A day in the life of a developmental disability nurse...

Hi
Thanks for your message. I'm having a good look around, have been given some great information. thanks to everyone for their help!
Cheers,
sjmac

As a med-surg nurse and mom of an autistic/severely retarded child, I just wanted to say "Thank You" to those of you who are nurses of the MR and DD. Thanks for caring for these special children/adults.

Hello I'm a Lpn working with the deveolpmentally disabled. I work in several different clients homes and enjoy it greatly. I have worked with disabled for over 14 yrs and have just started the nursing aspect of it this year. I too will be graduating soon from an RN program. I believe you have to be a very patient individual to work in this field. I find it very rewarding and I do know I like the fact that I can give quality care to one or two clients than having myself divided between 6 or more patients. I live in Oklahoma and was hired with no experience in nursing. The agency I work for is awesome about training and never just threw you out there. I think this field of nursing is somewhat hard to fill because nurses are sometimes scared of this population of individuals. I know these individuals have made such a difference in my life and I love this field of nursing.

I work for a group home for people who have been transitioned from a large facility into the community. I have 3 patients and i work with 2 dsps (direct support professionals), they do everything a cna would do but they dont have to be certified. I give out meds, do all the charting, take drs orders etc. i also have to do direct care for 1 pt, the 2 dsps take care of the other pts. I love my job, we get to take our guys fishing, to ballgames, to the park and really anywhere that they want to go. this is a really great field to get into, its so rewarding and u really feel appreciated.

I have a great job and feel so lucky to have found it. After 4 years I am still enjoying all aspects of it. I look after 4 or 5 disabled children each shift, under 6 years of age. I do all the charting, meds, g feeds, ng feeds if any. I have gotten very close to the kids and their families over the years.
DD is a very rewarding area to work in.

I do agree that this field can be very rewarding.

Hi, I'm a RN with more than 32 yrs experience and a Master's in Nursing. I've been working in the DD field for over 4 yrs and it's the most fulfilling work I've done as a RN. My many yrs in hospital, clinic, and community health nursing all contribute to my ability to serve the MRDD population. The pay is less than in acute care settings. The State where I live closed it's institutions for the MRDD population more than 10 yrs ago. Most individuals w/ MRDD are cared for in community based settings. Some are supported by the State, others by non-profit orgs. My advice is: work in an acute care setting (med/surg) nursing for at least two yrs. I'm the Health Services Dir. for the org I work for, and I require at least five yrs of acute care or skilled nursing experience. Hope this helps you. I'm glad that you want to work w/ those individuals w/ MRDD. They are the joys of my life and the staff who provide direct care/support in their homes are wonderful.

HI gajalama what state are you from? your position sounds very similar to mine, as does your state's care system .


Another question,.,, how many here are CDDNs? do you belong to DDNA?

Mary

Head Start or Early HEad Start you might start there.

I have worked in the DD field for about 14 years.. my background is nursing home for 3 years and Rehab in the hospital for 3 years before I found the DD field to be my calling. Yes the stress is just as much.. finding docs that will take DD patinets etc.. but It's the best job I have ever had and I wouldn't trade it for anything. The rewards more than make up for the crappy wages.. LOL This is why I am a nurse... and it is the best!
What you have to decide is what yur choice of "specialty" is going to be and be willing to sacrifce some part.