MelissaC71

I made the leap from rural acute care to corrections two years ago. I couldn't be happier. I love my job again. Some things I don't worry about: I don't worry about over stepping my scope because I know my scope and as we are clinic based I do nothing at work that is not in my scope. I wear whatever color I want. The brighter the better. I clearly am a nurse, not a gang member. They don't care what we wear. For your hair, Put it up in a pony tail. Long hair should always be tied back, same as any nursing job. Maybe Twist it up after and clip it right up so it's out of the way. As for being a professional and being taken seriously, it's not hard. Stick to your word. Do what you say you are going to do. A lot of these guys have no education, you will do a lot of teaching. Their stories can be just as heartbreaking as anyones. Overall I really enjoy nursing in a prison (vs your county jail). I tease the guys, I joke with them, but never tell them my personal info. There is that security concern always. Intake is intake, just a different location than you are used to. Med pass is med pass. I always make sure they show their ID. You will do good where everyou decide to go. Hope my perspective helped.

In Canada I don't work "under" anyone. I alone am responsible for my practice. I also make more than 40G a year. Another option could be correctional nursing. I changed from Rural acute to corrections a few years ago and I couldn't be happier. Rural Acute taught me some wicked assessment skills and how to be a good nurse. I carried that with me, where I feel I get to use my skills far more than ever before. I hate the just be an RN comments. I started bridging over to RN, decided I didn't like the way their careers were changing. I felt they were getting away from the actual patient. I stopped taking the course and focused on really just enjoying the job I do. I couldn't be happier.

I would say no.

I would get in contact with the manager and ask for a tour of the area as you are thinking about applying for a casual/FTE on that floor, or in that unit. I'd say as a new grad your best bet for getting any work and experience in AHS right now would be to go the rural route. You can get hired on as casual, they don't need to apply online to be hired or to hire a casual employee. You learn a lot of skills and get a variety of experience.

I really think a lot of the flack LPN's take is from RN's who are threatend by our percieve invasion of their territory. As seperate bodies we don't really know what the other groups are capable of/What their scope is until we look. I have educated myself on my scope as an LPN, the scope of the Psych nurse and the scope of the RN's. Where I practise the biggest differences in our scopes are: I can't hang blood, but can do the rest of the monitoring, just can't spike that bag, Can't run TPN (not that I care about that either) Can't go in the vag and do a cervical check. Pretty much the rest I can do. I do IV meds/Centeral line meds, dressing changes and lab drawn. I do lab draws at work all the time. I do ECG's and can interpret them, I can run a trauma and do most anything the RN does. In my workplace I am one of 3 LPN's. We work circles around the RN's. In skilsl, knowledge, critical thinking and assessment skills. Our doctor trusts two LPN's more than 18 other nurses we work with. He didn't know we were LPN's until he charted something calling us RN's...We clarrified that for him. :) Other disciplines are threatened by their perceptions and the various nursing organizations propagate that bias. RN's think they are superior and think LPN's want to be RN's....LPN's want to be LPN"s, those that want to be RN's go on to become RN's. Frankly you couldn't pay me enough money to be an RN. The last 10 years what has come out of their programs does very little to impress me. They are being trained more for managerial types of roles as opposed to bedside nursing roles. The LPN's are the ones who know the patients, (as are the HCA's if your facility employes them) we are the ones who spend the most time with the patient. We listen to them complain, we bath them and can see all their skin, we know their family members and friends. I do not work under the supervision of an RN/ I never have...I maintain an independant license and I alone am responsible for my practise. Ego's need to be put aside in all aspects of nursing/health care. Do the best for your patient...That's who we are there for. Respect the RT's, OT's dieticians, HCA's and each other, we all make up a complete team, we all have a different role to fulfil. LPN's are real nurses and the best thing you can do to earn people respect in your field is to be the best you can be. Be an advocate for your patient and do right by them. Work hard and know you have made a difference. Before you know it, people will look at you and see a nurse, not a "registered" nurse, or a "practical' nurse, but a nurse. I am a proud LPN and very pro LPN. I am also very pro RN. If that is the path people have chosen, like I said, you couldn't pay me to be an RN. I get to do far more as an LPN. I get to know my whole patient and I am usually the one who knows when something is not right with that patient. I also have the brains to know when I'm in over my head too. There are times I need an RN to step in and take over. Vice versa, there are times the RN's need us too. We are all part of a team. We are all nurses.

I did it. We all do it. Mine I can still barely believe it...I was doing an admission on a pt who wasn't mine. She was in incredible pain. I had orders to give her meds so I did. Luckily It was a small dose and I gave it slow. I asked all the right questions before hand. I had done her vitals and was sitting on the side of the bed doing the admission with her and her 8 family members sitting in the room. I had pushed 2.5gm of morphine with 25 of gravol over 7 minutes. She had nothing else on board. I went to ask her a question and she didn't answer me. I turned to look at her and all I saw was her head down and she made that pfthththththt noise like blowing raspberries. My first thought was "oh ****" and with all this family in here. I turned and gave her name a few calls, along with a sternal rub...nada....I said to her daughter as calm as a cucumber "see that panel on the wall there?' "Can you do me a favor and press the blue button?" She did. I was in the process of flattening out the bed and getting O2 on her when doctors and nurses galore ran into the room. A shot of narcan and she was fine. Her family was the nicest ever. All they said was "you were so calm" They have no idea I died internally about 30 times in that 2 minutes......anyways moral of the story, cover your ass. Do the vitals and assessments prior, go back and check if they have had relief from the meds given. If you were covered in the MAR you should be ok. We all make med errors at one time or another. Own it, admit what you did and learn from it. It's one thing to make a mistake and run from it, It's another to take responsibility and learn from it. Most med errors I have come across (reporting wise) are not meant punatively they are meant for all to learn from.

I recently changed jobs into the correctional system. Prior to that I worked Rural acute. I believe I have made a difference in a lot of peoples lives.....When you know your stuff and can pass on what you know, you make the differences. I have seen new moms totally exhausted and having difficulties with breastfeeding totally turn it around. I see them become empowered and believeing they can do this, with spending a few extra minutes helping them. I have made a difference to the lonely elder by tucking them in at night and giving them a goodnight kiss on the cheek, or by spending a few extra minutes and rubbing lotion onto their backs. I make a difference in caring. It's easy to tell the nurses who do not love their profession. Taking a few extra minutes even when we are run off our feet is what makes a difference. In my new role I make a difference by sharing knowledge and building a trusting therapeutic relationship with my patients. We can all make a difference, we can all be the nurse that makes a patient and their family have a positive experience under our care.

There is a link to advancing practise on the CLPNA website, under education I believe. I took my immunization course this way. Didn't have to pay for it and it was all online. It was a great course. Check it out. Some group is paying for LPN's to take thie immunization certification this way. All you have to do is email them stating why you want to take it. They grant you access and it's all there. CLPNA is fast about adding the skill to your license as well.

The best way to get into AHS is rural. Get hired in a rural hospital, do your time, get all your skills and apply for all the city jobs. You'll eventually get one. We lose more nurses in Rural Alberta this way....But if you really want to get into a city hospital, it's the way to do it. Maybe you'll find you love rural nursing. You get to be a jack of all trades.

I took just over a 5.00 an hour pay cut, not including shift diffs and I don't regret it. My stress level is way lower, I enjoy my job immenslely, it's challenging and I am appreciated. That 5 bucks an hour was well worth it.

In certain circumstances low dose Haldol can help with respiratory distress. While I agree it should not be a first line drug choice for an elderly patient with Parkinsons, it can help ease symptoms of breathlessness and air hunger. I'm curious what dose of Haldol was prescribed. We tend to give 1-2 mg for this demographic and it's not to chemically restrain.

LPN in provincial run hospital, unionized employee, with benefits, I make $33.99 an hour plus $3.00 and hour shift diff after 3pm, and I think another $2.00 an hour shift diff on weekends.

This actually offends me greatly! Bearing in mind I live in a different country and I am not being phased out of acute care. I do work in acute care in a rural hospital and do many different highly skilled jobs in my day. ( I can read efm strips and ECG strips, I can manage a critically ill newborn, I give all my own meds in all their various routes including IVP and through a CVAD as well as peripheral IV, manage and initiate IV lines, care for post op patients, work in the ER, be part of a code team, I can lead community education classes, I can work to my full scope on a cardiac or stroke unit, I can work full scope on a L&D unit or a post partum unit, I can assess patients and understand when someone stable becomes unstable and communicate that to the appropriate person. I work as part of a team, a multidisciplinary team.) I do not want to be a long term care nurse (although for others it is where they shine) or an RN, I don't want to be the RT or physiotherapist. I want to be what I am, a highly skilled, well trained LPN who knows my job, my role and my abilities. I take offence at others thinking my skill set and abilities means I'm only good enough to work with the stable patient. I'm not skilled enough to manage very unstable patients requiring a very high skill set nor am I skilled enough to do chemo meds etc., but neither are a lot of new RN's. My college outlines my competancies, (which demand a high level of knowledge, skills and flexability as well a critical thinking skills) my province employs thousands of LPN's in high acuity departments, rural centers, city hospitals, Doctors clinics, long term cares and home cares. I'm very grateful I don't practice in the states and have to tolerate this narrow minded antiquated thinking.

All you wanted to know about the Jahi McMath case. I have followed this blog extensively and they have all the facts and legal ins and outs on there as well. Trials & Tribulations: Jahi McMath: Alive Again?

I would insert a sub q cleo for Haldol admin. It can safely be given sub q and the Haldol might help with aggitation as well as ease her breathing a little. It can be left in for up to a week. I would feel confident teaching a lay caregiver how to give sub q haldol. She sees her the most and should be able to adequately decide if she needs it. Considering she's hospice as well, why would you have her aggitated unnecessarily.