OHNBJL

I have a coworker who has cervical spine and carpal tunnel surgery. She could not return to bedside nursing. She found a position working for clinical trial doing interviewing of patients. It requires Nursing assessment and clinical skills. She sometimes starts IVs and does asses, during chemo treatments. She follows the patients through their treatments. It does not require lifting, but she does walk quite a bit. She loves her job. As an RN who just underwent 3 thoracic spinal fusions, I know all to well the pain of surgery. Do not return to bedside nursing and injure yourself further. Preserve your back. I don't know if I will be able to return to work. I'm still in therapy.

I totally agree. I do not hesitate to bring any order to a doctor's attention that I feel is questionable or detrimental to the patients health. I once had a doc that ordered an inappropriate (massive) Lasix dose. I repeated the order and pointed it out to him. He ordered me to give it anyway. I put the bottle down on the counter and said. "If you feel it is correct then you give it yourself". He just glared at me and walked away. He wouldn't give it. Yes, we are the last defense for the patient and must be their advocates.

I will only contribute when I know all of the circumstances. A local family had a child dying of cancer. I know their needs were very real. Travel expenses as well as taking care of their other children were very wearing not only emotionally but financially. People will try anything for a free money. It's the responsibility of the donator to be aware and make a informed choice.

OH yes, the nursing cap. My favorite mem is being the last person in the elevator. My back was toward the door. The elevator closed and caught my cap. Ripping it off my head. Bobby pins went flying and the cap stayed crushed in the door. The whole elevator broke out in laughter. I was mortified. Had to wait till the door open for the next floor to extract my cap.

A girl in my daughters high school class has Aspergers and went to college and attained her BSN. She went on to do clinical research and is very successful. She lacked some social skills so she made a wonderful researcher. Very intelligent and task oriented. She is very happy with her job knowing that she is helping others.

i also remember Montgomery straps. New grads thought they were great. Especially after tegaderm ripped off tender skin. We older nurses still have a few tricks up our sleeves.

Both of my parents received Hospice care. My dad was a cardiac patient that was in failure and was placed in a Hospice unit in the local hospital. He got excellent care and the support staff was fantastic. My mom was at home with hospice care. She had mutiple Dx and was extremely frail with severe osteoporosis and Lyme disease. The Hospice homecare nurses and staff were great but the services were limited. It was just my brother and I to suplement her care. He works for himself and I work 32 hrs per week. We hired a private aide to come in. We made her as comfortable as possible but the nights were extremely difficult. My brother ended up with most of the care as he lived in the house. I did spend some nights there, but between my job and family it was extremely difficult. In hindsight I think the better option would have been a longterm facility with a hospice unit. I know this may seem harsh to some, but until you've been through this refrain from negative comments. Every situation is different and every family has different resource, both financial and physical to care for a dying loved one. I agree that it is imperitive that all options be explained to family members so the right choice of care can be provided. Unfortunately, the nurse that has to explain these options takes the brunt of the families anger and fear.

I am terrified that I will be unable to afford health insurance. The proposed changes I've read about include state high risk pools. If this happens, I will never be able to afford insurance. My husband was forced into retirement on disability from his company (not SSDI) after 35 yrs. I have worked as a RN for 14 yrs, then left nursing when my child started having seizures. I worked part time for awhile but then had to leave nursing because of her seizure disorder. I returned to nursing when she was in middle school. So my nursing career has been interrupted which has caused me to not have any real pension and my Social Security (in the future) will be negatively impacted financially. I currently work part time at a local walk in clinic that does not offer health insurance. My husband and I would not be able to afford coverage if it were not for the subsidy. I'm too young for Social Security and I don't want to apply for SSDI. I still want to walk part time. I love my job. I felt physically sick after hearing the elections results. I know that things will change and not for the better. This nation, in many ways, is not headed in the right direction and with the current elected officials, I don't think that is going to happen.

I remember when gloves became mandatory. I always wear them for blood draws but insist I have smalls. I agree they can be cumbersome. I often feel for the vein without them. Love butterflies for blood draws.

Sounds like you went into nursing for all of the wrong reasons. Just because it is a 'family trait and occupation' doesn't mean you were meant to be a nurse. Do what is best for you, not for everyone else and don't be swayed by their comments or innuendos. As far as all of the negative comments, you knew you were going to get them. So find another career that you are better suited for. Perhaps go for some career counseling where you take some tests to find out what your are best suited for. Staying in an occupation that you despise, and is making you emotionally distressed, is obviously not in your best physical and emotional interest. I've been a nurse for 40 yrs and have had a couple of jobs that made me totally insane. One I was at for 14 yrs. The administration and doctor changed and so didn't the working climate. We were given productivity checks based on computer records. Being it was ED, the nurse who saw the most patients was rewarded. Administration didn't care about the acuity of the patient. You could have one patient that was 'labor intensive' ie IV's Labs, etc. who would count only as one patient. While another nurse could have taken care of multiple patients with less demands. Your productivity was reviewed weekly. So I dreaded the weekly review. I realized that it was literally destroying me. I would go into work crying all the way in the car and leave at night with my stomach in knots wondering what I had missed or would be chastised for. A voluntary layoff came up and I signed up. My supervisor dragged me into her office, pushed my paperwork into my face and asked me 'what the meaning of this is?". I told her that it was my layoff paperwork and it was permanent. That the job was making me physically and emotionally sick and I was a fool to stay longer and let it kill me. I did my remaining required 30 days left. I felt very relieved when I walked out the door for the final time. Moral of the story. Don't let them destroy you. Do what is best for you. Don't worry about what others think. Its your life don't waste it.

You were absolutely correct in transferring her to the hospital. Don't let the administrator give you the 20/20 hindsight lecture. You assessed and made your decision on facts. Stick to it. As for Medicare guidelines and payments, they will drive you nuts. Don't let them influence your assessment and decision of a patients care. Great job.

I remember the week gloves became mandatory. I was working ED and a patient came running in with a fountain of blood spurting from the top of his head. I grabbed a stack of 4 x 4s and ran towards him. The ED doc was screaming at me to out on gloves. This is ridiculous I thought. Applied pressure, let patient take over and put on my gloves. It was difficult to remember to put them on all the time. But then I remember my first AIDS patient also.

OH yes. I remember the nursing boards. Two days worth with the individual subjects. Sweated my butt off in a large hall in Hartford CT. Also different states had differ t passing scores. The hardest were CA Hawaii and FL. Three levels took boards together. BSN. ADN and diploma. Waited 2 months for my results.

I agree. Something predisposed the administration to do this. Was it ? Med errors, ? Reduced insurance rates ? Ie compensation claims. Sounds like they are getting a monetary benefit somewhere for using it to assure a better safe place. Random drug testing is expensive and time consuming to administer. One of my positions was in Employee Health so I speak from experience.

Does anyone remember the controlled drugs that came in plastic boxes with slide lids that had little compartments for individual pills? I remember one of my nurses calling me in a panic when the box had opened and the Seconal capsules had fallen out and were in the melting in the radiator. Most vials were mult-dose, so you had to be accurate with you draws and especially the controlled vials. Does anyone remember Brompton's Mixture? That would send the DEA over the edge today. Can't totally remember the composition. Was it cocaine, morphine, ? Something else in an alcohol base. Used for chronic pain in terminally ill patients.

I totally agree with what you did!! You are the patients advocate. I would like to think that if I were the patient that someone on the team would have my best interests and saftey at heart. I was recently a patient for an ERCGP and the GI doc had booked me for general anesthesia. I asked the NP anesthetist if I could have conscious sedation instead. She said that was reasonable. She asked the doc and he was very snippy about her questioning him. Then snapped and said ' if that's what you want'. Turned on his heels and marched away. While being trailed by his residents. This took place at a large teaching facility in CT!!! The NP didn't let it phase her. She just smiled at me and reassured me that she would take good care of me. As a nurE I have had several incidents of bad doc behavior. I have taken them one side and addressed it but always with a member of supervision in attendance. There is no need for this type of behavior. It should be left in kindergarten where people learn to 'play well with others'

I agree. There are many masters degrees but you have to like what you are doing or your just wasting time and money. Nurse educators are desperately needed. Bachelors degree programs are dying for nursing instructors. So if you have the patience to teach. That would be awesone. Many nursing instructors are getting older and retiring. My daughters nursing program was taught by many older instructors and we're looking for new professors. They were all in there 60's except one younger instructor who was teaching for the education benefit of getting her NP paid for. Just think. No more weekends or on call. You have to be very computer literate, be able to deal with people, and think on the fly. So good luck with advancing your career

This has happened to me several times. The last time I had an emergency run and left my 3 Oreos stacked on the counter. The top one I had taken a bite out of. I returned to find the ED medical director eating my Oreos! I lost it. 'Really' I said. "Are you that hard up?" From then on I put my lunch in an insulated bag and tie wrapped the zipper shut. Sounds drastic but I value my food. Tie wraps are cheap.

One of my jobs did have 1 hr commute each way. I wasn't happy about it but the pay was great and the coworkers were great to work with. However, I did have a place to stay should the weather be unfriendly. So my suggestion is, make sure that you have a place to stay if weather becomes a factor. Or, make arrangements with a coworker to 'rent' a bed for those 'back to back days'. Driving 1 hr after a particularly difficult shift is not only exhaustioning but not safe.

Your doctor is covering her butt by not being specific about what is safe patient care. An employer would be very leary should you present a note with this wording. As for not disclosing your medical condition, I would think you would have to disclose it on a pre employment physical. Willing omitting a known medical condition can be grounds for breach of employment contract. I have rheumatoid arthritis. I applied for a job, pased the physical and did reveal that I had RA on the history form. The DON tried to fire me because she did not feel I would be able to do the job. She had a current nurse with RA who was always out sick. The job involved rescue work, climbing ladders and scaffolding. She went to the company doc who did the PE and complained. He backed me up and said my disease was under control and I could do all aspects of the job. I also had a letter from my rheumatologist. She then complained to HR. They told her that if I hadn't revealed my condition on my history form that she could fire me, but because I did so and was cleared by the doc she had no grounds for firing me. I worked that job for 15 yrs. So I would ask legal advice before to do or do not reveal your condition

Congrats on passing your boards. I agree with the other posters, have someone professionally review your resume and see if any alterations need to be done. I graduated in May many years ago and didn't get hired until November. I was so frustrated. I had to take a job at a LTC facility but it was a job and a source of income. I stayed there 5 years. You will find s position. Keep moving forward. Good luck.

I totally agree. It's all about the bucks. If insurance companies can use the data to prove that BSNs make less errors than ADNs that's what is going to be required.

I can certainly understand your concerns. Is your husband on SSDI? Are your children eligible for financial assistance?

I agree totally. Give me an experienced nurse any day. However, it is now all about the degrees. I'm pushing 60 and do have a bachelors but I got it when I was 40 because in order to have my Occ Health Cert it was going to be mandatory. Also, there were 4 of us who took the Occ Health Boards. The 2 of us that passed had bachelors. Lots of question on the boards were administrative not nursing care. Sad but true. Nurses in their 40's and 50's are stuck. Comply or get left behind. Not a good feeling

I can certainly relate. A coworker of mine's son was graduating validictorion oh his high school class. She advised the nurse manager many weeks in advance and was told she couldn't take the night off. She warned me that she was going to call out sick. I supported her wholeheartedly. There were only 2 of us on the 4 to 12 shift in a very busy clinic setting. Consequently I worked alone that night. The manager said nothing to either her nor I. So much for administrative support. As far as the manager was concerned she was punishing both of us. Her for taking the night off and me for supporting my coworker.