[BlueRidgeHomeRN]

Hope you can find a better SNF--my prayers are for you and the reisdents there.

I spent a very long year in a privately owned SNF..went from Day Supervisor to DON in 5 months, which should have been a big .

Finally left to save my sanity and marriage. Was told at the next job [and have heard many times since]that it was good I didn't stay in long term care, because the opinion in other nursing fields is that LTC is where the burn-outs who don't give a fig congregate.

I know this is an unfair exageration, but there is sadly an element of truth. I would literaly rather be dead than in a SNF, as a nurse or a patient! Something has GOT to change..

[Rexie68]

I am fortunate to work in a wonderful LTC facility with great staff. Don't get me wrong, we have our problems, but overall, I'm happy to be there. I think someone hit the nail on the head when they stated that things might get better as we age. Already I can see demanding family members having an impact. They're not always reasonable, but the more of them there are, the more attention they'll get. I truly believe that LTC facilities WANT to provide great care, but aren't reimbursed well enough to compete with acute care facilities for quality staff. CNA's must be state licensed to work in LTC, but not in a hospital. Also, the hospital pays a bit more, and take the cream of the crop....since acute care is reimbursed at a higher rate (rightly so, overall) they can afford to pay more. Plus, they don't have to pay an RN/LPN to do what a CNA can do. If our LTC facility is reimbursed at the MA default rate, it receives $139/day. That sounds like a lot, but when you add up all the staff it takes to care for our residents, we don't break even. Therefore Medicare rehab residents are encouraged (because the government pays more for them, up to $400+/day), but they're more acutely ill and require more skilled nursing time. Plus, all those admissions and discharges require mountains of paperwork. Sorry, I started to ramble...I took a thought and ran with it!