[crane32]

Working in LTC I have learned to look for the little signs that signal success. A resident that smiles when you offer a drink of water. Families that keep on returning to the nursing home to volunteer or just to say hi and express their thankfulness. Seeing someone being able to walk after hip surgery and then being able to return home. Or the hospice patient, just knowing that you were able to make sure the family was there for the last few breaths and/or comforted in their time of need, or that you were able to get the priest there, or just being there yourself when no one else can be to comfort the patient in their time of need. To me these are the signs of success--not a new position, title etc.

[Nursing.is.an.ART]

What is LTC ?

[LovingHeart]

I would love to see more success stories in this thread on working in LTC. For that is where I plan on working at when I finish my education. I have worked in LTC before as a CNA and yes it was very hard work but the rewards far outweight the hard work.

[Bird2]

Originally Posted by Nursing.is.an.ART

What is LTC ?

LTC is Long Term Care.

[VickyRN]

This is a wonderful idea for a thread, crane32 Please tell us some more about your experiences and your secret to success in the LTC environment.

[jennyga]

I love it when there are those that really care in LTC, I am a nursing student and I have no idea where I will work when I am done. Well I was talking to some of my classmates about where they were planning to work and one student said LTC, and another replied I dont want to work in LTC because its so easy. Well I was kinda upset, but I didnt want or feel the need to say anything. Ltc is not easy or for lazy people it is for those who have a heart and will care for the residents and know that the facility is there home!!! It really just rubbed me the wrong way. But anyways I think it s great and I would like to hear all Ltc success stories!!

[clee1]

Originally Posted by jennyga

I love it when there are those that really care in LTC, I am a nursing student and I have no idea where I will work when I am done. Well I was talking to some of my classmates about where they were planning to work and one student said LTC, and another replied I dont want to work in LTC because its so easy. Well I was kinda upset, but I didnt want or feel the need to say anything. Ltc is not easy or for lazy people it is for those who have a heart and will care for the residents and know that the facility is there home!!! It really just rubbed me the wrong way. But anyways I think it s great and I would like to hear all Ltc success stories!!

I agree.

LTC is NOT for me, but it has nothing to do with it being "easy" or "hard".

For me it is an emotional thing: the residents there remind me of my grandparents. During CNA rotations and now during 1st quarter LPN rotations, I am in LTC facilities. I give the very BEST care that I can, with a smile on my face and a song in my heart; then, later... after I get home... I get into a blue funk that scares my wife!

I can handle "blood n guts" with the best of them; sweet little old ladies and gentlemen in their twilight years, waiting to be fed, toileted, or cleaned up just breaks my heart.

I wouldn't be able to be a nurse very long if my only option was LTC; just too darn emotionally demanding.

[KatieBell]

Originally Posted by jennyga

I love it when there are those that really care in LTC, I am a nursing student and I have no idea where I will work when I am done. Well I was talking to some of my classmates about where they were planning to work and one student said LTC, and another replied I dont want to work in LTC because its so easy. Well I was kinda upset, but I didnt want or feel the need to say anything. Ltc is not easy or for lazy people it is for those who have a heart and will care for the residents and know that the facility is there home!!! It really just rubbed me the wrong way. But anyways I think it s great and I would like to hear all Ltc success stories!!

I do not do LTC. Just the opposite, I do the ED. However, after seeing many people from LTC in the ED< I have concluded that indeed, LTC is a difficult place to work. The patients are very vulnerable, and some are chronically quite ill. and the nurse pt ratio is huge. That student has no idea.

[michelle126]

It is the little things, huh? Being able to make a dying pt more comfortable, or talking to the families when thier mom is dying and being able to hold thier hands. Getting someones code status changed. Getting them that new order for a new pain med. Giving a pt that extra cup of ice cream they've been having a hankering for all day.

Its the little things that count.

[TheCommuter]

Originally Posted by jennyga

Well I was talking to some of my classmates about where they were planning to work and one student said LTC, and another replied I dont want to work in LTC because its so easy.

Many LTC nurses are required to pass medications to up to 70 residents in less than a 2 hour time frame. That definitely does not sound like an easy feat to accomplish.

The classmate who made the claim that LTC is easy is misguided.