fact that you pay is also a helpful motivator. Truly the greatest way I lossed weight was exercise and decreasing intake. I am starting evening shift in 5 days and I plan to bike, jog, walk ect prior to my shift starting. I also was thinking of a way to bike to work and then have my husband pick me up after work with my bike, since I don't want to bike in the dark. He said he was willing to do this for me. I can't wait to get off the night shift!!

Wow, great posts all, I am learning so much here on these forums. It is such a relief to have other nurses to discuss the situations going on right now. I am so thankful to hear that people know what is going on!!! It is so overwhelming when you start to read and educate yourself on the issues surrounding healthcare and all the problems. I was feeling so powerless, yet with this forum I feel there are MANY people trying to change the system for the better. All of a sudden I feel people are not so powerless. I am looking at healthcare, but also how this all ties in with how huge conglomerate corporations seem willing to do anything for profit with no consideration to human rights, the environment or morality. Now that I see what the power hungry profit driven heads do to attain what they do, everything in the US capitalist society seems to come together and make sense. Basically, it is a disaster.

I saw this post on a different topic about the million nurses march in 2002 in Washinton DC on the capital steps to stand up and make Washington take notice of our poor state of affairs in healthcare. I for one am marking it on my calender to try to go. I think it takes activism to change anything, people have the power to change if we all rise up and raise our voices. Nurses unite and we are amazed to see what a strong voice we have. Here is the link http://www.millionnursemarch.org/ Unfortunately, I feel lately people are working so much, trying to fit in some family life, and there is little time for people to get educated on issues or try to change things. I also think TV is controlling a lot of people's independent thinking. I know this sounds radical, but think about how much the tv influences your thoughts and opinions, not to mention what you buy!!

Fergus51 I think you misread my post as I did not say anything about the Canadien system of healthcare as being "inferior." I started a new topic on a different post called "for profit healthcare, is it working?" Please go to it and share your views. I stated I am very UNHAPPY with the current US healthcare system

Way to go nurses, keep sending out those complaints to CBS news, it is the only way there will be any public awareness on the issues nurses are dealing with. We need to get the PUBLIC on OUR side. Interestingly enough, common people love and respect nurses, as indicated by a poll recently ranking nurses in the top five professions for honesty and trust. You guys, the public is on our side. If they know that nurses are fighting for them, we have the POWER over any of the administrators who want to keep cutting costs. KEEP PRESSURING CBS EVENING NEWS until they buckle and shed some light on the true issues. Also I started a new post for the debate on healthcare in the US as for profit. Please help me understand what is best: Universal healthcare or for profit. I am very upset with the current system here in the US.

Here is my letter to CBS evening new if anyone would like it as a reference for their own letter. Dear CBS evening news, I am a registered nurse and watched your report on the nursing shortage. I found the report to be conspicuously incomplete - you utterly failed to capture the most important concerns of the nurses themselves. In the news clip about the nursing shortage, there was not a word about what R.N.'s are fighting for all over the country. Why weren't their interviews of national R.N. leaders or organizations/associations about the reasons for the nursing shortage? Why was there an unbalanced amount of quotes favoring hospital executives verses R.N.'s?! Now, let me enlighten CBS on some of the core problems facing the nursing profession and health care. CBS needs to take this and air a broader piece of journalism for the nurses. First, why wasn't there any mention of unsafe working conditions in the hospitals around the country? The nurse to patient ratio in almost every hospital is dangerous. Patients are more ill then ever before and nurses are expected to do more and more of the care and technical procedures that doctors used to do. The hospitals cut their staff, while the CEO's of these hospital are making millions of dollars every year. The patients suffer worst of all. Second, nurses are not being paid enough for the stress and life and death situations they encounter. At the hospital where I work, I recently found out that one of the CEO's got paid over $543,080 last year, which translates to $2,088 per each DAY of work!!!! This does not even include the bonus pay of $70,000 he received. All the while, talented, experienced nurses of 30 years can't even make $50,000 a year. Now these are the central reasons for the nursing shortage. This is why so many young people are not going into nursing and why so many experienced nurses are leaving. Nurses truly care and want to give the best to their patients. It is this health care as a business for profit that is so hard to understand and quite obviously exacerbates the nursing crisis. If people only new what kinds of conditions they are headed for within a hospital, and how over worked, underpaid and short staffed their nurses are, they would be shaking with fear of any illness. An idea for the evening news is to follow a R.N. throughout a typical shift in a hospital. Enlighten America and what they have to look forward to when an illness strikes and what nurses have to do to give just the basic care.

I went into nursing because I personally love people. (Most of the time) hee hee. I also am a major people pleaser. I feel so good when I am able to help another human being. To feel that if I wasn't there at that moment, this person would be suffering more and would be in pain and in fear. Being a nurse makes me feel worthwhile and proud. I am competent and I caring. It helps alot when the person I am helping gives me feedback and thanks me (although this seems rare). I love mastering a technical skills, like starting IV's, and figuring out equipment. I love doing assessments and trying to anticipate problems. Of course, the time before the mastery of the skill is very uncomfortable and nerve racking, but once you've got it, wow it feels sooooo good. I also LOVE the interactions with other nurses in my job. To get to know my co- workers and there lives. We talk and share stories and share our pain and struggles. Of course the time to do this seems difficult due to staffing and patient loads. Truly, this is a very integral part of my job. To communicate with others and discuss life, politics, and philosophies. I feel lucky that on night shift, we usually have a small amount of downtime to talk. (Depending on the night and situations, of course full moons we never have time " I feel so bad for many nurses who run there butt off all night long and never get to COMMUNICATE with there co-workers. Much more to say but it is time for me to go to sleep! Have a great day everyone.

Is it right to have FOR PROFIT healthcare? More and more I am starting to really question our system in the U.S. As a registered nurse, I am appalled to realize that around 47 million Americans have no healthcare coverage. Many of these people are women and children. US is the wealthiest country in the nation, but we can't even provide the most basic health care to many. CEO's in this system of ours are making huge wages, while more and more cuts are being made to the nursing staff and quality of care we give patients. Is healthcare a basic human right? I have the opinion that it is. I wonder about a Universal healthcare system, I know there are many difficulties and challenges within this system alsol. Yet I am amazed to hear Canada spends only 11 cents for every dollar on administrative costs, while the US wastes 24 cents to every dollar on administrative costs. This means more money pouring into the HMO's I have heard many European countries have a wonderful Universal healthcare system that actually works. Isn't it a weird concept that when you are ill, you are part of helping the hospital make money. It's like, a twisted concept. Am I being too idealistic? What happens when patients can't pay there hospital bills and have no insurance? Forgive my lack of knowledge in this area. I am never involved with the billing process and what happens after the patients go home.

EXCELLENT replies everyone. I wanted to see this on the evening news but I work nights and didn't wake up on time. I am very upset that it was not bringing up so many very important issues that nurses have been working to address. Thank you for posting where we can send in comments about the crappy journalism. I am borrowing the 5 minute clip on video from a friend and will respond to CBS as soon as I can. Interesting information about the mainstream media can be found at http://www.fair.org/ This site brings out the facts about how mainstream media journalism is lacking and often misses very crucial information. I plan to write to them as well about the segment on the eening news. We need to fight back nurses! We need to wake up the public to what is going on. It takes activism and pressure and UNITY to rise up against corporate driven mongrels who don't give a damn about human beings and only care about PROFIT. This brings me to the next question, is it right to have FOR PROFIT healthcare? More and more I am starting to really question our system in the U.S. I guess I should start a new post on this issue. Keep up the great work out there on awareness and involvement in advancing the nursing profession!!

Yes, it is very important to look at the cost of living in comparison to a person's pay scale. In the Minneapolis, St. Paul area it is about 21.90 an hour on the third shift for a nurse of two years on weeknights. This translates to approx. $40,000 working FULL time. It sounds like a decent wage when your fresh out of college BUT.... The big problem is, there is only a $ 3.00 difference from a 10 yr nurse to a 30 yr nurse in our area. This means a RN who has 30 + years of experience is unable to make even more than $50.000 a year. For all that skill and expertise, I think that is terrible. My raise since last year was a whole 34 cents an hour. Now this is just a small drop in the bucket as far as salary goes, when you consider the stress level, life and death situations, overworked atmosphere that nurses are under every day. Also, contrary to public belief, nurses do not get free healthcare! Actually, our healthcare coverage is not very good at all. We also have a very crummy pension package. We deserve better. My husband is very talented as a computer software developer, yet when I look at his job and the fact that he is not working with life and death, and gets paid well beyond what nurses make I really wonder. He also has top notch benefits, bonuses and so on.

NURSES RUN THE HOSPITALS!!! I am very worried as well about the future of nursing. I have only been an RN for two years and already I can see some unsettling situations in the next 5 to 10 years. First, it is true that in 1999 there was a drop in enrollments to nursing schools nation- wide. Second, the average age of a nurse in the US is 44, and many nurses are at the age of retirement. Third, baby boomers are most definitely aging and needing more health care. I was just saying to my husband, why aren't Americans more concerned about this grave situation in health care? Low and behold, I saw a highlight of CBS evening news with Dan Rather and one of the stories on Dec. 28 was the nursing shortage. Well, it's about time the mainstream media WOKE UP!! If people only new what kinds of conditions they are headed for within a hospital, and how over worked, underpaid and short staffed their nurses are, they would be shaking with fear of any illness. Nurses truly care and want to give the best to their patients. It is this healthcare as a business for profit that is so hard to understand and seems to be the root canal and the cavitiy all in one. At my hospital, I recently found out that one of the CEO's got paid $ 543,080 last year, which translates to $2,088 per each DAY of work!!!! This does not even include the bonus pay of $70,000 he got according to the rumors around my unitl, I don't know for absolute sure if the bonus was this much, but it is pretty reliable. This means he made over a million dollars last year. Now, I am not saying CEO's should not get paid a decent wage, but this is absolutely RIDICULOUS!!! Nurses are taking on more and more with little advancement in their pay so the CEO's and upper management can live in luxury and wealth. THE PATIENTS ARE THE PEOPLE WHO ARE REALLY GETTING JIPPED! I feel so angry that administration is willing to do what they are doing. If anyone saw the clip on CBS evening news last night, what did you think? God help the sick and dying in the US ithe next 10 years. I certainly will be praying for them.