Lifepoint hospitals Livingston regional hospital and many others in several states This corporation chases competent nurses away because competent nurses are vocal about understaffing and unsafe dangerous environments for patients. They place nurses in harm's way with incompetent n Livingston, Tennessee

This is in response to the end of the previous report where the writer(s) incinuate that LPNs put patient lives at stake, esp. if they work the night shift. Typical RN attitude being taught today.They are afraid we will take jobs away from them. We are supposed to be a TEAM.  I have been a DIPLOMA LPN for 36 yrs. My training/education was the equivillant of an Associates Degree RN. I had classes 8hrs a day, 5 days a week for 13 straight months. None of this 1 or 2 1 hour classes a few days a week with 2 week break in the fall and in the spring and classes that had nothing to do with nursing. I have had to teach new RNs how give injections, other RNs how to start an IV, how to perform tube feedings, trach suctioning, decubitis care, how to do urinary caths, how to chart properly. I have not only developed a teaching plan, wrote and illustrated the material but taught RNs Hemodialysis. The list goes on. RNs are apparently not taught the fine art of Nursing, which is patient care. Today's focus is based on the delusion that they are the equivillant of Drs. Case in point. My mom was in Centennial Hosp. for open heart surgery, which did not go well and she passed away. The night shift RN came in @ 3 am... 3 AM! to give my mother a bath. She stripped her naked with the door and curtain wide open and then went at her like she was scrubbing a floor. My mom was 87 and was so fluid overloaded that her skin was splitting open and bleeding. She was so tender to the touch you could not even hold her hand. Even on heavy sedation due to ventilation, she was grimacing in pain. Add insult to injury, another RN came in and instead of at least pulling a sheet up over my mother, she just left her there fully exposed while they had their conversation. LPNs are trained to respect and preserve the patient's dignity as well as being trained how to give a bed bath! Same night, the VS alarms were going off. Mother's HR dipped to 38bpm. Then her SpO2 dipped to 50%. I waited and waited which seemed like an eternity but was only a minute or two and no RN came to check on her. I went to the nurse's desk and her nurse was chatting and laughing with another with her back to the monitor which had the sound  turned off. She ambled in about a minute later, went over and turned the alarm off, glanced at my mother and then went to the computer. Her VS continued to drop, but the alarm was turned off. Before mother was put back on the vent, I came in after a working my 12hr shift and found my mom sitting bolt up in bed gasping for air like a fish out of water with a look of panic on her face. The 2 RNs were huddled around the computer with their backs to her.  I asked mother how long she had been like this and as best as she was able, she said 2 hrs. 2 hrs of agonial breathing and the DR had not been notified because the RNs were too arrogant, given too much leeway and thought they could handle the problem on their own. I wanted to notify the Rapid Response Team and the nurses all panicked so they called her cardiac surgeon to speak to me to "calm me down". He was appalled to learn of the agonial respirations that he was not notified about. Within 30 minutes another cardiologist came in and she was put back on the respirator. 2 days later we let her go because she was in cascade organ failure and the respirator was all that was keeping her alive. So next time you want to disrespect an LPN, think about what I have just written.