mercytech

I'm now a single mom with a 19 month old daughter...I do 3 12's/week. When I had the benefit of a husband, I could work three in a row and he would drop her at the sitter so I could sleep for about five hours a day. Now, I'm having to work either every other day (it's almost harder than three in a row) or one on/one off/two on so that I can get some sleep while still providing my daughter with a safe environment at home and providing safe care at work. Retired R.N. is right-say no when you need to, and don't feel guilty about it. Good luck to you!

Hi Lauren! Welcome to allnurses! I think getting your LPN is a great way to start! I know how hard it is to try committing to school when you have a small child (my daughter is almost two)...LPN is a great way to go! :)

Welcome to allnurses!! I don't know the specifics of your situation, but it sounds like maybe you've had some trouble in coming to your decision. Whatever the situation, there is so much support here! We'll try to help you!

I know a lot of us are planning to go on to get our RN, and we're focusing on the pre-reqs for that, but I was curious...what are/were the pre-reqs for your LPN program? I am planning on attending Butler Tech Vocational School in Ohio and for the class beginning August 2007 we must complete the following before being offered a seat in the class: -STNA certification (CNA) -CPR/BLS card -Medical Terminology class -First Aid class I'm interested to see what different programs require, so tell me, what must you do to get where you want to be?

Awesome! Way to go! :balloons:

That's sad. On our unit, the nurses are unable to remove bags from epidural pumps-the CRNA's are the only ones with the keys.

Ok, here's the update. Management says they've traced it back to the cord clamp remover (which is incidentally a specially designed model sold by the company who provides our tags). We will now be sending our tags down to Sterile Processing who will be sending them back up in individual sealed sterile packages which we will then be flipping onto our delivery tables. They have also devised a cleaning procedure for the cord clamp remover in which after a single use we will be soaking it in disinfectant for five minutes and then rinsing with alcohol. We were just having the discussion last night about the umbilical tags vs. ankle tags and we would rather have had the ankle tags, but we weren't consulted when the decision was made. I'm really glad that we're going to be sterilizing the tags, I just think it's ridiculous that it took three cases of infection before the policy/procedure was put into place. :angryfire

Our LDRP unit recently acquired the security system with the umbilical tags and we've had three cases of MRSA. The first was found on a baby we ended up transporting to the Children's Hospital downtown. This is completely gross. Has anyone else had this happen? When we first got the system the tags were being sent down to be sterilized, but they stopped doing that for whatever reason. I think that's probably where it began, but management is busy "investigating these incidences" now. So we'll see what they have to say. Anyone have any thoughts?

My two cents...don't do the PN program. $19,000 is a ridiculous amount to pay for a certification. I know the idea of being on a waiting list sucks, but in your hurry, you might be putting yourself in a situation where you could be worse off than in the beginning. Depending how this PN program is accredited, you could be wasting the time and money if your credits don't transfer. There is absolutely nothing wrong with PN, but if your ultimate goal is RN, I say go directly to it. You didn't say what type or the name of the school, but I know around here (Cincinnati) there are several different public vocational schools that offer the LPN program at a fraction of what one of the private "colleges" wants to charge. I definitely think your money would be better spent gaining college credit that would go without a doubt toward your ADN or BSN. Thanks for listening, and I hope our replies will help with your decision.

I'm not a student there yet- I'll be applying for the Class of 2009- but I'd love to hear what those of you who are students have to say! Great idea!

Our standard is to have them on ALL c/s patients before, during, and after until they are able to ambulate well. It wasn't anything we did routinely until a couple of years ago when one of the docs in our largest group went through a lawsuit. Now all the other docs are following suit. We call ours Kendalls.

Hello dalesgirl! I live in Hamilton and am a nursing student and scrub tech at a hospital in nearby Fairfield. Hamilton is a great city! I lived most of my life in Fairfield, so I was hesitant to move here after I got married, but it really has grown on me. Housing costs are lower here than Fairfield/West Chester/Cincinnati - there are some really beautiful historic areas here. I think the schools are decent. If you look on the State of Ohio website you can look at the school districts individually - last year Hamilton was rated 'Continuous Improvement', while Fairfield was 'Effective' (although they should be moving up to 'Excellent' this year), and Lakota (West Chester) was 'Excellent'. As far as convenience to work- Fort Hamilton Hospital (part of the Health Alliance) is right down the street from me, but I work at Mercy Hospital (part of Mercy Health Partners) which is a twenty minute commute. There is so much I could tell you, so if you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me!

Hello All! I've been trying to compose my admission essay to send in with my application and I'm a little stuck. The topic I've chosen (there were five to pick from) is: Evaluate a significant experience in your life and its impact on you. (250-500 words) Basically, I would like to use my essay to show that my grades in high school and past college attempts were not representative of my potential to succeed in nursing school. I would like to think my application is strong-my ACT scores were high, I've been employed in healthcare in a patient care position for four years, and I've got two letters of recommedation. I'm simply afraid that I will be judged only on my performance in high school and from previous college attempts. I'm 24, so there hasn't been a great expanse of time between then and now. Does anyone have any suggestions? I appreciate it.