¶ … Interview Contact information: 1-877-MDA-6789

Date interviewed: November 8, 2012

Company name: MD Anderson Cancer Center

Highest degree earned: LPN

College or University where the degree was earned: Houston Community College

What is your title and what are your main responsibilities?

I am a nurse. My main responsibilities are: measuring vital signs, administering medications, keeping the patient clean, handling wound care, maintaining patient records, and observing the patient.

What are some of the specific skills you need in order to perform your job?

The biggest skill I need is the ability to communicate with my patients. Through communication I can learn if they are in pain, if they have any needs, and assess their conditions. I also need a thorough understanding of biology and anatomy.

Describe what you do during a typical day?

During a typical day I work on a specific floor and am in charge of handling a set number of patients. For those patients, I am their duty nurse. I check in with each of them at the beginning of my shift, review their charts, and check on their condition. I administer medications when they are due, handle patient hygiene, and make sure that the patients are comfortable. I check and make sure that wounds are...

If there are any issues with the patient's condition, I contact either a doctor or a head nurse.
4. What other jobs have you held that might have helped prepare you for this position?

This was actually my first real job.

5. Do you have people who work for you, and what do they do?

No.

6. What is one of the most challenging things about the work you do?

The lack of respect from some doctors and RNs in the hospital. The patients can get abusive, but their time on the floor is limited. It is much more difficult to deal with supervisors who look down on LVNs.

7. Why is time management important to you, and what time management tips could you suggest?

Patient care has to be efficient without seeming impersonal; therefore, I try to engage the patients when I enter the room, so that I do not seem as if I am hurrying to leave. If the patient clearly needs more specific, personal attention, but I have duties I need to attend to in other rooms, I explain that I have to take care of other patients, but come back to them.

8. How do you balance your family, job, work, and leisure time?

I am single and I work a regular later day-shift. Because I do not start work until noon, I am able to take care of errands during the morning, and I still have…