jstbg1s

I don't know about all the nurses out there, but when I went through nursing school we were taught to see only the illness. We had cultural training to be respectful to ones culture, don't get me wrong. But, we were to see the illness and treat A PATIENT. No one should pass judgement on their patients nor should they assume the worst about someone. Even the drunk that keeps showing up at the ER. Its easy to call him a bum, but do you even know how he got there. Sexual orientation is no different than any other identifier. Its sad to see the ones that say gays are so bad are the ones that hold God's word as their witness and yet seem to be the most evil and hateful people. SO...I say to all nurses......treat your patients as you will have them treat you when you are in the hospital.

For the past 5 months while out for injury(on the job) my light duty work was to do utilization review, case management, chart audit, and such. The position was open and about a month after I was doing it, my employer posted it to find a permanent replacement. I applied and was told I would need to be an RN. My supervisor then informed HR she would be happy for me to work under her license while I finished up RN school (Im an LVN now). I was told I was being seriously considered for the position but did not get it. I had the pleasure of training my replacement today after five months on the job. She does not hold any nursing degree nor will be attending school for it anytime soon. She is a social worker. I have had a lot of difficulty helping her understand the relationships of medical necessity. I live in Texas and I thought you had to be an RN for the job or at least have a nursing degree......does anyone know different? I don't mind not getting the position, but don't understand the reasoning. Any information anyone has on this would be helpful. I guess my biggest concern is for possible fraud of medicare and abuse of the system. With decisions like this how can we expect people to recieve the best care possible? :trout:

Thanks for all your great advice. My company doesn't subscribe to workers compensation but has opted out for their own insurance. They don't seem to work by any laws. I have attempted to contact several lawyers that have all stated your injuries aren't severe enough to make it worth our while. And, I am still in a lot of pain. I have filed a complaint with the Texas Department of Insurance and I am forwarding my medical records from both Doctor's (mine and theirs) to the Board of Medical Examiners in the form of a complaint. Lets see what happens!!

I was injured May 26th at work transferring a pt from a wheelchair to the bed. My company had not provided us with a hoyer lift, so three of us went in to move a pt back to bed. In the process, the tech and myself heard a loud pop in my shoulder. I did the standard incident report and told the appropriate people. Off to see the doctor I went after my shift. With all the pain I was in, the "DOC IN THE BOX" gave no meds, made no recommendations, did nothing. His actual comment was have you ever had pain before? I said in my neck and he asked how my doctor treated it, when I told him....he said that sounds good for this...keep doing that. Long story short....it took three months to get any lost wages, the doctor they sent me to never made a diagnosis and returned me to work without restrictions before he had even got the results back from an MRI (I was sent the next day for one). Now my company is returning me to work full duty or be fired. Despite the fact I paid for a second opinion and actually got one. Turns out my doctor says my rotator cuff has been slightly torn but that I am not a surgery candidate yet any further injury and I will be. What to do....I need money so I have to work. But, I don't want to get re-injured. My employer does not accept medical leaves of absence unless its FMLA. And good jobs in this area are difficult to find as that I am an LVN working on my RN...still have about 6 more months. Give me any advice you have PLEASE AND THANK YOU!!!!!:uhoh21:

:angryfire Im sorry, but I am an LVN and it was a hell of a lot more work than a year of post high school study. I would be happy to put my education up against yours any day!!!! I have walked circles around RNs that thought they were all high and mighty with thier degrees.....and yet they still lacked common sense much like you with your comments. AND NONE OF US ARE UNSKILLED!!! The government has classified us as unskilled so that they could give out visas and have us replaced with cheaper work forces like from India....no one remembers that a few years ago. All the hospitals hired foreigners until they realized they may be cheaper but had no bedside manner and patients refused them...mostly because they couldn't understand them. AND, that isn't me being biased..that is the facts. A good ol boy farmer from Texas gets offended when a texan doesn't walk in the door. So I really believe it was just in an effort by the government to expedite a way for corporations to lower their budgets out of some back room deal we may not know about.

I have been a nurse for two years this month. I like to think I have been a good nurse with a strong moral conscience and the will to always uphold my patient needs above all other problems. But as of late I feel as if I am no longer able to do my job and help my patients as I should. I work for a small town hospital which has been bought and sold so many times I'm not even sure who owns us right now. We are now to the point that it is a good day if there is soap, papertowels, and water all at the same time. So you can imagine how little patient equipment we have on some days. I spend so much time looking for supplies.... So many nurses have abandoned ship that our staffing is to the bones. When we get new hires, they last maybe three to four weeks and leave due to the conditions. BUT, I don't want this to be about complaints, we all have them. What do you do when you know you are no longer able to care for your patients in a safe and secure environment? When you know you aren't doing all you can because you just don't have the resources? AND no one around you will stand up for themselves despite how bad the conditions are? I just keep coming to work day after day hoping it will get better. I have complained with suggestions to every level of management. The only thing that seems to matter is making sure we make money at the expense of patient care. I come to work everyday wondering if this is the day I lose my license. But if I leave it would just be that much worse for all involved, patients and nurses alike. WHAT DO YOU DO? WHO HELPS US?