dmarie (GA)

Dear Families, I am the nurse that cares for your loved one every day. I make sure that your loved one is safe and well-fed, all medications given, blood sugar checked, skin assessment done. I give your loved one hugs and smiles every day, always treating them as I would treat my own family member. I tuck them in at night and peak in on them while they are sleeping to make sure they are ok. I greet them with a smile and a kind word when they wake up. I note if they are having any pain or discomfort and treat them accordingly. I dress their wounds with the upmost care and gentleness as if it were my own wound. I hold their hand when they cry and I offer companionship when they are lonely. Please, instead of lashing out at me because you're feeling angry or guilty or scared or frustrated, talk to me and tell me your concerns in a respectful manner. Recognize that I am not the enemy, I did not make your loved one sick, and I am not neglectful. Instead of venting your anger on me, why not thank me for taking such good care of your loved one when you are not able to? I see your loved one every single day, I am intuned with what is going on with them, and I do my very best. A Thank You would be most appreciated, instead of harsh words and criticisms. I am only human, after all, and might make a mistake sometimes. But you can rest assured that I have your loved ones best intentions at heart 100% of the time. A Thank You, a word of appreciation, a token of gratefulness, or a kind word would make all the difference in the world to this hard working nurse. Maybe you can learn to show compassion as I have shown your loved one compassion and recognize that hurtful words aimed at the very one who cares for your loved one do nothing to make your loved one better. I am on the front lines every day because I care. Sincerely, LTC Nurse

Medic in the military is one thing. THAT I can understand. But a Nursing Assistant, no matter what floor or hospital or specialty they work on or in, simply doesn't do the same things that a nurse does. The focus is entirely different. Even with the Pharm. course. What about assessment skills? Documenting? Disease processes? Critical thinking? Trachs. and feeding tubes and dressings? Care Plans? etc. etc. etc. It doesn't matter if the CNA works on Med.Surg. for 50 years. They are still not performing in the role of nurse, and should not be allowed to work as a nurse without going through an accredited program which includes coursework and clinicals. LPN to RN is a bit different, because LPN has on the job experience as a nurse, many clinical hours, and training to be a nurse. LPN's lack an in depth training on the pathophysiology aspects that RN's do, so Excelsior helps the experienced LPN to complete coursework to become an RN by filling in those gaps. But I'm sorry, a nursing assistant to LPN without clinicals, etc, is just crazy.

Wow! A CNA can become an LPN without going to school or going through LPN focused clinicals? I wonder how this can be possible. CNA's focus is totally different. I just don't see how working as a CNA for X-many years without giving meds, doing assessments, documenting, giving injections, etc, can just go and take a test and suddenly be qualified to work as a LPN, giving out narcotics and meds that they haven't been prepared for. Interesting!

Well, it seems there are several other threads on this very topic! Sorry for the repeat! :)

My poor, poor hands. After washing them over and over and over again, gloves on and off repeatedly throughout my shift, they actually started to crack and bleed tonight. Any type of lotion causes them to burn and break out in a red rash, even the lotions that claim to be for sensitive skin/fragrance free, etc. I have fair, sensitive skin to begin with. It can't be a latex allergy because the gloves are latex free. Any suggestions?

I graduated as an LPN in September and couldn't get into a hospital in the Atlanta area. Yes, there are LPN's working at these hospitals, but how they got their jobs is a mystery to me. I think you either have to be really lucky or know someone. There were several doctor's offices and clinics interested in me, but I went ahead and applied for a LTC position. They offered me a great package and I accepted it. LTC wasn't my first choice, but this facility is very clean and highly rated. The people are nice and the benefits are good. The pay is pretty good, too. In addition to giving medications, I'm performing skilled treatments as well. Head to toe assessments, skin assessments, wound care, g-tube feedings, colostomies, etc. So the skills I learned in school are being put to good use. The CNA's clean the residents, help with toileting, etc, so I don't have to worry about that stuff. As the LPN, I am also utilizing my leadership skills with the CNA's, and will be responsible for delegating to them and evaluating them. One of the nice things about LTC is that you are happily welcomed as an LPN. You are valued and appreciated as a nurse. In a hospital, you are the low man on the totem pole. Not to mention, LTC tends to pay more than a hospital ---- atleast for LPN's. If you absolutely don't want to consider LTC, maybe a doctor's office would be a good fit? You might not make as much money, but you might have better luck getting a job. I'm planning to start Excelsior the first of the year, so LTC is just a transitional job for me. I won't do it forever, just long enough to complete my RN. Good luck!

If there is any possible way you can just bypass the LPN and go straight for the RN, I would do it. It will save you time and money in the long run. There are no 2 yr. RN programs online because you cannot do clinicals online. There are RN-BSN programs online, because RN's have clinical experience already. There are many benefits to starting out as an LPN. It's helps get you acquainted with nursing in general, much more so than the CNA, and will benefit you when you finally do the RN. So if you choose to do LPN first (which is what I have done), then Excelsior is a good online choice for the bridge. Excelsior can offer the LPN-RN bridge online because LPN's have hands-on, bedside, clinical experience from their program and possibly from working. LPN programs tend to focus more heavily on clinical hours and clinical time than do RN programs. In turn, RN programs tend to focus more heavily on theory and dive deeper into pathophysiology. So Excelsior allows the LPN to cover the theory and deeper pathophysiology with the use of online courses. I'm planning to start the Excelsior program in the new year. It's a great choice for me because I can work as an LPN full-time making money while I complete it. I'm single with no kids, so I have to pay my bills while I'm in school. As far as the cost of Excelsior ---- some say it's really expensive, and I agree that some aspects are, but if you add up the time and money it would cost to complete a traditional LPN-RN bridge, it's really not much more. RN programs are fairly intensive and require full dedication. Students are generally discouraged from working while completing a traditional program, because you have to be in class, in clinicals, and all of the homework, etc, it's really difficult to do it and juggle a job along with whatever other responsibilities you have. Excelsior provides a way to complete the RN at your leisure, independently, with whatever schedule you have. You pay a little more for this convenience, but not much. You might have to jump through a few hoops to get licensed in whatever state you're in with Excelsior. I live in Georgia, and they will only accept Excelsior degrees by having a license transfered in from another state. I will have to get licensed in another state ---- and then have it transfered to Georgia. This process takes a couple of weeks and costs $30.00. No big deal. I will not even need to step foot in the other state to get licensed there, either. I just take the test in Georgia and have the results sent to another state like Tennessee. From there, I have it transfered back into Georgia. It seems kind of silly to have to go through this process, but those are the rules here. You need to call your state's Board of Nursing to find out for sure what the process is in CO. Some states require that you actually WORK for a certain number of months or even years in another state before they will allow you to transfer it in. So be sure to get your information from the Board of Nursing. If your plan is to become an LPN first, I would tackle that short term goal, and then set your sights on Excelsior. LPN programs, despite what some people might think, are not easy, and require alot of dedication and hard work. Good Luck!

Well, I'm old enough and mature enough to realize that no job is perfect, nothing in life is perfect, and LTC "is what it is". It certainly helps to work at a facility that is clean, decent, and friendly. It is by no means a dream job. To say that it's hard work is an understatement. It involves SO MUCH ---- you have to be caring, kind, compassionate, but you ALSO have to be able to manage a gazillion things at once and keep it all properly documented. Nothing goes according to schedule ---- you have to be very flexible. So much paperwork, less time with the resident/patient. And the elderly don't always understand that. :) It seems they think they are the only ones you are caring for! It's like, "Hello! I have 29 other people to give meds to, I have been to your room 3 times now! I have to go!" ((sigh)) I help feed the late stage Alzheimer's patients during meal times also, because there must be a nurse in the dining room at all times, and there are moments when I manage to feed them and they respond, and they actually eat and swallow their food, and I clean them up and wheel them back to their rooms, and I have the feeling that I've done something really good. I'm caring for these people because they cannot do it themselves. It's important, and I've done something truly meaningful. BUT, as frustrating as it CAN be, the one consistent feeling I have is when I drive home. I ALWAYS have a feeling of accomplishment, a feeling that I did something good. I know I went above and beyond, I did the absolute best job that I could, and I managed to hold it all together for another night. In the short time I've been there, I've had many moments when I thought, "Oh My God, there is absolutely no way I can do this! Am I crazy???" But as I mentioned in my original post, if you keep plugging away, push through those crazy moments, keep moving forward, you EVENTUALLY see light at the end of the tunnel, and when it's time to finally go home, it's like, "Wow! I did it!" A tough job, for sure. But it's not all bad.

Hi everyone, I'm a new grad LPN and I took a job at the nursing home where I did my leadership hours. This is a privately owned facility just north of Atlanta. Most of my classmates thought I was crazy to take the job. Who in their right mind would accept a job at a nursing home???? Well, I did! This is a clean, well-run, and decent facility, with lots of wonderful, friendly staff. My preceptor is patient and nice, the administration is friendly and welcoming, the DON is great, and the other nurses are friendly as well. Granted, it's HARD work, and my feet are aching as I write this! And some of the residents are a big pain in the you know what, but some are sweet as can be, and overall, it's really not so bad. They are giving me 3 full weeks of orientation, throughout the month of December. I passed meds for the first time tonight ---- 30 residents ---- once at 4pm and again at 8pm. I managed to get it all done, but I was an hour late. No big deal, my preceptor said, not to worry, it was my first time and she has seen worse! Everybody got what they needed, and despite many interruptions for additional PRN's and other various requests, I managed to get it done. My preceptor was nice enough to do the other treatments, vital signs, and documentation that needed to be done so that I could focus solely on getting the med pass down. It's very hectic, and seemingly impossible at some points throughout the shift. Sometimes I stop and think, "Oh My God, this is crazy! I can't do this!", but I keep plugging away and eventually, you see a light at the end of the tunnel, and before you know it, the night is over and it's like, "Oh My God! I made it! I did it! I survived!" I have to say, there was one point in the night when the CNA's cleaned up a resident and the smell permeated the hallway ...... really, really unbearable smell. I decided the best way to deal with this was to breathe through my nose and hope that the smell dissipated soon. :uhoh21: But this kind of stuff is unavoidable. There are going to be smells. No way around it I guess. What really keeps me going is thinking that "these people are depending on me, they need me to do a great job" and I treat them as I would treat any family member or friend. Overall, I don't think LTC is a permanent career choice for me as I'm planning to continue on and get my RN, but I think it will be a nice transitional phase for me with lots of opportunities for learning. It will definitely prepare me for time management and dealing with the geriatric population, which comprises most of a Med/Surg. floor at a hospital anyway...... After reading all of the bad posts regarding LTC, I thought I'd throw a positive one in the bunch. There are a few good ones out there...... :) I'm working at one now! Thanks. :)

It's a crime what GPC is doing to innocent, trusting nursing students. You walk in, willing to give 110%, and you DO give 110%, only to be mislead, swindled, ripped-off, and lied to. They could care less about you. They are not in the business of education. They are in the business of money. They recently received a huge chunk for their new program in Dunwoody (LPN-RN bridge), and it was all based on their numbers. You see, several years back, they were actually on academic probation for their low NCLEX pass rate. So they swung the pendulum in the opposite direction. In 2006, their NCLEX pass rate was 100%. This might sound good to you.....after all, this must be a great institution that trains their students well. Right? But the casualty for their new found success is YOU, the innocent nursing student. It's all about numbers to them now. As of 2006, out of 170 people to start the program, only 20 actually made it through. And out of those 20, how many had to beg and grovel in order to repeat a semester? Well, I happen to know several. What does this mean to a fresh nursing student coming into this program with wide eyes and a trusting heart? DISASTER! It's a crime. They have destroyed lives, broken spirits, trampled pocket books, and deterred many fine students from the nursing profession altogether. Fine, intelligent, bright, gifted, ambitious, and motivated students, all who were willing to give 110% to the program and to the nursing profession, smacked in the face, deceived, and tossed to the curb. Students who altered their lifestyles, studied 12 hours per day, held their breaths during clinicals hoping their psychotic and unreasonably abusive instructor wouldn't humiliate them in front of a patient. Students who despite the fact that they studied above and beyond the call of duty, crossed every T and dotted every I, formed study groups, created practice questions, visited the study lab, purchased supplemental study guides and analyzed study guides with a fine tooth comb........feeling totally prepared for the exam.......... went into the lecture hall for the exam and found that 75% of the questions were from a different planet. Questions that were never discussed or covered during lecture, questions that were poorly written and impossible to answer, and questions that made absolutely no sense to anyone in the class, slowly chipping away at your hard-earned GPA and self-esteem, because Lord knows you aren't stupid, but where in God's name did these questions come from??????? And lo and behold, the entire class fails the exam. Hmmmm. An entire class can't be wrong..... Kinda makes you wonder. Maybe it's not the students after all? What's really sad is: after pouring your heart and utter soul into the material, hanging on every word in lecture, putting your family on hold and taking out thousands in student loans, all to obtain your dream of being a nurse, everything is shattered in a matter of a few exams. Your heart is beyond broken, your mind is in a daze, friends and loved ones are asking "What the heck is going on?", and your dreams go down the drain. Do you think a single instructor or administrator at GPC gives a damn? HELL NO! :) Do you think they lose sleep at night because you're life has become a living hell? Do you think that when you go to them and ask them, "What's the secret? What am I doing wrong?" that they actually care or give sound counsel? The REALLY scary thing is: after a couple of semesters in GPC's nursing program, your GPA is utterly destroyed, making you ineligible for any other nursing program. You CAN'T transfer into another RN program because your GPA is screwed! HA! NOW YOUR A PRISONER! You either stay and sell your soul to the devil, or find another career path. All of those pre-req classes you took? All that hard work and money to GET INTO the nursing program? The joy you felt when you made it in? EVERYTHING down the tubes. Because now, GPC has destroyed your transcripts. You can't go to Kennesaw, Georgia State, etc. Nobody will take you now! You've been forever tainted. Go ahead and paint a big read GPC on your forehead, because nobody will take you now. It doesn't matter to them how many people graduate. It only matters how many of those that actually do pass the NCLEX. Because that is the only number they are judged by. It can be argued that GPC wants to protect the nursing profession and all of the patients of the world from future potentially incompetent nurses. Maybe GPC is on a mission to save the world and protect the sick and dying from these horrible wannabe nurses who simply can't grasp the material? I mean really, they can't have these slackers going out into the world caring for patients, taking their lives into their hands!!!!!!!!!!! GOD BLESS GPC! I have advice for anyone considering this program. STAY AWAY. And if you choose to go ahead and give it a shot, because you think, "Well, I actually study really hard and I'm really smart and I will apply myself and I can do it! It won't happen to me..." YOU'VE BEEN WARNED! The people and instructors who run this program are nothing short of criminals. I have seen many lives destroyed, time wasted, money down the drain, and spirits trampled. The drug calculation test is the least of your worries, trust me. Passing it with 100% is no big deal. Study the formulas and do the problems. What you should be worrying about is the UNKNOWN. The stuff you can't see coming around the corner of this farce of a school. The instructor who purposely withholds information to watch you fail. The faculty who purposely doesn't recommend supplemental material. The clinical instructor who sets you up to fail. THIS is what you have to sweat about. The frickin' math test? Give me a break! That's a piece of cake! If you can't pass a drug calculation test, then.... I dunno. It's the other stuff that'll REALLY gettcha! Because there is absolutely NOTHING you can do to prepare for it. You've been warned.

Hey everyone. I was curious what the job opportunities are like in Atlanta for a new grad RN. Did you face any difficulty as a new RN with no experience finding employment in Atlanta area hospitals? As a new LPN, I'm finding many doors closed because I have no acute experience. Do RN's face this same problem? Do you have to "know someone" at the hospital or already have a foot in the door at the facility before they look at your resume as a new grad RN? The reason I'm wondering is: I'm planning to finish up my RN next year through Excelsior, and I'm worried that I won't be able to find a job when I finish!!! Despite what everyone says about the "nursing shortage", it seems to be quite challenging to find a job. Thanks!

You can download the Associate Degree Programs in Nursing booklet with all of the information. It's on the Excelsior website. According to this booklet printed 2007, the pass rate for CPNE in 2006 was 64%.

I graduated Lanier's Forsyth program in September. Set to take NCLEX Dec. 4th. So far all girls in my class who have taken the NCLEX have passed. If your trying to get into a program, get the NLN or NET study guide. It's a very good way to prepare. Good luck to all those about to start!

I'm a 35 yr old new grad LPN and I'm having the same problem. Most places want atleast 1 year experience. The only places that are considering me are LTC, Hospice, and Mental health/Rehab. I've only been looking for 2 weeks, so I'm going to give it a few more weeks. Have you applied to any doctor's offices? A fellow graduate of mine got a job at a pediatric office right out of school, and she is 50 years old. She loves it! It's 9-5 Mon-Fri with one hour lunch break. The pay is good, with benefits, etc. Not sure where you're located, but here in Atlanta, there is an abundance of doctor's offices and clinics to choose from..... Good luck!

Combination of Melatonin, Valerian Root, and a Magnesium supplemental herbal tea works great for me, and I've always suffered from insomnia. Sometimes, just to be on the safe side and to insure a full nights sleep without waking up, I'll also take a Unisom. Tylenol PM never worked for me. Plus, why take Tylenol if you don't need it?