JenERally

Aside from its anti hypertensive and portal hypertension indications, propranolol is actually prescribed for significant stage fright and/or fear of public speaking. Also commonly prescribed to surgeons to counteract hand tremors secondary to performance anxiety.

Get a little more life experience dear before you start qualifying how others spend their non-working hours. Camping? With your boyfriend? Bless your little heart....

Go to eeoc.gov for more info. I've found that educating myself about the law instrumental in asserting rights as a disabled employee. Although an employer's affirmative duties under anti-discrimination laws as enforced by the EEOC and other federally mandated leave protection laws are very clear, it's appalling at how often employers intentionally and repeatedly disregard their legal obligations and interfere with and deny employees from exercising their legally protected rights out of ignorance and/or pure greed. Some of the workplace discrimination experiences that fellow AN members have shared on here are absolutely gut-wrenching and infuriating as they illustrate how cutthroat and unethical employers (healthcare especially) can be; how many view their employees as no more than disposable warm bodies whose values depreciate if and when a disability or other protected class challenges their bottom line. As I'm sure you can tell, this is something about which I'm very passionate :) Good luck with your situation!

I think it's important that OP gains a better understanding of the implications of playing Nancy Drew in the future. Whether you agreed with this coworker's "libelous" statement, that's actually not relevant. You might be interested to know that even in non-unionized workplaces, discussions amongst employees regarding workplace conditions-even on Facebook-may qualify as FLSA-protected behavior and cannot be prohibited by the employer. You're certainly entitled to inform your employer about allegations of illegal employment practices, but the fact that your coworker published that allegation on FB wasn't a "boo-boo".

In the U.S., it's illegal for an employer to ask whether an applicant has a disability prior to a job offer. Technically speaking, an applicant and/or employee isn't required by law to disclose a known disability before, during, or after the application process unless the disability interferes with their ability to perform the essential job functions without reasonable workplace accommodation.

What are people's thoughts on a single color scrub for everyone? Starting next year all nurses, CNAs, transporters, etc have to wear navy scrubs embroidered with the hospital's logo because apparently patients were overwhelmingly in favor of it to help identify their healthcare team. Personally I think everyone wearing the same color makes absolutely no sense and will go over like a fart in church....

I'm so sorry you're going through this! No matter which profession you ultimately choose, you've gotta do you first! Since you're 75% through your BSN, have you considered pursuing your MSN in nursing informatics? Congrats on your success so far, but please take care of yourself!

This thread's given me great ideas. My hospital uses an annual peer review performance evaluation that coworkers, one physician, and myself evaluate my performance over the preceding year. I'm going to write down every instance of my going above and beyond for patients, their families, and my coworkers and reference that list on my next year's evaluation!

There's a world of difference between a confused patient who isn't capable of distinguishing between right and wrong and a patient who understands that threats of and/or physical acts of violence to intimidate others are generally frowned upon; whose inability to play nicely in the sandbox is a conscious decision. It's the latter that warrants swift and decisive action by management in order to discourage similar behavior. If management isn't willing to stand up for their staff's safety, instead choosing the needs of that patient over its staff, nurses ought to be involving their organizations' risk management departments, employee health, employee assistance programs, compliance officers and anonymous compliance hotlines, even state and federal regulatory agencies including OSHA and Joint Commission.

My hat goes off to you! At what point during the AIDS epidemic did your hospital decide that the safety of healthcare workers outweighed the cost of gloves and other PPE? My colleague said that in school and as a new grad, the use of gloves was frowned upon because they detracted from patient comfort and made patients feel like a patient.

That's something that I can't wrap my mind around.... I guess I just assumed that gloves of some sort had always been available to anyone who came in contact with blood, spit, puke, and poop. I had been a nurse for over 3 years before I learned that hadn't always been the case from a colleague who shared her experience with me as a new grad nurse in the mid 80s..... Wow! I had to manually disimpact my daughter earlier this year. It was my own kid, but I can't imagine doing that without the assistance Mr. Don D. Glove!

Actually, a major component of the informed consent as required by EMTALA is that the transferring physician discusses transportation arrangements with the patient. The nurse is responsible for assessing the patient's understanding. Questions posed by the patient to the nurse in front of the physician, IMO, possibly reflects the physician's failure to obtain informed consent.

zenitude: If not already, have you considered seeking evaluation by an immunologist? I graduated from nursing school mid 2009, and became pregnant with my 2nd child in 2010. Since giving birth in 2011, my health has undoubtedly taken a nose dive to the point that I've had to seriously contemplate giving up nursing completely. I began seeing an immunologist earlier this year who's been able to find the cause of my deteriorating health: specific antibody deficiency (SAD), a primary immunodeficiency that was likely triggered by pregnancy which prevents me from producing protective pneumococcal and tetorifice antibodies. Left untreated, SAD is considered to be a precursor to a potentially disabling primary immunodeficiency, common variable immunodeficiency (CVID). This has been an eye opening experience! It's thought that primary immunodeficiencies are significantly under diagnosed in people of all ages; CVID in the 3rd to 4th decades of life. I received my first Ig infusion last week, and am already feeling an improvement in the constant sore throat that I've lived with everyday for the last 2 years and markedly increased amount of energy! The real test will be this winter, but I'm hopeful! Best wishes!

Western Governors University. About 3.3K per 6 month term, not per credit. You can begin semester at the beginning of each month. CCNE and regionally accredited. There may be some states that don't accept WGU, but doesn't hurt to check it out.

I cry when I'm frustrated or angry. One of my ears will turn Rudolph red, and I break out into bright red blotches across my neck and chest. My allergist tells me that the blotchiness are some sort of histamine mediated response to stress for which Benadryl before bed every night seems to help:)

Just a thought. When my titers were checked before nursing school, rubella was nonexistent. Three MMR boosters later, and nothing's changed. I'm considered a "nonresponder", but the only precaution that I've ever been made aware of by my employers is to avoid patient assignments with known or suspected rubella. Your situation is definitely more drastic than mine, and I agree with previous posters that you should take time for you to become well. But there's always hope :) Good luck and get well soon!!!

I've learned that assuming anything, especially that every registered nurse knows that Golytely is a clear liquid and is therefore subject to that pesky 2 hour NPO time, really can make an ass out of you and me I learned that although July 1 is an overall tough time of year that many nurses dread, there is always that glimmer of hope that helps to remind the non believers that well-trained, competent newbie docs still exist and could one day be phenomenal independent physicians. And just then my faith is test during an elevator ride to grab lunch when a surgical resident indiscriminately discusses with another resident for all passengers to hear about a patient during medical school whose member became necrotic and required amputation....

I suggested that pt should hold med until able to see PCP during my discussion with anesthesia, but was told that wasn't necessary because pt's angioedema was in no way related to lisinopril. I wasn't the nurse who discharged the pt, but I made sure to include my concern in my handoff report.

I just had a patient a few weeks ago who walked in for an outpatient procedure with lips and tongue visibly swollen. Patient had chalked it up to a reaction to the bowel prep even though it's happened once before.... Patient wasn't in any distress, but I still alerted the anesthesiologist. Even though pt takes an ace inhibitor, anesthesiologist said not to worry because patient's "been taking it for months". I've seen angioedema from an ace inhibitor in a pt that had been on lisinopril for 3 years so severe that pt was trached and transferred to ICU, but I'm not getting into a p***ing contest with a physician. I watched this patient like a hawk and documented my tail off. IV Benadryl helped with the swelling a little, but the physician's indifference was really unsettling!

I attended a cardiac resuscitation symposium recently, and there was a TON of really interesting information presented that might interest you. -AHA will release its 2015 guidelines in October, and there are several ongoing studies that will likely affect the guidelines. Most interesting for me was the move away from Epi alone during ACLS to a combination of Epi q5 min with max of of 3 doses + vasopressin 20 units + Solumedrol! -Therapeutic hypothermia bundle of care thought to affect prognosis more than actual core temp itself (patient outcomes for 36• similar to 33• when tight control of physiological parameters (prevent rebound pyrexia, avoid hypotension, glycemic and electrolyte control, etc) maintained. -Initiation of ECMO during witnessed inhospital cardiac arrest after approximately 30 minutes of refractory VF, even before ROSC achieved.

Having National Guard, state troopers, and local police officers surround my hospital makes me smile. I love being able to walk up to them and say thank you! Baltimore's picking itself up and brushing off the dust, and it feels good!

I'm not sure if it's an option for your triage setup, but the prospect of impending "lady" questions seemed to have a dispersing effect on family members. Something about lady partsl discharge that makes people run for the hills :)

No words. I'm sad for and will be thinking of you, your school, and the students