Emma Peel

OK, best answer I can think of under the circumstances...explain to the patient why the care is necessary and that there is no female nurse available at this time. If the patient still refuses the care, DOCUMENT the whole thing, explanation, refusal, etc. The patient may try to charge the hospital with being inadequately staffed, or some such nonsense, but they can't sue you for your gender. And the patient has the right to refuse medical care. If you document that you attempted to provide it, but the patient refused, you should not be held liable. Emma "No further questions, your honor" Peel

This doc needs a psych eval, STAT. Holy cow! Emma "get the Haldol!" Peel

I am sorry you have had to go through all this. There is no excuse for them not investigating the whole situation. I don't know what else to say except good luck with your case against them. I hope they have to pay for the damage they have done you by being negligent in their management duties. I wish you well. Emma Peel

I am a new grad and I do come in early to read charts before I clock in, and sometimes stay after I clock out to finish up what I couldn't finish during the shift. I only clock out before finishing if what I am finishing is regular charting I know I should have been able to do during the shift. If something happens, like a discharge right at shift change, I stay clocked in. I don't feel my employer is taking advantage of me. I come in early and stay after for my own peace of mind. I am still struggling with getting organized and learning time management. I am getting better, but it will be a while before I am up to speed. I work on a busy, fast, surg/tele unit. The staff are very supportive, as is management. When I truly "get it", I think I will be able to get my job done on time most of the time. And if I can't because of hospital issues (as opposed to my own time management issues), I will stay clocked in every time. But for now, I need the extra time. Not for management, for me. I need to read up on the pts so I don't get overwhelmed. So I know what's going on. So I can get better at being a nurse. I WILL get there, but it is taking some extra time in the charts. I am giving myself that extra time because I know I need it and I deserve to have it. Now, when I am an experienced nurse and I am working hard and I feel they are trying to squeeze too much work out of me, I will not put up with that. But for right now, I feel like I am still in school and I do what I did in school when I had a hard class. I spend more time studying and figuring things out. But they are not asking me to do that. I am doing it on my own. I guess that is the reason I don't feel bullied. Emma "can't wait to be bored" Peel

I have also never seen male nurses "trying to get out of doing nursing duties". Sometimes they will ask for help, chaperone, or for a female nurse to do private area care, usually at the pts request. One of the things I have seen on the floor is that male nurses will be called on more often to help with turning large patients, handling aggressive patients, and anything else that people perceive as being more easily done by a large, strong person. So I think in general, it balances out. In a good facility, all nurses try to help each other. But we do have to remember that the nursing duties that become routine to us (our tasks) are often not routine to our patients. They are things we are doing to another person's body and anything we can reasonably do to make this a more comfortable situation for the patient, the better everyone's day will be. Emma "Let's all work together" Peel

While I definitely think that people should be held accountable for false accusations made, I don't think that incarcerating two older women with psych issues would help anyone. I agree with the suggestions here about communicating with you manager/facility about the problem and insisting they support you. You are a professional and they need to treat you as one. Don't leave nursing, especially not before trying other facilities. A good work environment can be key to feeling good at the end of the day. You already love nursing and most people are good people. Hang in there. Emma "pep rally" Peel P.S. Did you get individual malpractice yet? It is cheap, not like for M.D.s

Your post reminded me that medicine and nursing are always changing. All we can do is try to keep up with the changes, know why we do the things we do, and evaluate whether they are working well. We can go push forward, but we must start from where we are right now. A Maya Angelou quote that I love says it well, "You did what you knew how to do, and when you knew better, you did better." Emma "Evidence-based" Peel

Sometimes it is hard to keep from feeling insulted or angry when I believe someone is trying to deceive me (lying about pain to get meds). The voice inside my head says "I can't believe s/he thinks I'm stupid enough to buy this BS..." As a nurse I know that if patients are upset or angry, it is usually about their medical condition and not about me, and I don't take it personally. But it is a bit harder when I feel like they are playing games with me. I force myself to remember that addiction is an illness with strong psychological and sometimes strong physical symptoms. I remember an old friend of mine and how much he suffered when he was trying to stay off drugs for the first time in many years. He couldn't sleep for weeks, he was depressed for months and he was clearly miserable. And this was AFTER the first two weeks of forced detox where he had constant stomach flu symptoms. I picture my patient trying to fend off that kind of sickness and try to understand why they would try ANYTHING to get the meds. Remembering both the symptoms of addiction AND the symptoms of withdrawal helps me to remain objective and not get angry at apparent "drug-seekers". Emma "Cold turkey sandwich" Peel

My mom also had chronic pain from 25 years of rheumatoid arthritis. Mostly what worked for her was never missing a dose on her methotrexate/prednisone schedule. I remember being with her at doctor's appointments where they would ask her how often she had pain and she would say, "Well, I always have some pain. It's just a matter of how much". She would only mention it if she was having a really bad day, but even on a good day she had some pain. She just lived with it. The pain statistic I remember from school is that less than 3% of pts put on narcs long-term become psychologically addicted. Some of the others have to be weaned because of developing physical tolerance, but 97% don't want to stay on heavy drugs when they no longer have pain. Don't make pts suffer needlessly!

In the words of Bart Simpson, "Ow, quit it!"

One of my nursing instructors went to St Xavier and she said it was a wonderful experience. The private schools are more expensive than state schools, but usually their financial aid depts are VERY helpful, because their enrollment numbers depend on students getting aid and loans. They will definitely help you get whatever financial assistance you are entitled to... Good luck, Jen

If you are sure you want to live in Illinois, you can get licensed in Illinois even though you have gone to school somewhere else. The NCLEX exam that is taken after graduation is a national exam, but the individual states issue licenses to work. The previous poster is correct that the website for the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation gives you info on how to get an Illinois license after schooling in another state. You don't have to get your Michigan license first, but you cannot work in Illinois before you have taken and passed the NCLEX. You MAY be able to start orientation at a hospital here after you have taken and passed NCLEX (before you have Illinois license in hand), but you definitely cannot start working as an RN in Illinois (not even orientation) just because you graduated nursing school. They changed the law here a few years ago. Good luck and come on down! Jen

Regarding previous post: "If your blood type is O+ and your husband's blood type is O-, and your baby's blood type is B+, don't get mad when your pediatrician tells you and your husband that the kid isn't his... and don't threaten to sue the pediatrician, the lab, the OB/GYN doc, and all the nurses if he leaves you for it." I have a technical question about this. Is it the pediatrician's place to inform hubby that he is not the dad? And since hubby is not the dad, is it a HIPPA violation to give him medical information about the baby without the mom's consent. I know hubby should be informed, but can the Dr legally do this? Jen

Hi, I graduate from school in 10 days, so I'm not sure about which PPE I would require, but yes, I would supply my own if I could find it. I would want, no wait, EXPECT to be vaccinated. After all, If I am sick, I am just another patient and part of the problem rather than part of the solution. I would not care very much about the pay. When the whole thing was over, if they had not paid me, I would probably be ****** enough to leave, but while it is going on, it is about the patients, not the administration. Patients first, bureaucratic BS later. Hotel would be OK, or room onsite. Hospital execs living on-site and working. Wonderful. I have worked for many a place where the administration talked about "teamwork" when they wanted non-execs to give something up, but they never gave anything up. Yeah, the execs on-site would be "walking the walk", which I would respect them for doing. Bout time. Jen