nurse100

Actually the NLN's and NCLEX are two separate tests. The NCLEX is the national licensure exam. There are two NLN Mobility tests called ACE exams. ACE I is intended for those LPN's who are entering an ADN program. The ACE II exams are for those RN's or LPN's entering a BSN program. Each college determines who (if any) has to take these exams as well as the passing scores they will accept. OU does require all LPN's take the NLN ACE II exams regardless of whether their LPN school was NLN accredited or not. I really think that the NLN's were a little easier than the NCLEX but it was sometime ago that I actually took the NCLEX so maybe not. I will keep you all posted...I am still waiting....

No, I am working on my last two prereq's this summer which may hurt me. She said that you can still be working on prereq's but those applications that have already completed them will be considered first. She did say that she didn't think that it would be an issue though.

OU does have a study guide that the nursing department developed but they told me they recommended I just use a NCLEX-RN study guide. I used Nursing made incredibily easy Pediatric nursing, maternity, and NCLEX Review. The Nursing made incredibily easy books are easy to read with just the information needed. Also, once you pay for the NLN, they send you an outline of the areas and the diseases in those areas that may be covered. It's very specific so you don't feel that you have to know every disease.

I just have a question, are you the oncoming nurse? It is policy in our facility that if the admitting nurse does not complete an admission, etc, then the oncoming nurse should pick it up where she left off.

I had to do quite a bit of studying just because I have spent the last 14 years in long term care. I really had to focus on peds and maternity. I think that they were a lot easier than I expected but I would definitely rather have taken them right out of LPN school. I sent in my application in April but the deadline isn't until June 1. They tell me it will take about a month after the deadline for notification. I just hate waiting! I feel like I am just "on hold" until I hear one way or the other...I don't have any plans if I don't get in so I'm not quite sure what I will do

Thanks, I will let you know how it goes. I do recommend that you take the NLN's as soon as you get out of LPN school even if you have a lot of prereq's to work on. The tests were a lot easier than I expected but I definitely would have preferred to have done them right after school instead of years later!

We use the cloth bed pads and adult briefs. We have no decubs that occured in house. I think as long as the residents are actually checked q 2 hours it doesn't matter but if they are not then the cloth is definitely better. The plastic allows more moisture not to mention heat!

I had a similar situation happen, except I witnessed verbal abuse. I reported it to the DON and Administrator and NOTHING was done! If I EVER witness any type of abuse again, report it, and nothing is done to the person, I will personally call the state and report them myself. I don't know what IL laws are on abuse but a number should be posted in your facility where anyone can call a state hotline and report complaints against your facility. By ignoring resident abuse, the LPN is as guilty as the CNA who struck the resident. She should have been immediately removed from the Unit until the complaint could have been investigated. I would recommend you call go to your DON and report what has occured, then if nothing is done...Notify the state. Trust me if you don't not only will she do it again, you will always regret not advocating for you resident. I do.

We have 1 LPN and 1 CNA for our AL (40 patients) and we have 6 CNA's and 2 LPN on our SNF (85 patients).

I was wondering if anyone here has done the OU LPN to BSN program. I have applied for this fall but won't know if I'm in until July! Just curious if anyone else has done the program...

You can try alfa.org. I had an administrator's course for AL administrators which helped me a lot. My state ALFA offered the course.

I truly did not mean to imply that I wanted to make a facility "look pretty". It was unfortunate that the Eden program failed to do what it was intended to do for LTC. Hopefull, the greenhouse projects will succeed. Each facility serves a different type resident whether the difference is social, cultural, etc. therefore there can not be a set "cultural change program" that works for all facilities. It must be individualized based on who the facility is serving. For instance, I care for residents who are private pay, most have lots of money. They do not want to sit at a table together and "pass the mashed potatoes", they want to be served. However, some residents miss that family connection of socializing around a large table. They miss that family connection that they associate with mealtime. And they do consider staff their family. What works for my facility may not work for yours and vice versa, but what should work for both of our facilities is that those residents are not levels of care or diseases. They are people and our care should be focused on treating them as such. Instead of living out the rest of their lives in "institutions" they should be in homes living out the last of their lives as close as possible to how they always lived. I understand that LTC is heavily regulated in all states. But I believe that most states are willing to work with the LTC industry in the area of cultural change as long as the end result is better care. Also, I never meant to imply that staff should have to take their lunch breaks eating with the residents, if they eat with residents they should still get their breaks.

I was removing an impaction from a LTC resident once and pulled out plastic flowers! She had apparantly ate the artifical flower arrangement next to her bed!

I was working in LTC, passing medications. We had a patient (I'll call Jane) actively dying who was one of our "spunky" patients. Her daughter was a frequent visitor so we all knew her well. I was outside Jane's room getting her medications ready to give rectally when the CNA came out of the room and told me she thought Jane was dead. I went to the door to find the daughter and son crying and the daughter was saying "Please don't go, please don't go" when she looked up at me and told me her mother would not be needing her medications. I went to the charge nurse and told her Jane had passed. The charge nurse immediately said "I just checked on her". We, with a CMA, went to the Jane's room. Her daughter was still crying and Jane was not breathing. We stood quitely next to the bed when suddenly Jane quickly opened her eyes and turned her head and looked right at us. I heard the CMA catch her breath and rushed her out of the room before she could say anything. I thought we would never stop laughing, and I learned a big lesson about making assumptions! Jane was having apnea! The most funniest thing was that the CNA who reported she had died was not in the room and none of us told her Jane was not dead!!! Imagine her reaction when she returned to work the next day and had Jane on her assignment!

I haven't done Hh, but plenty of SNF. To be honest, you won't find a whole lot of difference between LTC and SNF except SNF requires more documentation :-) and some of the patients eventually get to go home. It depends on the SNF you're working at but at mine there's really nothing much happening in the area of using skills except F/C's, G-tubes, wound care, and sometimes IV's.