At my wits end...

Specialties Geriatric

Published

I am so tired of how nit picky LTC can be. It's really taking a toll on me. I'm sure I'm just reading into it too much, but I SWEAR my facility is trying to push me over the edge and either fire me or make me mad enough to quit. They attempted to write me up for 4 different things today. Of those 4 things, only one of them I admitted was understandable. We work 12 hour 6-6 shifts, and a R came back from the hospital around 5:30am and I asked the oncoming nurse if she wouldn't mind initial dosing the R's N.O. Antibiotic along with their other 6am meds. She agreed, but apparently also decided to tell the admins that I did not I.D. the med even though the R came back technically on my shift. It's dumb, but whatever, I take responsibility for it.

However, the other write up I had to sign was RIDICULOUS. I was passing 8pm meds, and a R was hard to arouse and mumbling and had rapid eye movement in their sleep. I got the R to wake up, and she was startled and said she was having s terrible dream where she couldn't wake up. I sat with her awhile and talked to her and she cheered back up. It was all fine, but I went ahead and charted what had happened anyways. Well I guess it fell back on my because the facility went through the charting and wrote me up for not notifying the R's family about this "incident". The R had a bad dream! I mean, it's crazy! They expect us to chart/notify/jump hoops every time a R blinks funny! I think I need to begin looking into a different field. Although being only an LPN that can be difficult. (Sigh) Sorry, just looking for some ranting space!

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Wow, not notifying family about resident having a bad dream is an "incident". I don't even know what to say to that.

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Yeah. It was hard to pick my jaw up off of the floor.

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Specializes in LTC and Pediatrics.

Wow, notifying family because a resident had a bad dream? One could be on the phone A LOT then.

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In my charting I did write "resident was showing signs of distress and breathing heavily" and "resident would not awaken to verbal stimuli, had to be touched to arouse" which I guess could seem like more of an "incident"? But I also quoted her saying she was having a bad dream. So I don't get it. If I were a family member and a nurse called to tell me my mom had a nightmare.... Idk. So dumb.

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

I probably wouldn't have written a note on that at all. Especially if you have people go pick through charts like that. Because if it was important enough for you to document, someone is bound to think the family or physician should have been notified.

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Specializes in Med-Surg.
If I were a family member and a nurse called to tell me my mom had a nightmare.... Idk. So dumb.

Forgot to quote this part. That's exactly why I wouldn't have documented anything at all. It's not really a medical issue. By charting it, you made it important. If that makes sense. So then someone can come along and say, "hey the nurse charted this, obviously this is a change in stays or concern otherwise she wouldn't have charted it, so why did she chart but not notify anyone". It just sets yourself up.

It's ridiculous for someone to actually make fuss and expect you to call a family member over it, but then again, you did think it was strange enough to chart.

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I probably wouldn't have written a note on that at all. Especially if you have people go pick through charts like that. Because if it was important enough for you to document, someone is bound to think the family or physician should have been notified.

I agree with this. I would not have charted on that either.

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Wow, just wow. Please tell me you didn't sign that write up? I think this may have been the most ridiculous write up I have seen in all of my years.

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Wow... That makes no sense...ltc facilities are so dumb sometimes, they only worry about state surveys and don't worry about patient care. Get your RN and run out of LTC, or try to find a good nursing facility where you can actually do some real nursing..

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Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

May I use this in the book I'm writing entitled "You Can't Make This Stuff Up'. I got called to a resident's room by her son just to tell me her "s**t" smells bad. No joke. It's all part of the game.

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That's fine by me! Lol

Wow, people are unreal!

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