Just needed to vent a little. What a rough day today, I was terminated today because of may ADD. I made this clear with the DON when she was terminating me if it was based on my work performance and she said Yes. I have just recently been diagnosed and started on meds and still trying to find the right dosage. She is aware of the diagnosis and I reminded her of this again.
I am upset and hurt and she was not willing to work with me on this until I got my meds straigthen out. She has said before how I am such a strong nurse and I can do the job but I just need to be more organzied and have better time mangament. Now she does not want to work with me on this.
How many hours have you spent in a classroom observing ADHD children before medication then after? I'm not proposing every child needs to be medicated--some are just behavior problems but believe me, ADHD exists.
I was told about the hx of using stimilants for ADHA is that by the peds I worked. He said that in the 1950's a group of teens were at a group home because they were hard to control and too active to stay at regular school and home. Many of them became overweight as a result of inactivity etc so stimulants where given to (like Fastim) and suddenly the boys were easier to get along with and more focused. And there are many
adults with ADHD...usually fairly sucessful one they find their nitch. By adulthood, they learn to channel all their drive and energy into their business and end up doing well.
The medications work wonders...what's your point??? Stimulant medications for ADHD will help every person who takes them focus better. I can also take a laxative and crap my brains out even though I wasn't constipated to begin with:bugeyes:.
Look, the medications help children calm down. But my point is that that is not what is always in the best interest of the child! Behavior management and parenting skill education for hyperactive children works just as well, and it even includes the added bonus of actually teaching those children how to cope in future years! Solely medicating children does not do that...quite the contrary.
ADHD medications have been shown to place children at higher risks of psychosis later in life. No one knows yet if that is a coorelation, but that risk exists, and the not knowing sure as hell makes me never want to expose my child to such risk! I also take issue with the need to have children sit down and shut up. If my child needs to stand at his desk to do homework...so be it!
It's really easy for people to condescendingly proclaim the parenting skill of those with challenging children to be deficient, and take all the credit for their easy to live with child.
It ain't that simple, folks. Anyone who has a large family (such as myself) knows the truth, which is that each child comes into this world with inborn traits.
I agree, Veln that therapy works, but for true, full blown ADHD it sometimes doesn't. This is were therapy and meds work best. I also do not feel it is ethical to give ADHD med without therapy. But insurance companies like pills because they are cheaper than therapy. And in a perfect world, there would be LCSW at every school to reinforce behavior therapy and help kids with issues...but unfortunately this will probably never happen.
OOps! I think we hijacked a thread..hope the Navy won't shoot us. Sorry, LPNmom! Be sure to see a therapist too for some behavior modification...
Veln--wait til your child starts school. If he is bouncing off the walls in the classroom, disrupting other students from learning, then he will be sent to a classroom for ED children if you refuse to medicate him (if he needs it) or if behavior therapy is ineffective. Or you may have to home school him. Uncontrolled ADHD has no place in a regular classroom--they prevent other kids from learning. I removed my daughter from a classroom when she was in 3rd grade because of an out of control ADHD child. Meds don't need to be started at age 3--just given when needed--in the classroom. They can be DC for weekends and days he is not in school. Since cognitive/behavioral therapy works, you'd better start with it now before he becomes conditioned to behave the way he does. I have always felt therapy should go hand in hand with ADHD meds (I also think schools should have LCSW too) but it is rarely done. Insurance companies like pills because they are cheaper than therapy.
Nope, my son does extremely well at the school he is in. And yes, he is at a school that runs an educational montessori curriculum, not a daycare. He has no behavior propblems when he is properely challenged. I said he bounced off the walls...I NEVER said he has disruptive behavior problems.
You talk about how you just need to use the meds when they are at school...that is exactly my problem with the use of ADHD meds. You never really get to solve the problem. Just mask it.
Look, I never said this was an easy thing to fix or deal with. I just happen to disagree with how our society handles hyperactive children, and I'm entitled to my opinion. I personally believe that there are better ways to educate these children. And I'm not naive. I work in early childhood intervention and have for years. This crap is old hat to me.
It's really easy for people to condescendingly proclaim the parenting skill of those with challenging children to be deficient, and take all the credit for their easy to live with child.
It ain't that simple, folks. Anyone who has a large family (such as myself) knows the truth, which is that each child comes into this world with inborn traits.
I never said that any parent of a child with ADD was a BAD parent or had BAD parenting skills. And no, my son is not easy. He is at risk of being a child whom some might like to label him as having ADHD, but we have found a perfect school for him that works with his energy and he is thriving.
I teach parents of children with disabilities how to foster their children's development. The kids I see have things from language delays to cerebral palsy, to fatal illnesses. These parents are most of the time wonderful parents, but they are having to learn how to parent their kids differently, as a reslt of the challenges their children face. Children who are labeled as having ADD/ADHD need different parenting than your average child. I feel that these parents need to educate themselves how they can better foster their children. Those that do, most often have more suscess. Those that don't...well those are the ones that want to mask the problme and then they end up with adult children who have developed bad habits. My parents are guilty of that but that doesn't mean I think they were bad!
Look, I'm not pigeonholeing EVERY family, just the trends I see.
Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
I am also sorry to hear this. If your work performance was affected and if it compromised patient safety, then, I would have probably asked that you take a leave of absence until the medication dosages were corrected, but to terminate because of an illness that can possibly be managed is not fair to me. What about nurses that abuse drugs, are bipolar or other issues? If patience can be shown towards them, then, the same can be rendered to you.
Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
Actally the disorganization and time management was NOT affecting patient care. I was putting my residents first making sure they were safe and answering alarms. I was staying over doing the charting that I was not able to get to during the shift because of all the extra stuff they have been throwing at us left and right to do. My work was completed during my shift except any charting I was not able to complete.
Most of the nurses I know have to remain at least 1/2 hour after their shift to complete charting. After they give report, they go in a corner and finish. In the era of this litigious society and too much extra nonsense that they add to document, this is no surprize. In fact, most nurses have no time for patient care due to these demands. I'd be a happy patient if I saw that my nurse did take time to care for me and placed the writing till a bit later. I believe they did you a grave disservice by not at least seeing how you functioned after your medications were tweaked.
Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
No I don't want my job back now. Nothing would change. I just want them to realize they can't do whatever they want when it comes to this. Yes I plan on finding a better fitting job but jobs are hard to come by in this area right now and I am limited being a LPN.
That is one thing that we must consider...where you are living and the availability of other positions. If you reside in an area where LPN positions are limited, then, for sure, I would want to ensure that I can still earn a living once I am stabilized. How long did you work there? I would not want negative things said about me, either, especially if I tried to discover and then treat the problem. One of the main points of individual maturity is to admit that there is a problem then try and solve it. What I would like to know; do you find the medication helpful? Do you see a positive difference? If so, then, I would say that you deserve a chance to earn a living.
Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
We have an attorney service through my husbands employer that we pay a couple dollars a month for to handle things like this. We knew it would come in handle some day for only paying a couple of dollars a month for.
I have heard of these attorney services. WOuld you like to share more about it? I was thinking about doing this myself, but don't know how to go about it.
I think it's like the brain is in high gear and the body is in another gear, and they working out of synch.
No, one of the more accepted belief is that the brain is in low gear and the body is attempting to get more stimulation out of the natural environment. It seems counter intuative, but the central nervous system of people who present with higher levels of activity is HYPOactive (under active), and so the body has to compensate and produce more stimulatory activation to keep the brain "awake", so to speak. Hense, the suscesses that stimulant medication provides.
This is precisely why traditional methods of telling these kids to sit still and be quiet does not work. You don't want to calm them down, you want them to find ways of getting that activity to their brain, but do so in an appropriate manner that is not disruptive to others. standing and rocking while eating and doing homework, chewing a pen, squishing silly putty, getting LOTS of active time on the playground, etc!
No, one of the more accepted belief is that the brain is in low gear and the body is attempting to get more stimulation out of the natural environment. It seems counter intuative, but the central nervous system of people who present with higher levels of activity is HYPOactive (under active), and so the body has to compensate and produce more stimulatory activation to keep the brain "awake", so to speak. Hense, the suscesses that stimulant medication provides.
This is precisely why traditional methods of telling these kids to sit still and be quiet does not work. You don't want to calm them down, you want them to find ways of getting that activity to their brain, but do so in an appropriate manner that is not disruptive to others. standing and rocking while eating and doing homework, chewing a pen, squishing silly putty, getting LOTS of active time on the playground, etc!
Again this one of those things that is different in everyone, and different in how it's managed, I am ADD as is my son, however keeping our brains awake isn't the problem, it's slowing them down a tad, I work night shift because my brain will shut down a bit better after being up all night however when I'm working during the day it just races and I'm lucky to get to sleep before 1am, I've learned how to channel it better through the years, he hasn't quite go that figured out so he takes non-stimulants at low doses during the school year and takes med holidays when he's out of school for prolonged times, there is a HUGE difference in his ability to complete his work, entire letter differences in final grades between meds and non meds. It isn't about calming him down or making him easier to deal with because by the time we pick him up from whatever after school activity he is in, they've worn off so he's always the same kid to us, and he doesn't like the way his brain races when he's trying to do his work in class when he's not on his medication (he's 13 now so he's more than old enough to articulate how he fels on and off his meds and put his 2 cents into management planning) but in reading through the end of this thread it seems as if it's been hijacked a bit into a "what is the right way to manage ADD debate" rather than offer support and assistance to the OP.
To the OP good luck with the lawyer, I don't think it's fair the way they did that to you and I'd be fighting mad too! Hope you get some good solid answers and can find a new job with more supportive supervisors and co-workers.
Just an anecdote--My son was diagnosed ADD and they wanted to put him on Ritalin, but I didn't believe it because he only had trouble at school. We eat pretty organic at home and it turns out he was sensitive to red dye and very touchy to sugar. They'd give him that red jello for lunch or they'd have candy in class or something and he'd bounce off the walls, hehe :) Once we figured that out he stopped having problems at all except for normal boy stuff. Maybe checking out your diet might help along with the new meds?
yelnikmcwawa
317 Posts
The medications work wonders...what's your point??? Stimulant medications for ADHD will help every person who takes them focus better. I can also take a laxative and crap my brains out even though I wasn't constipated to begin with:bugeyes:.
Look, the medications help children calm down. But my point is that that is not what is always in the best interest of the child! Behavior management and parenting skill education for hyperactive children works just as well, and it even includes the added bonus of actually teaching those children how to cope in future years! Solely medicating children does not do that...quite the contrary.
ADHD medications have been shown to place children at higher risks of psychosis later in life. No one knows yet if that is a coorelation, but that risk exists, and the not knowing sure as hell makes me never want to expose my child to such risk! I also take issue with the need to have children sit down and shut up. If my child needs to stand at his desk to do homework...so be it!