Purple_roses

I find it interesting that you've suddenly come up with all of these gaps that fill in every possible blank that your original story had left out. I also don't know that I believe the attending physician and pharmacist told you to flush the drugs down the toilet. Waste treatment is unable to filter out medications from the water supply, and flushing meds down the toilet contributes to water pollution. There are much safer ways to handle meds that need to be discarded. A pharmacist wouldn't direct you to flush that stuff. I'm attaching a list of meds that are safe to flush for future reference. Disposal of Unused Medicines: What You Should Know

To echo what others have said, the ending to this is unsettling. Ella was essentially transferred from an abusive parent to a homicidal one, and healthcare/social has absolutely no idea about this. Also, you are being placed in these situations because you work in an emergency department. You placed yourself there. There isn't anything supernatural about the fact that you're seeing emergency patients in the emergency department.

Hmm...I wonder why Rasmussen College is pushing for this.

Anyone ever met the overconfident CNA who questions every word from the nurse or dr.? I had the privilege of working with that gem.

Thank you for sharing this, David!

I loved reading this! I felt like I could have written this myself. I graduated high school wanting to become a nurse, but felt that I too could not handle the academics or pressure. I started studying Commercial Writing, and it was actually in my American Novel class that I realized how frustrated I was. I remember thinking, "I am studying The Old Man and the Sea as if it were a piece of actual history: what if I applied these study skills and all of this time and effort to something that I actually want to do?" I began my my pre reqs at the age of 21 too, and now at 22, I've finally been accepted into an ADN program. Don't let doubt stop you from doing what you really want to do.

The point of the entire article was not about whether or not surgery makes some of these people feel better. It is about how we, as professionals, can make them feel comfortable enough to come in for the care that they need. We are not performing their surgeries, we are not diagnosing their mental status. We are simply there for them through their struggle.

I also have a little story to tell you guys. I was in a nursing home caring for a patient that only had a few days left to live. The patient's family was all there, and I had very little time for other things. One of my favorite residents in the nursing home came up to talk me, and his story was so deep and personal, I stayed to hear the whole damn thing. He was raised Amish, which is probably one of the strictest cultures out there. He was raised to believe in God and the Bible. But he knew he was gay from the time he was 16 years old. He didn't tell anyone. He married a woman in the hopes that he could "cure" himself. After THIRTY-SEVEN YEARS of marriage, he got a divorce. Not because he'd found another person, but because he just didn't feel like pretending anymore. He's now in a nursing home, all alone. He chose to be alone after all that time. Nobody chooses to be alone just for the hell of it. These people don't choose to be ostracized. Some of them even wish they were dead--I've met a gay person who told me himself that he wished he was dead because he didn't feel accepted. Why would anyone choose that? (Hint: it's not a choice). The main reason I do not believe people choose this is because there isn't a benefit to "choosing" this. It's hard.

I can't put myself in your shoes, but maybe I can try to help you see it differently. I'm not going to persuade you to change your views--those are your views and you have them for a reason, though I myself do not agree. Anyhow, the Bible tells you that homosexuality/transgendered tendencies is wrong. Ok. But it does NOT tell you that you are at fault for calling them by a different name than the one they were born with. It does not tell you that you are sinning by acknowledging that they are homosexual or transgendered. If a patient named Matthew walked in and said, "Hey, call me Matt," you would call that person Matt. It isn't his name, but it's what he wants to be called. Maybe you could view it like that? If it helps YOU get through the day with a clear conscience, think of it as a nickname.

Also I think it's alarming that the OP is absolutely unwilling to learn new ways of doing things. Medicine and science changes. Just because it's the way you've been doing it for decades does not mean it is the best way anymore. Nursing is ever changing. There is ALWAYS something new you could learn. The fact that you refuse to learn new things shows your pride and your arrogance. That, my dear, is what will cause "failed missions." Your refusal to cooperate will end badly one day.

Politely disagree. I would want a new nurse to feel comfortable seeking advice and wisdom from more experienced nurses, and they will not feel that way if you "eat them and spit out their bones."