twin#2

So, sloveladyg actually states that it is insulting & demeaming to be called a server as it places nurses in the realm of waitressing? I've a query for this poster; Just what is a waitress "realm"? Yes & the (not that there is anything wrong with being a waitress) was a picked up from a yrs past Seinfeld episode wherein the entire theme of that show was @ the characters, referring to a gay person prefaced "not there is anything with that". Princess Di

There are actually 2 opinions I percieve from all who have entered this thread (as I have inputted as well.) number one opine seeems to be from those who do not appreciate being referred to as a "server". As an RN who has worked some very high /stress/acquity areas (i.e. Neuro/Trauma/Oncology et al) I am not a "server" as in restaurant milieu. If I had ever made an egregious error (e.g. injecting Vincro into an Epidural line that Pt dies) One problem I see is that as a newbie in '96 I started w/Med-Surg for 2+yrs.Now RNs are being hired directly to Oncology/Trauma/NICU et all. I had been a waitress (dishwasher/bus-person too) for 12 yrs; I was blindesided as a new RN but I learned it well. Other posters I've found a tad arrogant; those who have cited waitpersons as if that is the lowliest job on earth w/ such vitriole i can only guess that some of these RNs et al were put through school by parents, already had money et cetera. My I.Q. was as it is now when I was a dishwasher. Anyone who speaks of servers in this manner doesn't even seem to recognize that, yes, your Restaurant servers I.Q. could exceed yours when you point a finger @ them you have 3 more fingers your pointing back @ you. Any "friend of Bill" knows what I am saying. Sans a support system, sobriety, family w/ money, an auto ad infintum the waiter(ess) some look down upon could be smarter than you. Additionally, street smarts are one of the most invaluable smarts of all; I can, & have survived street-life, rapists, attempted strangulation twice. I am alive via street smarts; e.g. how would you talk your way out of being killed. The operative word is talk because if someone can readily overpower you that pepper-spray in your purse is meanless, getting hysterical is excites killers & rapists & last but not least, if you think raising a crowbar or baseball bat toward anyone much stronger you will have that taken away & used on you. BTW to private poster I cannot open unless my anti-spam recognizes sender. Diana

Sounds like the facility I plan to depart from soon; they have a system wherein ED reports are faxed s prior knowledge &, yes they actually have a notice in the resource room that states "if pt arrives @ shift change simply pop into the room for a 'meet & greet' & let noc RN know there is a pt in room" Pathetic!!!! meet & greet??? This is an Oncology unit! I was a waitress for years; this is appropriate in a restaurant. I refuse to do this; if, p report, the pt crumps whatcha going to say..."so sorry @ grandma crumping, there is a free Creme Brulee' @ her ICU bedside if she comes off vent."

I care for animals more than many humans;primarily mammal (which humans are as well) are fellow, feeling creatures & c there is there is only one mammal on the planet who kills members of their own their own species in such vast numbers. They are humans...the only ones who kill for joy & the most violent species on earth (you can claim anything @ lions killing cubs for Darwinistic reasons or carnivors killing to eat all ya'll want but, truth be told. Humans kill more of there own than any other species. This is why I entering law school for animal welfare & environmental causes. BTW I am not violent toward my species & protect those who can't defend themslves however if there were a choice between saving a canine/feline or BTK killer(or even a "recreational" hunter)guess who I'd save? Pete Singer has an interesting novel entitled "Slaughter of the Innocent but I don't think that anyone who wants to know @ these issues will find it interesting. And yes, I practice utmost TLC c my Pts as they are sick, often elderly & need an advocate as well. Di

FYI; I am not a "girl" I am a woman. Also using the term bitchy is sexist. I can't imagine how, from the ERA rally I went to @ age 18 1979 that woman have manged to infantize themselves, call one another girls et al & give their daughters Barbies dolls.This is why we are not taken seriously. Judging from my society it truly saddens me that I actually fought for feminism as a teenager. this reply is from Diana. Twin #2 My father actually wanted me to follow in his footsteps & join the LAPD. I wish I ha.

You summed it up perfectly in 3 sentences. Diana

NO. I feel valued by my Pts as usually as , in spite of having a manicy temperament I turn it aroung with the Pts. As far as the Hospital The only value they have for RNs is a Nsg license & a pulse w/ the exception of those who suck up to management like a Hoover. No.I don't feel valued @ all; @ a previous Hospital there was an RN w/ a long commute who they convinced that they couldn't go on unless she agrred to work a double. She said she would. During the drive home she fell asleep @ the wheel, crossed into other lane, she died as did 3 occupents in the other car. They try & get Rns to do this @ my current Hospital; some Nurses do it. I won't die for their system. I feel no value @ all.

I must not be too literate c this program; I've been an RN for 10 years & I thought I was replying to moonbeams mom who is in school, I am a Vegan & passionate animal rights advocate etc.. Diana "the best things in life are furry"

Icould never dissect a cat; my litte fur person is on my lap now; we did have to dissect a mink & we had a 20 yr dead guy to learn from; as a card carring member of the ASPCA, Humane soceity etc.. I draw the lines @ companion animals (I didn't like dissecting the mink, either but I knew they were farm raised & would have suffered a cruel death for someones fur coat) Diana "the best things in life are furry"

This what my tenative plan is; I have a friend who is an Atty who, as he knows my passion for animal welfare, is going to introduce me to his Atty friend who specializes in this field; I was born & raised in California so there are probably more Attys here; As far as dealing c law r/t healthcare I'm sure there are a zillion areas. My father was 30 yr LAPD then, upon retirement, he worked for the Los Angeles public defenders office, we talked law frequently but that was all criminal law. In health matters I would imagine one could work as defense or prosecution w/ malpractice in any area (i.e. public healthcare, immigrant access, parmaceutical safety etc..) Since my ideal is animal welfare I'm just tossing out ideas. California isn't the largest state but it is the most populous so this is where i'm guessing from. Di

The new nurse becomes quite upset when a demented or perpetually cranky pt spews expletives @ them. The old nurse apprises the pt they'll have to do better to offend them. The new nurses prefaces every MD phone call c "I'm sorry to bother you Dr. so & so" The old nurse (especially c lousy MDs) states; "your pt needs whatever & I'll document your refusal" The new nurses bursts into tears @ being screamed @ by an obnoxious MD The old nurse takes it as a compliment that any MD that hateful doesn't like them then writes up MD for risk management. The new nurse thinks like a mom The old nurse thinks like a Lawyer. The new nurse spends a lot of time trying help the pt stay in acute care after transfer is ordered. The old nurse knows that insurance companies rule all decision. The new nurse hasn't had her Bunionectomy yet The old nurse has bilateral Bunionectomy scars.

re ed RNs responding to codes on the floor; I have never seen an ER Nurse repond to a code; R.T.s respond, MDs on floor respond (day shift when we have a slew of MDs around) & we have nsg supervisors from ICU respond (not ICU RNs who have Pts). Additionally, where does one come up c the assumption that those who work as floor Nurses do not also have ACLS? Twin di

Twin #2 actually, Jen brings up son actual cogent points; the hospitals in Palm Springs region are sucking up like Hoover vacuums toward the well-heeled. Additionally, Southern California has sold itself out to developers who have successfully, as the Eagles summed it up, "raped the land, put up a bunch of ugly boxes & Jesus, people bought 'em". This was a nice State; I was born in L.A.(as were my parents) & remember. Infrastructure, namely healthcare & law-enforcement are an afterthought that is years away; after all, we need all the Walmarts we can get to keep employees p/t so that healthcare in an ER is the only care they can afford. I'm quite good c Pt care however am beyond burnout c a society in which those who ultimately slice & dice funding will never wait 18 hours in an ED, get shovelled out to a snf in 3 days or must sacrifice everything they've ever worked for should they develope a catastrophic illness I'm ready to change professions. Wish I had taken my fathers' advice & joined the LAPD (real pensions, PPO for life) @ 44 I'm too old & love most canines a bit more than many humans.

Indeed, I must disagree c the beleagured ED RNs; in the hospital in which I work they came up (again) c their experiment of expediting the ED admits by calling the floor to give report (invariably during the last hour of our shift when we are least likely to have time to take the call) if they cannot retrieve the floor RN w/n 1 call they fax a report & ship up the "surprise" Pt. I've had some interesting faxed reports that state "Pt a/o /4 c the other box checked confused; basically pts who almost knew their name." Oh, & the pts c BPs of 60 over palp but "stable"...I have just enough spare "hour or so" to get them to ICU a they code. This is safe? These Pts are brought up by a transporter. This floor on which I work is Oncology, HIV, Medical (i.e. everyone c blood sugars of 600, attemted suicides, Oncologic emergencies ad infinitum.) I've been @ this Hospital a number of years yet, if I do encounter a live RN from whom I get report it is often someone who transferred FROM being a floor nurse. As ED is so arduous why do I never encounter RNs who transferred FROM ED to floor nursing. Essentially, my impression is that if the Pt is in full arrest they die in ED or end up on a vent to ICU. The rest get shovelled out stable or not. As far as the MDs go I think I'll ask some of them if it is their desire to ship Pts up @ shift change; I beleive this falls under the category of "blame game"...seen it happen too many years & too many Hospitals to buy that one.

I thought this thread was about Alcoholics Anonymous; after all, we AAs have had our title since the 1930s @ before rehads & such it was pretty routine (in the '40s-60s) for AAs to come & speak c Pts.

I do not know what region you work in but, though I do not live in Rancho Mirage I work there & as this is a community hospital that sucks up like a Hoover vacuum to the wealthy residents in the area they are attempting to make it in to a full-service hospital. All the accouterments c meals. The well-coiffed servers who have to make sure all is perfect etc...it is a good thing that I waited tables for years when I was younger. Addendum; since these are elderly snowbirds I am still have to refrain from saying to 70ish sons/daughters "You still have parents???"

i concur; c pts/families who work in healthcare when they're good they're very good but...when the are bad they're terrible. there are those who have worked in the trenches & know that m.d.s don't always call back stat ( and i am not intimidated by m.d.s; i'm there to take the best possible care of the pt. & have never been reprimanded by acting as a pt advocate) the pts/families et know this, they know & respect hippa etc...the bad ones however, seem to develope "select amnesia" re how the system works; in their esteemed opinion they are your only pt, they are their doctors only pt. they need reminders that orders for meds need to be inputted into the pyxis system, remved, counted etc...(my "gentle" reminder to the "it's been an hour!) is; "well...it's been @ 10 minutes hon, we don't have narcotis sitting around in a big bowl...you know that". actually my little wish list would include doors requiring a code to all units so we can monitor the volume of family members. :blushkiss

Wages are quite good; I would go c St. Bernardines. I was born in Hollywood & have lived in Riverside Co. since '71 (a stones' throw from SB county) Have you checked out the Palm Desert/Palm Springs are because San Bernardino is a rough, high vilonce area & the Desert ( being full of obscenly rich pts) who throw money @ the Hospitals constantly (every ccu,icu , elevator et al is named after someone. Also, the Desert has grown so dramatically getting hired is a cakewalk. Just a thought; if your able to do visit San Bernardino 1st--it is a rough city. Di

I have a collegue who works f/t @ the Indio jail (California) she (along c most prison/jail Nurses) mainly hand out psych meds (some routine meds; not a lot as the prison population are relatively young c addiction problems) In the prison system anyone going to the infirmary is accompanied by a guard as the do not have the expectation of privacy; if the pt has a serious injury they go c police escort to the hospital. I've considered this myself. My father (the most patient man I ever knew) wanted me to join the LAPD when I turned 18 in '79 but, after looking into it I declined, law enforcement still interested me but I knew I didn;t have my fathers' patience. I also wasn't sure how much backup I'd get (I am a woman but, @ 6' tall I met the'79 height requirements) but,by the time attitudes had changed in law enforcement I was too old. My tiny 4'8"jail RN collegue has never felt threatened. I have worked trauma/medical & oncology & am deft @ avoiding being bit. scratched etc...I never take my eyes off of altered pts & I can duck stat. Assaulting nurses in hospitals is accepted; in prisons the nurses are protected by the guards & this is why I;ve considered it.

We have a 5 pt ratio (I work medical/oncology). This is in California where we have legally mandated ratios; our "Governor" the Terminator has tried everything in his power to overturn this but lost every battle thus far. They fear that as California goes other states will follow. Glad I was born in the Golden State.

Yes, alcoholics can be irritating; I, too deal c many however (having been sober 15 years now) I can assure you sympathy backfires as we use it as we live for self-pity & sympathy until we get sober & the frequent fliers usually don't want sobriety. If I encounter the rare pt who wants help I refer them to AA (& remind them it's free :-)) but unless they've sobered up a bit they won't remember. I was young & poor when I got sober so I never ended up in an ER. Indeed; alcoholics can get on my last nerve as well; my only advantage is that I know 1st hand & treating them is akin to looking into a mirror of my past. I can share c you that (active) alcoholics live c a disease that I wouldn't wish upon my worst enemy &, when sober, are different people. I always call in a social service consult. hope this helps.