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Job Title: Licensed Practical Nurse
Type of Company: I work for a non-profit rehabilitation hospital, specializing in brain injury and orthopedics.
Education: BS, Psychology, UMass-Dartmouth •• Practical Nursing program, Cape Cod Technical School
Previous Experience: I worked as a certified nursing assistant in a geriatric care facility . Once I obtained my nursing license I worked in long term care for three years. I now work at a rehabilitation hospital.
Job Tasks: My job requires direct patient care and coordinating care between doctors, physical therapists, and nursing. Direct patient care includes administering medications, changing wounds dressings, performing assessments. Every day is different from the previous day, patient assignments are different and day to day work differs.
My job responsibilities include delegating patient care to nursing aides, lots and lots of paperwork, and reporting to the patients' attending physician. Making patient care assignments for the nursing assistants is done at the beginning of the work shift and lets them know which room numbers and patients they are responsible for.
Paperwork and documentation take up much of my day, even with as few five or six patients assigned to me. Documentation is all computerized and allows the company to bill the insurance providers for payment. The doctors rely on nurses to communicate any issues not brought forth on morning rounds when the doctors visit their patients. Nursing acts as the doctor's eyes and ears.
Best and Worst Parts of the Job: The most rewarding part of my job is making a difference in a patient's day: being able to brighten up their environment and provide encouraging words... and also being able to provide support to spouses or other family members who need the support.
My least favorite part of the job -- any nurse's job -- is the constant barrage of paperwork that cuts into time you could spend with your patients. I'm not crazy either about the long hours that I have to spend walking or standing on my feet.
Job Tips: Having a diverse work experience I think is crucial to nursing. It is essential to be able to look at all patients with a wide perspective and an open mind. Nurses have to deal with patients who come from all different back grounds and belief systems.
Patience is essential because caring for people is far from perfect and nothing will ever work the way you desire it to. Learning how to relax and roll with the punches while at work is obligatory.
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