Apr 02, 2008 07:01 AM - wow...this article really open my mind about giving care to the olders.. anyway, i am a student nurse..and u really inspires me a lot..thank you!!

Apr 04, 2008 08:00 AM - Hats off to you for writing the LTC Nursing article. I am a LTC Nurse on a Dementia Unit and love it. Yes we do it all IVs. Lab work, assessing our residents, treatments, ect. Unlike critical care hospital nurses, we get to follow the disease and healing process of an individual for months and years on end. If a person is a new graduate nurse studing to take state boards, a LTC facility is a great place to work as there is a whole array of different diseases and cases to expericence first hand which you may not see in a hospital. Really I feel special being a LTC nurse and honored to share the lives of my Residents along with getting to know their families. Goals of mine is to make my Residents life be the best it can be by doing all that I can do to meet their present wishes.(Pet visits, Garden plants, Music, Sports on TV positive stories in the news, favorite foods ect). I have nothing but praise and honor for all LTC nurses. If I meet a hospital nurse that thinks I am less of a nurse because I donot work in a hospital, I view that nurse as ignorant in needs more education!!! Next January 09, I will be working on my Dementia unit 20 years. (12 years as an LPN and 8 years as an RN-BSN)

Apr 04, 2008 04:30 PM - I am a LPN and have worked in LTC for 30 years,sometimes the nurses are the only family the resident may have or the only ones who care for them even if they do have family that never visits unless they are dying and the family wants to make sure to get their share of whatever money or belongings the resident has left,and sometimes the resident becomes like a grandparent a nurse never knew,so it works both ways,other nurses may think we are not as smart as they are,but let them think what they want,I know my residents are glad I care and they care about me too

Apr 04, 2008 07:17 PM - How wonderful is this article!!!!! I am a nursing student and I really don't have any other overwhelming interest than geriatrics and LTC. You can be everything and do everything

Apr 04, 2008 07:43 PM - Great article!! Bless you for putting into words the reality of being a LTC nurse, and giving a little bit of an education to those who may not understand what we do.
I too hear "I could never do that" or even snide comments about "smelly old people." But I'm satisfied knowing that I'm doing a job that many people couldn't. We LTC nurses are a special breed, and oh so needed.

Apr 05, 2008 12:36 AM - Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You are right about how people think that working in a nursing home is disgusting, this includes our fellow nurses. I love being a geriatric nurse. It has always been one of the most rewarding aspects of my nursing career. If nothing else geriatric nursing keeps you on your toes.

Apr 05, 2008 10:21 AM - The bottom line is that we do what we love to do. Do not worry because people who thinks you don't know nothing are absolutely ignorant on what we do as a nurse in the LTC. We have the upper hand because we are the the nurse, the doctor and the phlebotomist and most of all we are being paid more than the nurses working in the hospitals.

Apr 06, 2008 11:44 PM - I wouldn't choose any other field after working in LTC. I started out working as a CNA in a nursing home at a young age. I have since maintained the relationships with my patients and their families. Had it not have been for LTC I may have never chose nursing. I like hospital work and hats off to the nurses there, but how many of them truly know their patients or can even remember their names after they leave. Yes watching people you've cared for over the years pass away is hard you know that their days of suffering are over and they are in a better place. At least I know my compassion and will to give them the best quality of life made a difference to not only them but their families!

Apr 07, 2008 12:44 PM - I would imagine the depth of your nursing is deeper as you get to know
your patients & learn to anticipate their needs & fears. Must be so much
more rewarding than the hussle & bussle of acute hospital care where you
barely scratch the surface of knowing your patients. good for you.
safta24

Apr 08, 2008 07:02 AM - What a wonderful article you have written. You say all that is in the heart of those who truly love LTC>
Thank you for putting our thoughts into print.
macspuds