Horrible Clinical Experience

Editorial Team / Admin · May 17, 2016

If the information you are giving is factual, then you need to report the facility. Best way you can help the residents.

windsurfer8, BSN, RN · May 17, 2016

"residents sit in their feces". EVERY resident? You have evidence to support this? "suppose to have 4 CNA". You have evidence of this nurse/patient ratio? Where did you get this evidence? "Nurses don't know where crash cart is". You have evidence of this? You have queried every single nurse working there? Night shift and day shift? "one of the nurses was stealing ativan". When? Where? How? How do you know this? Did you observe this? Just because the "cops were called" does not mean a nurse was stealing medication. Use this experience to practice objective charting and to not assume things. When you say "nurses"..this implies every single nurse. When you state "residents" it implies every single resident.

If you see something you view as "wrong" you need to calmly and objectively report the situation to management. Be specific. "In room X at 1400 I observed patient X in a soiled bed which was not cleaned until 1800".

Horseshoe, BSN, RN · May 18, 2016

Today was my fourth day of clinical's in nursing school. The facility is a LTC and it is a **** hole. The residents sit in their feces and urine all day, there are mice running around in patients rooms and overall just dirty! The beds are soaked with urine and they don't have wipes to clean people up after a change so they use wash cloths and run through the sink and use them on the next patient. There are multiple cases of elder abuse. They are suppose to have 4 CNA per unit and they only had 3 CNA for the entire building with 10 units. There are 20 patient per nurse. The nurses don't even know where the crash cart is either, and when we finally found it and it was covered in dirty sheets and linens with old rotten food on top. The suction was broken and the equipment had old pieces of food on it. Worst one was one of the nurses was stealing Ativan and Oxycodone and was dealing it...long short is that cops were called on the nurse who was stealing. I really just don't feel safe being there. The school knows, and our clinical instructor has our back and also is amazing but the facility is a joke and should be burned to the ground.
I know that not every place is like this but it just very difficult to see people and want to help, the treatment these individuals are getting are horrible and it is just frustrating.

Your entire post seems almost beyond belief. Your clinical instructor should have reported this place by now. Ask her to help you report the facility for these dangerous practices.

MntEMStoBSN · May 18, 2016

My clinical instructor did report it to the police and the police said that this wasn't the first report they have gotten like that this month alone.

rzyzzy · May 19, 2016

You'll see a lot of things done "wrong" at clinicals & that's exactly what you're supposed to see & discuss with your clinical instructor & your clinical group. It isn't about "catching" bad nurses, but seeing how things go in the real world & deciding for yourself what kind of nurse you want to be. Lots of nurses bend the rules in the real world & lots of them end up with their licenses in jeopardy because of stupid shortcuts, laziness, or drug problems. When you get licensed, you'll have to work with those nurses & prolly have to take report from one, so "trust but verify" or you'll be at risk of getting dragged down with them. Better to learn that sooner rather than later.