isabing

I work Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I usually have 6 to 7 points each day. That is considered full time. If I see patients Monday-Thursday I get PRN pay per visit. I also get bonuses from time to time. We have a surgeon that orders 8 hr antibiotics and we volunteer to go out late night and very early morning to administer. We get paid for a PRN visit plus small bonus for going out off hours. I work for a great company. As far as I know the whole point of Baylor is that you are making a sacrifice by agreeing to work every weekend so you should not have to work as many hours or as many points as regular Monday through Friday employees.

My employer uses an app called Office Line. When I make a call using the app from my cell phone our office number is displayed on their caller ID. It works 99% of the time. I love it!

I have worked in Home Health for about four years. I made a cheat sheet when I first started that was about five pages long. Over time I have streamlined my cheat sheet, and even though I can now do an Oasis with my eyes closed I use the sheet for every admission. Our computer charting system allows me to print a face sheet, so I attach my cheat sheet to the back of the face sheet and take it with me for every visit. I use the backs of each as scratch paper for vitals and pertinent information. I do not take my laptop with me because it just adds more weight to my already heavy bag! Computers are great, but I feel it takes too long to find the information you need during a visit. I have all the info on paper right in front of me which it great on a busy day when I get to someone's house and think, "Holy crap! Why am I even here?" I tried to upload the actual word document, but apparently my security settings won't let me. I can't figure out how to change my settings. If anyone knows how, please share! I attached it as a jpeg.

1. State (city would be nice) Reading, PA 2. Salary $30.62/HR plus $1.50/HR weekend differential (I work Friday through Monday 10HR days.) 3. Benefits 403(b), dental, vision, and an HSA that I contribute $200.00 per pay. I get $0.53 per mile. I earn 10+ hours of paid time off and 4.96 hours of short term disability per month. 4. Perks if any The worst day in Home Health is 100% better than the best day working in a hospital!

Some open their gown on a prep table then open a pair of gloves on top. The towel is picked up first, slid out from in between the gloves and the gown, then the gown is picked up from the edge and the gloves slide off onto the sterile wrapper. Others say that you can only take your gloves (still inside inner sterile wrapper) from someone else, and never take anything from the field without gloves on.

I work in a large OR (24 rooms). We have had an influx of new and traveling techs and RNs recently. Most of our employees have never worked anywhere else. There have been some heated discussions about gowning and gloving. My question: Is it acceptable to open your gloves on top of your gown before going out to scrub, or should you just open your gown and have someone else give you your gloves after you put your gown on? Lisa

Our pumps have removable channels. Each pump can control up to four channels. We run everything through the pump. LR@125 is always the mainline. Pit gets a channel and runs into the mainline closest to the vein. Antibiotics run from a secondary above and through the LR channel. The LR does not run when the secondary is running. We start our Pit to run at 2mu/min which is 6ml/hr and then back the LR off to 119ml/hr so the patient does not receive more than 125mls per hour. If we up the pit we back off the LR. If patient is on Mag, we add Mag 50ml/hr + Pit 6ml/hr + LR 69 ml/hr and so on. The antibiotics are not figured into the mess because they usually run at a lower rate.

Yes, but not the regular stuff. We use Acid Jelly. I guess I should add that RN's don't insert in our state either, we assist the Residents.

I'm not really sure what GOD has to do with, but since you are the only person that responded to my post, thanks.

Hello! I will be graduating from an ADN program in June. A symposium project will be 30% of our grade. My clinical group was assigned the topic of Health Care Organizations and the Nurse. My portion of the presentation will be about how outside organizations influence nurses working in hospitals. I will be speaking about JCAHO, the CDC, HIPAA, and health insurance companies. I have gathered a lot of information on the first three and will be doing a short blurb about the third. Now my plea for help! I need your opinions about how these organizations affect your daily delivery of care. Examples would be: JCAHO and fall risk assessments or the CDC's guidelines for standard and contact precautions. How much time it adds to your daily assessments, or actually takes away from your time to perform patient care. Whether you agree or disagree with any rules you have to follow because of the organizations, etc. Anything and everything you have to say about it. Also, I would like to know how your hospitals enforce the rules. (We have had a few people fired for HIPAA violations where I work.) I have a general idea about how all of these things affect nursing for the good and for the bad, but you all live it every day and I am sure you can enlighten me further. I know you're all very busy and I would greatly appreciate your participation in this informal survey. Thanks a bunch, Lisa

I'll be graduating from an ADN program in June. I applied for a position in LDRP in December and I was hired in February (actually might have been January, it's all a blur ). I start June 27th! I just finished up clinicals in MCN today in the hospital where I'll be working and I can't wait to get back. 95 days until graduation!! Lisa

I agree 100% that it is how you present yourself, but it doesn't hurt to have an idea of what you'll be asked so you can actually speak without fumbling for words. I am usually very laid back and I am not shy at all. I function quite well until I feel like I am being put on the spot, especially if my entire future is riding on the impression I make. Then everything just snowballs. My mouth dries up, my tongue feels huge, my eyes get teary, my heart starts skipping, and my brain takes a lunch break. It's always a good idea to prepare as much as possible beforehand. Lisa

She asked me: Why I want to work in LDRP. What I would do/how I would feel if I got to work (as a unit clerk) and the person before me did not finish everything they should have. How I handle co-workers that treat me crappy. And what she called the "Miss America" question: You've just finished your orientation and you have your first client all to yourself. The doctor walks in the room and says, "Oh great another new nurse. I wish they had someone around here that knew what they were doing." right in front of the client. How would you respond to that comment? I can't remember a time that I have been more nervous. My eyes actually got a little teary at one point. I wanted this job more than anything. It's the reason I went back to school. I am so relieved that I'm over that giant hurdle. Now I can concentrate on finishing school. :studyowl: Lisa

:w00t: I just wanted to let you all know that I got the job! I'm so happy!:roll I start August 6th! Now all I have to do is graduate!:chuckle

I will be graduating in June from an ADN program. I have my first job interview on Wednesday for a position in Maternity. This position is the reason I went to nursing school. I was feeling great about the interview until today. My son was in the hospital since Friday evening and we just got home an hour ago. I feel very unprepared for this interview. I work at this hospital as a Unit Clerk, so I am skipping the Human Resources part of the process and interviewing with an Assistant Nurse Manager on the floor. I have searched this site for interview questions for new grads applying for a maternity position, but I cannot find any. I will keep looking, but in the meantime I was wondering if you all would please give me a few ideas as to the type of questions I will be asked that so I can be prepared, and also feel a bit more relaxed when I am put on the spot. A very good friend of mine interviewed last Wednesday and they called her Friday and offered her a job in oncology (just where she wanted to be!). She told me a few of the questions they asked her, but they were all Med/Surg type questions. Am I wrong in assuming my questions will be different? I greatly appreciate all replies. Please hurry! Thanks! Lisa

I was wondering if anyone here could post some links to websites with examples of letters of intent for nursing positions, or give me some exmaples as to what they should contain. I was at work (unit clerk) going through job listings and saw an opening for 11-7 in beginnings maternity. Having just attended a professionalism seminar at school and being told to apply early for the job we want when we graduate in June, I decided to apply online then and there. I got a call from HR two days later telling me I need to have a resume, a letter of recommendation from two instructors, my official transcripts, an intra-departmental transfer signed by my present boss, and a letter of intent as to why I want to work in maternity ready by January! I have no clue how to write this letter. I know why I want to work in L&D, but I want the letter to be as professional as possible. Positions in the department are hard to come by and I want to make the best first impression I can. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Lisa

Being a unit clerk is pretty easy. I answer the phone, answer the patients call bells and notify the nurses or aids of their needs, put orders in the computer, make sure the neccessary paperwork is stocked for the nurses and doctors, fix/maintain the printer, greet anyone that comes to the nurses station, and place phone calls to many different areas of the hospital (IV team, lab, radiology, admissions, consults, housekeeping, maintenance, etc.). I work evenings weekends, so my job is not as busy as the day shift unit clerk's. The hardest part of the job is deciphering doctor's handwriting and hearing what the patients are saying over the intercom. I enjoy being there and it's a wonderful experience. The nurses on our floor have told me that I am lucky to be learning order entry now because it can be very time consuming if you don't know the system. They don't get much training on that and it's a big part of their job. Plus just being able to watch them in action and learn from them without an instructor breathing down my neck is priceless! Lisa

My husband was on Avonex three years ago. He had severe flu-like symptoms at first, but they subsided over time. His neurologist took him off of Avonex because of his liver function test results. He was put on rebif several months after stopping avonex. The flu-like symptoms were just as bad for him as when he was on avonex. Plus he has an eraser size growth of scar tissue on his right arm from one of the injections. He stopped rebif after a few months. He did go back on avonex when he switched doctors, but could never get past the initial crappy feeling. We were getting avonex from biogen for $25 for a 3 month supply. When he went on medicare, biogen dropped him. Medicare part B covers 80% of the cost of avonex, but that leaves $220.00 a month for us to pay. My husband decided that paying $220 a month to feel crappy all of the time was more than he could handle. His MRI's have not changed since he was Dx'd so we are keeping our fingers crossed until I start working. I'm not sure my rambling has helped you any. Good luck with whatever you decide. Lisa

I was assigned a 19 yo pt in peds who talked on the phone all day long. On three separate occasions I went into the room and she was on her cell phone and the hospital phone at the same time! In the morning I just kept postponing care (being a student I didn't want to be rude, wasn't sure how to handle it), but then I realized that if I postponed care every time she was on the phone I'd never get anything done. My instructor told me to politely tell her to get off the phone and return the call after we were done. It worked quite well and from that point on everytime I went in the room she hung up the phone without me having to say anything! Lisa

Yes! This is based on a true story. http://www.nbc5.com/news/3646642/detail.html Hopefully this link works. Lisa

Many parents that are "embarrassed" in public when another adult speaks to them about the treatment of their children end up taking it out on the kids in private. You may stop the immediate abuse, but the aftermath may be much worse. It would be better to observe and notify the store manager so that he or she could witness the abuse and/or notify the authorities. Or, as said in an earlier post, take down the license plate number and make the call yourself. If the child is not in a life threatening situation it would be better to try to diffuse the situation without accusing the parent. I do agree that the woman who squeezed her sons neck needed to be stopped immediately. Believe me I am no expert on abusers, but I do remember this from articles I have read on the subject. Lisa

I applied in July of 2003 and I will be starting in Sept. of 2005. In the meantime, I finished all the required courses besides the nursing classes except for one Humanities elective which I will be taking next summer. Having all of the "extras" done will lighten the load. :) I should add that I was on the waiting list for this year also, but enough people changed their minds or didn't meet the requirements, so I got in!! Lisa

Timothy, This is wonderful advice! I am saving this post for the stressful days ahead. I will be starting nursing school in the Fall and I am already having days where I doubt my abilities. I guess it comes with the territory. Thanks for the kind words and encouragement you've given to all of us "newbies"! Lisa