Re: Depressed about my job-long
Hi birdietiel!!
Welcome to LTC, the toughest job you'll ever love
I feel your pain, sister, believe me I do. I've worked every nursing job in LTC, from student nursing assistant all the way up to DNS, and I know exactly where you're coming from.
Your caring and compassion for the residents is obvious in your post. I'm right there with you: for all the money they pay to be in a nursing home, they receive very little actual care. The system puts profits ahead of people, and regretfully, there isn't much an individual nurse can do to change that. All we can change is how we think about our jobs, and work within that system to provide our folks with the best care we can possibly give.
You've made a great start. You are consciencious and thorough, something too many LTC nurses are not due to the numerous and often conflicting demands made on them during the course of a shift. As a new grad, however, you have a bit of a confidence problem, and the only way to work through that is to keep gaining experience. You also need to continue doing what you KNOW is right: reporting condition changes to the charge nurse, whether or not s/he does anything about it. And I know this is easier said than done, but do try not to let yourself be intimidated by nurses with more experience........they, too, are overwhelmed with too many patients and too many tasks, they've simply had more time to learn how to cope with it. The trouble is, they sometimes miss things that a newer set of eyes will catch.
I can't count the number of times I've had a new grad or a new CNA pick up on something that I'd overlooked, simply because I knew the resident and his/her habits so well. We "used nurses" will often say "Oh, that's just the way s/he is, it happens all the time." If your instincts tell you something's not right, keep insisting that the other nurse take a look and don't be put off; this is how you learn!
Above all, however, you need to be able to separate yourself---that is to say, your
self---from the job. I know for the first 10 years I was a nurse, I was a nurse 24/7, but that was not good for my mental health OR my private life. Find something to do outside of work hours that rejuvenates and refreshes you; don't be available to come in to work all the time; keep up friendships OUTSIDE of work; and learn to say "NO" to people and projects that don't add anything but stress to your life. The sooner you learn this, the better for your emotional balance and the better nurse you will be.
Hope this offers you some hope. Please feel free to PM me if you'd like to discuss this further; I'm here to help if I can.
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