Sunshine55

Sammy - What a difficult and stressful situation you have described. DO NOT give up hope. You keep your head held high! I recall many times driving home from work trying to remember if I'd forgotten anything. I have made an occasional late entry and signed it with a late entry notation as have many other nurses I've worked with. With so much to do and such limited time, this could happen to any of us. Hopefully, other staff have been supportive. Please follow the excellent advice of rncountry. Think positively and present yourself in a confident and truthful manner before the Board. Wish I could give you a hug!

Hug4mom - I'm sure the nurses and patients in all your various positions appreciated you too. Good luck in school and I'll bet you will become a wonderful nurse.

Brownms46 - What a beautiful dream! Perhaps, you can make it a reality one day. Teenage moms and battered women need so much support. I'm sure with your helping hand and caring heart, they would have a chance at making their own dreams come true.

I'd live in a valley surrounded by mountains and a lake view. I'd have a small farm, grow my own food. My job - a Nurse Midwife. I wouldn't mind being paid with chickens or a goat for those without insurance coverage.

Rita - I wish I'd become a nurse after graduating from high school. There are so many opportunities. Nothing can replace the satisfaction when I feel my efforts have brightened someone's day. Or the warm fuzzy feeling you get when a patient's face lights up upon your return from your days off. Eventually everyone finds the shift they are most comfortable with or they work per deim or work for an agency where they are able to pick and choosea little more freely.

I agree with some of your post - there have been some antagonistic words passed back and forth. There have also, been numerous supportive comments. All professions have drawbacks. I'm impressed with the survey answers that clearly show, despite the problems, nurses still love their jobs. What I don't agree with is that nursing education should be standardized. From what I've gathered in reading all the posts standardized education seems to mean one could be a nurse only if they obtained a BSN. Yet, from reading and understanding all the reasons people have chosen to become LPN's, Diploma, or ADN's and their huge contributions to the field of nursing; I would imagine a number of people would not have the resources to even entertain the thought of becoming a nurse. It's quite possible that stance could contribute to an even worse shortage. Because of the diversity in nursing education, you have a much larger pool of people attracted to nursing. Pay needs to increase first. Having listened to my high school age daughters and their friends MONEY is a top priority for young people today when selecting a career. Last, those of us in their 40's still have many years of service to offer. While I would continue to encourage young people to enter nursing; those who have raised their families should be encouraged to look into nursing as a second career to ease the shortage for the next 20 years.

Am still awaiting my application for license transfer from the State of Florida Board of Nursing so can't comment on LPN positions in Florida. In New York, my first position was in a county hospital without emergency services. LPN's worked on all units, which included: Acute(LPN's were trained to participate on Blue 100 team responsible for the entire hospital) Rehabilitation (CVA's, TBI, etc.), Skilled Nursing, Health Related, Infectious Disease, Pediatric, Young Adult, and Alzheimer's. Once was floated to a 60 bed health related unit encompassing two floors as the only nurse on Thanksgiving during a flu quarantine knowing none of the patients! Worked for New York State Developmental Disabilities in various group home settings which included children and young adults, behavioral homes with high functioning residents which included sexual offenders and had received sign language training prior to the opening of a new group home exclusively for deaf women with behavior problems. I loved these challenging positions. Lots of resident teaching, participating in team care plans and implementation, planned recreational activities and participated in outings, transported individuals to school, appointments,etc., passed medications, made and/or assisted residents with preparation of lunches, breakfasts, and dinners, ADL's, tube feedings, replaced G-tubes, phone orders and transcription. Lots of seizure disorders, pica, inappropriate behaviors such as biting, kicking, hair pulling, throwing items from regurgitated stomach contents to wheelchairs, public masturbation, etc. Emergency interventions due to certain seizure disorders, wounds requiring sutures, bites, high Carbon Monoxide level one night requiring total evacuation, resident who swallowed part of their sweatshirt (endoscopy also revealed part of a backpack). My only injury was a broken nose. But was called in to takeover when a coworker sliced parts of his fingers off in a blender - beyond description how much blood needed to be cleaned off the ceiling, walls, cupboards, etc. Was sent to Children's Hospital for a week's inservicing on behavior modification. OB/GYN nurse in large group practice. Some physicians saw up to 60 OB patients per day. Demagraphics, BP's and weights, urines, hematocrits, sterilizing equipment, assisting with in-office procedures, phone triage, shoulder to cry on, etc. Home Health - meds, tube feedings, ADL's, comfort care, dressing changes, etc. Was not happy in this area especially working the night shift.

Bedhead - I can understand anyone's reluctance to join a union especially if they've previously been a member and felt there was no benefit. But, remember there is strength in numbers. Union members can voice their concerns to union officials and have those concerns brought before management. A nurse here and there voicing their opinions to management on their own appears to have little effect. But, the voice of a large union body can have dramatic results. Also, the union is only as strong as it's members. Members need to actively attend union meetings, discuss and understand the issues, and at times support the group as a whole even if it may not be the opinion held by you. Many times I have seen negative comments by union members about their particular union and they NEVER participate or put in an appearance at meetings or vote for officers. It is also true no one group will agree on everything. From reading these boards, I am certain we can agree there are certain major issues among nurses that can be addressed by unions in contract negotiations. Pay, breaks, mandatory overtime, benefits, educational reimbursement, safety, job descriptions, retirement, etc. Many individuals complain constantly but fear making waves by going to the boss. Those are the same co-workers who allow other nurses to be their voice but don't make a peep when asked to stand behind the more assertive nurses. That problem is eliminated when there is a union steward. Certainly, some issues are considered frivolous and may not be considered for discussion. I belonged to the CSEA when working in New York for Monroe County and for the State of New York.

Buck 227 and Jay Jay thanks for your kind words. I'm in the process of searching the archives; continue to find interesting topics and become sidetracked. It will be interesting to read of other "new grad stupids". Suzy K - your post about your friend was chilling - still getting goosebumps. Makes it more important than ever to be kind and supportive of each other. You never know what comment or action might put someone over the edge.

A teenage boy arrived at his Pediatrician's office in apparent distress but would not reveal to the receptionist or the Nurse why he need to see the Physician. When the Doc examined him he noted his member was extremely swollen, erect and very red and the boy stated he had been unable to urinate for at least 24 hours. It appeared there was a blockage of some sort. When questioned about it, the boy said he had fallen on a pick up stick. You know those pick up sticks you played with as as a kid that look like toothpicks but thicker and about 8 inches long. Just try to imagine someone falling on one of those and have it go straight up their member!

Student Sarah - just wanted to let you know I always enjoyed having student nurses on my floor. Usually resulted in a decreased patient load for me. Plus, I thoroughly enjoyed calming the nerves of those with the jitters over a particularly demanding patient or assisting in any I could to better their learning experience. Whew! Some of those nursing instructors were scary. I have worked with so many dedicated, wonderful people in my nursing career from CNA's to NP's. I've encouraged some CNA's to continue their education in the nursing field because they were so with it and hard working. Only had 1 problem with a RN - at the end of a shift, she was filing her nails at the nurses station while chatting with her friends. I was finishing up last minute charting and preparing to give report to the incoming shift. She told me to go empty the garbage in the Med room. I refused and explained I was too busy but it appeared one of her group might have some time. Next day she had me hauled into the Nurse Manager's office accused me of defying her direct orders and also stated I was prejudiced. Needless to say, the outcome was in my favor. I think the real nurses far outnumber the ones who stink! To Sunbunz - I've never had the experience of an RN having more work because of me; usually, I lightened their load and I had more patients than they. Once I had established myself with my abilities, I can't recall ever being checked up on. My input was well respected by Psych, PT, OT, etc. Have been encouraged so many times to become an RN, but I'm happy where I am! Only regret I've ever had was not being able to work in L&D - I enjoyed my clinical rotation in this exciting area tremendously

Susy K - so sorry I did reread your response to C.LO and you did not concur. Must be losing my marbles. Also, as far as I know, there is no difference between an LVN and an LPN. Just different names in different states. They take the same boards. I hope all this will end now that you have your answers. Most became LPN's due to shorter length of schooling, finances and families. And most LPN's have a great deal of opportunities to provide care in a variety of settings dependent on the state in which they practice and any additional inservicing they receive. Love your passion; reminds me of myself!

Always makes me cringe, whenever I see a nurse with "dagger nails" going to administer a suppository. Seems this would make an uncomfortable procedure worse. And, I've always wondered about the possibility of a long nail poking through the end of a glove.

Wow! Buck227 and Nursejanedough you've definitely had some difficult co-workers and tough bosses. Please don't hold it against me because I'm going to tell something stupid I did as a new graduate. Remember the rule to always follow all lines to their source? Well, I never forgot it again. Part of my assignment was to start all the tube feedings on my floor. Well, to make a long story short...I failed to notice that the tubing from the foley bag had become disconnected and was lying under this patient's wheelchair. I connected the tube feeding to her indwelling catheter which was in plain sight and looked just like her G-tube and filled her bladder full of tube feed. Another nurse asked who hooked up so and so? Naturally, I replied, I did. She said, "come here". I was horrified! I went to my Nurse Manager immediately. She called the Doctor, orders were received to irrigate her bladder. I worked in an 850 bed facility. It spread like wild fire and went all the way to the top. My punishment was my total embarassment and empathy for the discomfort I must have caused my patient. I was not written up. I really had some great team members. Felt lucky to keep my job and continue to develop my newly learned skills and become an asset to the floor.

Torimarie - sorry to hear you and your co-workers are having such a difficult time of it. Have you tried a Psych consult? In my past experience we were required each year to take an 8 hour class called SCIP (strategies for crisis intervention prevention) which dealt with your issue. We learned to ignore the negative, reward the positive. We used a process called gradient control which started with verbal calming. I actually enjoyed these challenging individuals. We dealt with verbal abuse, biting, kicking, hair pulling, regurgitating (it would be thrown at you), public masturbation, etc. Of course, if the individual continued to escalate despite following all the guidelines, we were able to use a two-person take down until the resident was calm. If Psych can't help, I suggest - continuing with the necessary procedures your patient needs, don't give him any eye contact, remain oblivious to his verbal abuse as if he is talking to someone behind you. If he becomes physically assaultive - remove yourself from the situation and call Security. Do not take his behavior personally. I saw a co-worker slap an individual once because of repeated verbal abuse. (Yes, I reported it) Hope this helps.