JayHanig

I've worked in both North and South Carolina. Although people claimed the board would be on us for this and for that, the only thing I ever saw anybody actually get spanked by the board was for the diversion of narcotics.

"Draconian"? That's a kind way to look at it. Could you call in sick three times without getting terminated if you had a note from your mortician? I'm just saying... you guys probably need a union.

I assume that those points clear after a year. If that's the case, then mark the date you last called in on your refrigerator or bulletin board (whatever you've got at home). From that day on, religiously keep track of the dates as you accumulate t...

We didn't much care for IVs in the AC on the floors either. They have a bad tendency to be highly positional. Making the trip down the hall to reset the IVAC just because the patient bent his or her arm can get old in a hurry.

Yes, I've seen that happen on occasion. I've been turned down myself by black patients because I was white. And I've also been turned down by female patients because I was male. I've been turned down by Muslim patients because I wasn't Muslim. I ...

The irony of someone who rails against "people who still believe that an entire race of people is "less than" simply based on the color of their skin" on the one hand and then invokes the specter of "white privilege" is to much for me to let go with...

Where did this happen? My entire career was spent practicing in both North and South Carolina and I never witnessed anything like that. My coworkers at the last place I worked (for 12 years) were white, black, English, Filipino, and Indian. My nur...

They can't get blood from a rock. If they demand their money back, so what? Will they pillory you for all the staff to throw tomatoes at? They can wait for as long as it takes. I doubt they'll be so anxious to recover their investment in you ...

Sorry that happened but it was inevitable. Let me share my coping technique for when I don't catch something that ends up in disaster. Back in 2008, gas prices shot up and so I bought a motorcycle. I'd never riden before so I took the safety c...

Some hospitals pull that kind of crap then wonder why unions get organized in their facilities. Happy employees don't unionize. Only the *** upon. Any facility that has a union deserved it.

My employer set up a system where we were not allowed more than 4 absences in a calendar year. You could stay out two contiguous days and it would count as one absence, but woe betide the person who called in one day, felt better and worked the next...

I wondered about that as well. You are absolutely correct. Low unemployment rates make jobs a seller's market: in this case the hospital is the buyer and the nurses are selling their services.

Why don't you quit?

Worker's comp is your friend. You don't need the hospital's permission to bring a case, nor do you even need a lawyer. You just need to apply. In the last state I worked in prior to retiring, Worker's comp was my sole remedy but they came through ...

I don't understand what your reticence was about telling her you had major GI symptoms. If she wants the nitty-gritty details, give them to her in the most graphic way possible, so there's no mistake. I have no problem whatsoever telling a supervis...

If you're sick, you need to call in. If the facility closes, it closes. They haven't been motivated to find replacement staff because you enable them. Why go to the expense when they can just guilt you into coming when you're infectious? Trust me...

I think I would have found that supervisor and coughed all over her. If she wasn't in her office, I'd have licked her coffee mug assuming I could find it. But that's just me. I don't think clearly when I'm feverish. Your best excuse, should you n...

There is a lot of good advice here. If you don't have blackout curtains, light absolutely will not penetrate aluminum foil and scotch tape on the inside of your bedroom windows. White noise is very good. Turn off the phone. One of the best things...

As others have said, you have definitely dodged the bullet. Consider yourself lucky it happened so early in your career and don't worry about what she can do to harpoon you; her options are few. But I would definitely go to HR and put your complain...

Nothing validates my decision to retire early more than the OP's story. After sitting on the sidelines since 2010, I've finally decided to let my licence expire with my birthday next month. Can you believe the NC BON wants $30 to retire my license?...

I kept a sheet posted on my fridge that listed how many days and when I was last out sick. The sheet really was a list as I kept the information as it filled in until the sheet was full. I used it to make sure I hadn't called in within 60 days of t...

I am not impressed by the use of bed alarms. All they tell you is that Granny just broke her other hip.

It strikes me that you are being set up for failure by your management's insistence on giving lip service to this issue. That being said, I'd let things land where they will, so to speak. I would refuse to feel guilty about it and I would not take ...

You've been a nurse for 40 years? Wow. And you still take care of eight postop orthopedic patients on day shift? That's impressive how you are able to get it all done. I'm sorry that I am a lesser being. I've heard the old saw, "work smarter; not...

Good nursing? You have time to give good nursing? If only everybody did. I had 14 hours worth of work to do every 12 hour shift. Priorities develop. But not to worry: I quit at age 56 so I could be "lazy".