praying_mantis

I know how you feel. I have pruigro nodularis on my arms, legs and hands. Its very noticable on my hands and it leaves me open to all sorts of infection, no matter how often I wash my hands. The sanitizer stings really bad too. I would recommend putting aquaphor on it (or some other ointment), then covering it up with a glove. Im sorry you're miserable....I truly understand.

Two of my favorites that my hubby has said: "You should douche every week because it prevents cervical cancer. It washes away all those pre-cancerous cells" and "Melanoma isnt caused by the sun. Its caused by friction. Thats why women should have moles removed if they are being rubbed by their bra strap." I didnt even have a response. I just stared at him. Arrrrrrgh.

Dont be too hard on yourself....it could have been alot worse. At least you didnt give the wrong me to the wrong pt, and at least the pt wasnt harmed! Now you will be extra vigilant about checking your MARS!

Answer D....you always assess first.

This technique has worked for me every time: Roll up a towel or wash cloth and put it under the pts occipital protuberance....then put a rolled up towel/wash cloth under the chin. The towel at the back of the head tips the chin to the chest and closes it better. The only time it didnt work for me was with a pt who had a really wierd facial structure....almost no chin or jaw line.

I set limits. Politely.

IMO, you are giving your so-called "friend" WAY too much power over you. I would distance myself from her as much as possible. Continue to do your work. You are obviously respected by your boss, which is more important that what the other CNA's think of you. As far as your CNA liscense, I wouldnt worry too much about that. You self reported. That goes along way. Besides, I think that they would be able to see right through the complaint. You did not cause a pt harm, and your supervisor took care of it. Keep up the good work.

It sounds to me like this was a case of a casual conversation being taken the wrong way. Who was it that complained to the head boss? the other CNA or the resident?

While I think its important to take precautions, I think most of this is being hyped up by the media.

justiceforjoy Im not sure what happened with your grandma, but I am certainly sorry for your loss. However, I think you missed the point of my OP. That poor man that was already dead when we reached him in the parking lot.....I can only pray that his soul was already at peace, despite our frantic attempts to recusitate him. If sparing my patients feelings, by not giving her the gory details of her fathers death, at such a traumatic time in her life makes me a liar, so be it.

You hit the nail on the head LV. Thanks.

I feel so stupid today....this happened two days ago and Im still thinking about it. I had nightmares about it the night before. I cant get the sound of his ribs breaking out of my head, and the way his face looked. I have lost count at the number of codes Ive been too...and Im not a new nurse. I keep trying to rationalize my thoughts but its not working.... Out of all the crap and sadness I have seen, why am I all of a sudden feeling messed up inside over this?

Thanks so much for your support everyone. It helps tremendously.:redbeathe

So tonight we heard the words "code blue, lobby gift shop." I ran down there, only to be directed to the parking lot, where and old man was being taken out of his car. No pulse, started CPR in the parking lot. Intubated him and got him to the ED where he was pronounced about 15 minutes later. We didnt know anything about him, but he had a cell phone in his car, and an asthma inhaler clutched in his hand. We found out later that he was here to visit his daughter, who is a pt on our unit. The daughter was just diagnosed with stage 4 liver cancer today. The family came to tell her that her dad passed away on his way to see her. After a while, I went in to check on the pt and sat on the bed with her....I told her that she was in everyones thoughts and prayers, and that I was with her dad when he passed. I didnt tell her that it was sad and scary. That we knew the code wasnt going to have a happy ending. That his ribs were crunching everytime we did compressions....that I cried when I took the crash cart back to the unit and saw that someone had thrown his jacket in the garbage can already......I told her that it was peaceful, and that there were so many nurses there that wanted to help him. What a crappy night. We all have so much to be thanful for and dont even realize it.

My advice? Leave. The sooner the better. My experience was bad. Reported a nurse for multiple screwups, many of them dangerous. She ended up being "friends" with the supervisor. The tables turned and they went after me. Sometimes you can win. There is no reason to stay in a toxic work environment.

You must work in management patrick1rn!

How true....nothing makes a night longer and more stressful than working with ANY staff memeber that doesnt do their job. I wonder why the majority of nurses are scared to write a coworker up? If its in writing, it HAS to be dealt with. I wrote up e3 doctors in and 2 week time period last month for rudenss and intimidation. I wish I had the same courage to do it with a coworker that you just can seem to reason with.....we have one CNA that sleeps, preaches religion ALL the time to patients, uses foul language, will come right out and refuse to do a task.....and almost all of of us are "afraid" to officially write him up for fear of retaliation. Even as I type this, I see how ridiculous it is, and its true: we are to blame for not officially dealing with it.

Ive been advocating for freeing up the charge nurses of patient assignments for over a year. Im not scared to stand up and say something, and when I just recently accepted the full time charge position, I reminded them of that fact, and also got a substantial raise (at my request) for taking on the added responsibility. The difference between charging with one primary patient and 5 was astronomical. With one, I was available to start IVs, deal with crisis, coordinate ICU transfers, deal with difficult family members, do LVN admission assessments. With 5, 99% of my time was taken up with my own patients, leaving very little left to to actually "charge". When our floor is fully opened up, it will be interesting to see what actually happens.....

I think thats how it should be.....no patient assignment of their own. How can a nurse be in "charge" of the entire floor when she has her own patient load????

Our hospital was closed down after hurricane Ike, so the nurses were temporarily relocated to a sister hospital. I charged on a 43 bed unit. When adequately staffed, I would have one patient of my own. When short staffed, I would have 5 of my own on top of charging. Now we are back at our old hospital, and I have been moved to full time charge. It is normal to have anywhere from 4-6 patients of your own, on top of charging. Is it the same way at other hospitals????

In my personal experience, as a former CNA and now an RN, alot of it has to do with how nurses "ask" the CNAs for help. When I was a CNA, there were nurses that would say, "You need to empty the foley in room 283", and others who would say, "Whenver you have a minute, can you empty the foley in room 283?" and others who would say, "I went ahead and emptied the foley in room 283 because you look really busy." Of course, it all depends on personalities. I find that 99% of the CNA's I work with are more than happy to do their jobs, once they realize that I consider them part of the team. The other 1% are just plain insubordinate, impossible to work with, and make your 12 hour shift seem twice as long.

I like to talk to my patients too, At the same time, I know when its time to stop talking and get the job done. Sometimes its hard to send out that message to patients who really like to visit. Its a matter of prioritizing and finding that balance. I think your manager used poor judgement by saying that you werent as productive as other nurses. Your not there to measure up to other nurses standards, you are there for the patients. I would have asked for specific examples and incidents that led your manager to that conclusion.

I used to work in an Alzheimers unit that practiced the Eden Care Alternative. I enjoyed it, and the residents seemed to respond favorably, especially towards children. My stepdaughter would volunteer there sometimes during my shift and it was nice to see some of the residents smile for the first time in months.