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Articles by Stacy Winters
Reader Voting “No” On Amendment 3
Much has been written about what a “yes” vote on Amendment 3 would do. Equally important is what a “no” vote would do.
How do you deal with workplace discrimination?
For first time in my nursing career I left work with my feelings extremely hurt not because of my performance but because I'm not allowed to be myself. So I just started working at a teaching hospital. It is day 4 for me out of a 9 week training schedule. Over the past 4 shifts I’ve noticed my department Director had it out for me but I couldn’t quite figure out why. The same for the clinical nurse leaders who never Acknowledge me when I work, even when I speak cordially. Anyway...
When You See Something, Say Something
Share Article "In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. We must live together as brothers or perish together as fools." - Dr. Martin Luther King Racism in nursing is real. It starts in nursing school, occurs on the units among nurses, managers, administrators, doctors as well as patients; intermingled in this wide web. Some white people become defensive about this topic, they refute and dismiss such acts.
New Job, New Cheddar
Share Article Finally, you graduated from nursing school and have passed your NCLEX. All those years of study are finally over, not to mention dealing with all that stress and anxiety when it came to the NCLEX. So now what? it's time to get working. Find that first-time gig that gets you that coveted experience you need right? Newbies On the Job Hold on, I want to talk to you about something else here before the jet starts flying, and that is the money you will be making soon.
Nurses and narcotics
My apologies for this being such a novel! There's a lot on my mind and I'm not sure who or what to do at this point, so I'm going to let it out here and maybe one of you wonderful people can offer some advice. I've only been a nurse for about a year and a half, but managed to land a job working as an RN in an office-setting managing the medical care side of 30+ individuals. There is one other nurse who was hired earlier this year.
Please advice me
Been' (close to) there, know many people who are still in the same boat. Absolutely for sure, no U.S. based RRT program will account for any nursing courses from overseas. Also, becoming an RRT will likely get you money to live on but won't help you to get back to nursing because these two types of degrees and experience are not deemed comparable. Same about everything else, including imaging techs, physical/occupational therapists, etc.
New Grad Indecision
8 minutes ago, Sour Lemon said: How competitive is the residency, and what's your plan if you're not selected for it? There are probably a lot of new graduates in your position, and they're probably waiting on the sidelines to apply as well. I'm under the impression that there's a lot to learn in LTAC, but it would be shady to work for a few months and then quit. You'd probably still be on orientation. Who's funding you? Can you afford to wait it out?
How to handle patient’s threats
1. Express sympathy for the patient and intent to alleviate the pain. "I'm sorry you're in so much pain. Let's see what we have ordered for you." 2. When that does not make them happy, state the situation and offer to call the doctor. "I don't have that particular medication (or route) available. Let me call the doctor to see what else we can do." When you call the doctor, describe the pain-related behaviours: writhing, grimacing (or laughing on the phone with someone, munching on a sandwich). 3.
New protocol - No report from ER to floor...
6 hours ago, hherrn said: FWIW- I sometimes have to give report about a patient I know almost nothing about. When this happens, I open the chart and essentially read a condensed version to the receiving nurse. I am reading the same chart he or she can access. it only takes a few minutes, and they don't seem to notice or mind. This is an important point that nurses on the inpatient side of the hospital often don't understand.
new protocol-no report from ER to floor...
6 hours ago, hherrn said: FWIW- I sometimes have to give report about a patient I know almost nothing about. When this happens, I open the chart and essentially read a condensed version to the receiving nurse. I am reading the same chart he or she can access. it only takes a few minutes, and they don't seem to notice or mind. This is an important point that nurses on the inpatient side of the hospital often don't understand.
Ethics question, risky nurse, reckless behavior
Good evening ladies and gentlemen, I write to you all in hopes of helping my mind and heart some resolution to an aching situation as of late. Lets say the describing scenario is an isolation hall of 4-11 acute care patients getting rehab with 2 twelve hour shift nurses.
The road not taken. my RN midlife crisis.
Hello everyone, Sorry if this message is in the wrong place on this subforum, or if it is a little long. I haven't really posted here or been active on the forums in a while. I've been in the middle of what feels like a mid-life crisis and I'm truthfully just looking for opinions.
Asked to meet with defense counsel to clarify documentation
This isn't legal advice, but if I were in your shoes, I would personally... -Avoid any signs of remembering the patient, even if you do. I wouldn't say "Oh yeah, I remember this case." -Avoid any self-blaming words, I.e. "I would normally do XYZ, but that night we were swamped and short staffed." "I should've documented ABC, too," etc. -Avoid adding a single thing verbally to my documentation.
anyone have a board complaint
I had it once. An openly xenophobic patient demanded to know why it was me taking care of him and not "some real American nurse". The manager, who was openly rasist and inti-immigrant, terminated me for nothing short time after and wrote the report about "deep concern about safety". I do not know if I'd come out of this mess alive and with license if I wouldn't tell people who knew better and had access to legal consult experienced in working with professional regulatory agencies.
new grad residencies or start working
It depends on if you can afford to be unemployed. I'll also let you in on a little secret: the hospital is not the end all to be all of jobs. I will never go back to a hospital setting unless it's the last paying job available, and I'm starving to death! Try dialysis, SNF, LTACH, or working in prison infirmary. Beyond that, you may need to be open to relocating, many in CA have had to. Do not try home health, hospice, or school nursing without some kind of experience under your belt.
Almost 2 years in and still making mistakes
In the grand scheme of things, two years is still pretty "fresh." From what you have described here, it sounds like your co-workers may be a little hard on each other, and also sounds like you could potentially be a little hard on yourself. In a demanding job such as acute care nursing, "forgetting" small tasks should not be marked as "mistakes" unless you are forgetting something major or putting patient safety at risk.
Do Black Nurses Have a Different Experience?
Share Article I reached out to Mary, an old college acquaintance, to ask if she would talk to me about her experiences as a black nurse. I was concerned that asking her to talk about her history might be triggering or an imposition and I wanted to honor her willingness to share with me, so I asked if I could make a donation in her honor. She asked that I make a donation to the Alzheimer's Association in honor of her mother, who suffers from Alzheimer’s.
Shift Work Disorder is Eating My Brain
On 6/29/2020 at 9:15 PM, A.M. Wolf said: What are your strategies for coping in the best way possible? There are lots of discussions on the topic of sleep here on allnurses,A.M. Wolf and I encourage you do do a search. Here's a portion from a post of mine I copied: "I deep breathe, focus on phosphenes (the blurbs of light you see when you close your eyes) and a mantra, my favorite being the Lord's Prayer.
Assisted "falls"
Like PP Sour Lemon said, most places consider it an 'assisted fall'. But regardless, a State surveyor advised once advised us that if a pt butt went to the floor, treat it like a regular fall.   And then proceed accordingly per facility P&P. Report up the chain, do an incident report, charting entry, scrupulous detail to body check for injury/ROM, and FAMILY NOTIFICATION. Most esp family notification.
Advice - should I or shouldn’t I?
1 hour ago, 3rdgenRN2B said: I have myself convinced that something terrible will happen if I finally pursue my dream. Even if I wait 5,10 years I’m sure I’ll feel the same. It’s my anxiety talking. Terrible things (and good things) happen whether you’re there or not. At the risk of showing my age, I watched an episode of The Waltons where Mary Ellen was overly protective of her toddler son. The youngster got away from her and when they found him, she was in a panic and very accusatory.
Differential Case Study: Lyme Disease or Covid-19?
Share Article If you think you know the correct diagnosis for this Case Study (CSI)... DO NOT POST ANSWER HERE. Instead, post your answer in the ADMIN HELP DESK.; We don't want to spoil it for others who are late in joining us. In a few days, after I post the diagnosis, the Admins will announce the names of those members who correctly identified the problem. We hope to turn this into a friendly competition with more Case Studies to come. You CAN post questions and post comments below. BUT...
Seeking Nurse Psychotherapist Point of Veiw
On 6/26/2020 at 7:08 AM, KatieB. said: I felt exhausted but so satisfied with how my day was spent. Often times, we believe that gaining more education and/or possessing more power will result in a higher level of consciousness and allow us to give more to those we serve and subsequently feel more satisfied. When, in fact, the result is that we lose sight of our goal.
Six Pieces of Advice for New Nurses
Share Article I recently chatted with a soon-to-be nursing school graduate. She asked many questions about my nursing journey. She was interested in the type of unit that provides the best experience for a nurse grad, and she even wanted to hear about the different jobs I’ve held during my career. As we talked, I recognized that she was looking for mentorship. New ventures often bring about questions, fears, and apprehensions.
Nurses Refilling Prescriptions
The thing is, there's really no reason it has to be done that way and the problem (besides being a patient safety issue and also probably technically illegal) is that if there's ever a situation where the provider is looking at the order after the fact and realizes it a refill probably shouldn't have been authorized for one reason or another, they might cause trouble over signing it, or say they never authorized the refill and refuse to sign it. They could try that; not to say they will.
When Your Preceptee is a Know-it-All
Share Article By 0900 on the first day of orientation with her preceptee, Sheila knew, and groaned inwardly. Her preceptee, Kyle, was a know-it-all. During rounds on their patient in the designated COVID-19 ICU unit, the intensivist musingly mentioned transfusion. Kyle spoke up excitedly, “Oh, you mean convalescent plasma transfusion? It looks promising. I read that it can be useful in the treatment of critically ill patients with COVID-19.
I’m a new graduate working for a month and have had 3 incident reports made about me
A doctor complained that the patient didn't get to x-ray on time? He needs to get used to disappointment. Then you copped to a paperwork error that wasn't yours and then you made a med error. First of all, never own anything that isn't yours, error-wise. "Sorry, I didn't do that." If you own up to the errors that you do make, you will have more credibility when denying the ones that aren't yours. How did you make the paracetamol error? Did you have an order for 1 gram?
Documented note for a coworker RN
3 hours ago, JKL33 said: What is this about? Is it because you didn't personally gather assessment information prior to making a note? Or because your DON thinks that an admission summary can only be made by the person on duty when the patient rolled in? I don't understand. This sounds like trouble-making.
Ethical Issues
5 minutes ago, caliotter3 said: Didn't you read the story about the woman in the NY park with her dog who became the center of a media doo doo storm and was fired from her vice president job at an investment firm because she lost control and called a black man "African American"? One of those Yahoo stories had about 15,000 plus comments the last time I looked. Any employer is able to can an employee for just about any reason (excluding a very few reasons forbidden under law) and that is that.
What are your views on switching days with people?
It really doesn’t bother me as long as I didn’t have other plans and it’s not a case of a co worker taking advantage of me to make their schedule better at my expense. I worked in a very small unit where it was frowned upon to even ask. Didn’t matter what was going on in your life. It took me a while to understand I should never ever ask, even the people who were OK with it as there was a core of staff who acted like you were as good as abandoning your job for even asking.
Have you noticed a better quality of life going from full time to part time?
I used to work in acute (inpatient) dialysis, and I remember when I was full time with my then-company, I felt that the hours were unmanageable. I worked 18+ hours a day(!) three days a week. All I did was work, sleep, do laundry, and work again. Rapidly burnt out. Then I went part-time, which meant two days a week, 12-13 hours a day. I noticed that I was so much happier, because I felt like I had a life again. Sure, I made less money, but work stopped feeling like a prison sentence.
Radonda Vaught Fatal Error Case Timeline
9 hours ago, Asystole RN said: In all reality the individuals who failed to report are not the executives but rather the QA person(s) or other low level functionaries. Respondeat superior. Your employee kills someone you better have a surefire method of letting the proper authorities know. When your other employees lie to medical examiners, you should take care of that, too. Etc. Etc. 9 hours ago, Asystole RN said: in fact, do their level best to justify it.
A Shift in Perspective
Share Article Have you ever tried to change the ingredients in your mother’s chicken pot pie recipe and lived to hear the repercussions of such a malevolent crime? The answer is probably yes. But following what appears to be an act of treason from the perspective of your mother, you simply take it to the chin and pray that you never have the audacity to change any of your mother’s cooking again.
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