I work at a long term care facility on the 11-7 shift, and tonight's shift has been a nightmare. I am the only RN in the building with 156 residents and 5 LPNs. Any emergency or crisis is my responsibility, and tonight has been nothing but. I'm at work right now and I only have aminute but since I don't want to leave my office until I can stop crying, I wanted to go ahead and post (I also don't have a workign computer at home so please forgive if after 7am or 8am I don't respond again until Sunday night...
We have had SIX falls tonight. Count 'em, SIX! Including one where the poor man broke his hip. Another sweet LOL fell asleep on her bedside commode (she never called for assistance to get on it or we would have helped her on it and stayed in the room with her until she was finished) and pitched forward, striking her forehead on the floor and opening it up. The other four were minor, all cases where the resident did not call for assistance before getting up, and the alertmates went off when they fell. In addition to that, I went into one of my favorite little lady's room (she was recently put on Hospice care d/t failing health) and found her with a pool of blood next to her head where it was running out of her mouth, I called her hospice nurse and family and she doesn't look like she's going to make it through the shift... I am so overwhelmed right now and I can't let my staff see me crying, I have to keep it together somehow... the most falls I have ever had on my shift was two.
I don't know what to do... I feel so incredibly sad right now...