Tannjo

Exactly the problem however; it's blatantly obvious (like a huge elephant in the room but everyone just keeps ignoring and walking around it!). I've been a nurse 30 yrs & I have never witnessed such a decline in every facet of health care as what I have witnessed just over the last 6-7 yrs. I've got orientees staring blankly at me while I give them report on 23 high acuity level patients and ask not one question regarding their meds, care, nothing... then if they do return a second night, they will only ask: "is everybody still alive"? Or my favorite 🥺: "just hit the high notes... any send-outs, falls, etc…” well, OK.. but you do realize that you have assumed care for 23 residents of which you know absolutely nothing about and it's your license, should chaos ensue during your shift... just sayin... and corporate greed has got these people so blind they can only see dollar signs for every insanely idiotic med order that they can stick on a patient EMAR.. ka-Ching... $💶💰💰💰🏦....ie: Voltaren cream twice per shift, capsaicin cream, hemorrhoid cream, drops to every single orifice of the patients body... sure!! as soon as I check 13 patients blood glucose levels twice per shift and administer their ordered insulins, check full vitals on 18 patients per shift and administer their ordered IV antibiotics, replace all the GT feedings and flush each one... etc, I will be more than happy to deliver and apply their creams, drops, lotions and potions... LOL... a world seriously gone mad... and many LTC's have ran into some serious embezzlement issues with those entering the "ICD-10" codes for their billing ... (again getting paid)… no wonder they were adding pain assessments up to as many as 3 times per shift for some patients... & I asked why.. they pretended they "had no idea there were duplicate and triplicate orders like this and would remove them... " of course that never happened because they then wouldn't be able to bill x 3 for "pain management", pain assessments", etc...

No one knows the weight of another's burden; remember that. As many here have previously stated, not all reasons for FMLA are visible to others and it really irks me that you feel compelled to interject yourself into something that is clearly none of your business. Specifically FMLA. There is an employee within your organization who is in charge of processing FMLA claims as well as others- who either approve or deny a request for an employee to take medical leave. Clean around your own back door before you start cleaning around others. That is not a way to form great relationships and or out of work. Great way to get slapped with a lawsuit; however. Perhaps you have too much downtime in your current position; if you're able to devote so much time to obsessing about the validity of another employee's FMLA claim. So that would mean even with her absence, the work of you and other staff is obviously getting done (since you have time to concern yourself with this & write a post in this forum.

Walked into work today to find that I was floated to a rehab unit where I knew not one patient; (because the nurse supervisor had to work a cart so she took the one I'm always on) As if that's not stressful enough I was told I didn't have a computer on my medication cart.. so I'd have to "do my EMAR at the computer at nurses station which is stationary. How does one even begin to administer meds to residents they don't know much less the medications they take or how they take them... had I known this prior to accepting assignment obviously I would've refused the assignment. Then I had an emergency with a pt who had to be sent to ER.. and the supervisor shows up barking orders at me to do this and that; print out this, fill out an SBAR, do a bed hold! It was almost too much as I am new to this facility and do not know their EMAR system well yet and every system is different. I am sitting in my car soaked with sweat... it's soo hot in there.. and I'm wishing I was 65 or 67 so I could retire and get out of this nightmare that has become what used to be nursing. I am furious that anyone would even put me in this position.

And that is EXACTLY the reason for the insane nurse to patient ratios! Because they save a ton of money by getting rid of one nurse for every unit but the nurse remaining is still responsible for all 40 patients and still has a medication pass for 20 of those pts to complete twice per shift. HR can get real defensive when you confront them and tell them this is a liability not only to the patients but to your nursing license... because it takes away from their yearly bonuses the more staff nurses they have to pay. Then they shout at you: "one nurse and one med aide is more than adequate"! Insanity at its finest

I heard all of these and more through the years and honestly I believe that some may not have a very clear understanding of how the nursing NCCLEX exams work. The easiest way I know how to put it is this: "Imagine a see-saw...with one end being the "fail" and the opposite end being the "pass". And lastly, in the middle- you have the nursing student taking the exam who is; (by answering the each of the questions)…trying to convince the algorithm designed (the boards) that you are qualified to practice nursing and meet the requirements of the knowledge required to do so or that you are not yet safe to practice. That's why some students get the full 200% questions because they remain in the middle of this pendulum or see-saw and the questions will keep coming until either one more incorrect or correct question will be the tipping point reached by the algorithm, it will either swing all the way to pass or the other end of fail and the computer will shut off...don't know if this makes sense or not to anyone, but this is the way it was described to me before I sat for the boards... my daughter became an RN in 2016 and I remember her going home and throwing up she was such a nervous wreck... LOL.. but she said that she tried to register to take the boards again online and if it allowed you to complete your registration then you did not pass. If you could not complete your registration then you had passed.. and the best part is that she didn't have to wait 6 weeks for results with snail mail (postal service). LOL! And also, I studied for 3 months before I got my authorization to test and not ONE question was even remotely similar to the gargantuan amount that I had studied so my point is, know your biology, your diseases processes, pathophysiology, medications used and general nursing 101 and you will be able to critically think your way through most of the situations presented to you during your exam.. Good Luck & Godspeed to all !

In our facility ANY unwitnessed fall or a fall with an oriented patient stating that they hit their head, have a headache, etc. we have standing orders to send out to ED immediately for CT/MRI by our Medical Director (M.D.). The primary reason for this of course is because head trauma can occur without any visible symptoms initially, and when there is a subdural hematoma, the damage is can be insidious initially & severe , especially if there is are no MRI's or scans done-asap. Of course, we've had the occasional DON who tries to "suggest" other modalities of treatment at our disposal that "can be done here at the facility”… (X-rays, etc). To which the Medical Director called an early learning morning conference with nurse management to squash that idea & of overriding her standing orders. (Only because corporate was having a hissy fit at the cost). Better to be safe than sorry... I've seen some very sad results from doing "just Tylenol, and the typical in-house NEURO checks”… and not a chance that I as a nurse would ever second guess our medical director's judgment nor my own over a corporations concerns about their budget for the fiscal year...

You state that you have restrictions on your license; yet you said you were convicted of felony drug charges and plan to turn in your license.... First of all, I've never known the board of nursing to give any nurse "the option" to choose as to whether or not they will retain their licensure. Usually with charges such as these, there's first an investigation by the nursing board, then a disciplinary hearing and lastly their judgment... which is usually either indefinite suspension, total revocation of license (depending upon the severity of the crime) provisional license in which they impose very strict restrictions that the nurse adheres to for a period of time; ie: "months, years, etc.” with specific stipulations as to where they can or cannot work, if they are allowed to administer narcotics, etc...That being said, if they elected to revoke or suspend license, then you cannot work in any health care setting that is receiving funding from Medicaid/medicare.. I don't really know of anyway to get around this even if you "worked for yourself" because you could no longer use the title of nurse if revoked. What are the restrictions placed ? Because with what you state you were convicted of, I've only heard of revocation or indefinite suspension during which time you will not be allowed to work as a nurse anywhere; either temporarily or permanently. A lot of specifics is missing in your post.. just trying to understand what exactly your disposition placed by the board actually states. Either way, the wisest move would be to seek legal counsel with an attorney, preferably one who is also a nurse who can advise and guide you in the right direction. Best of luck!