I work in LTC in Arkansas, and lately I have been put in the position of being the only LPN in the building on the night shift for periods of time, due to short staffing. We have 2 nurses stations, with 3 halls each. The nurse at the front station stays until 3am, then another nurse comes in around 5am to pass the morning meds at 6. Here's my problem: we have 88 residents currently on the census, and this leaves me alone with ALL these residents, and 4 or 5 cna's. Meanwhile, as I'm at the back nurses station waiting for the next nurse to come in, I can't see anything that's going on at the front station, I've no idea what the cna's are doing...much less what the residents are up to! I have contacted our state agency on nursing home care reform, as well as the state office of long term care (via anonymous email) and asked about the minimum staffing for nursing homes in Arkansas. Both told me that it's a law that they have to have 1 lpn for every 80 residents in the building. But my administrator keeps telling me different - he says only 1 lpn for up to 120 residents!! I can't believe this!
I put in my notice 2 weeks ago, but agreed to stay on to help until more 11-7 nurses could be hired. Now, last night, I found myself once more in the building by myself. Granted, it was only for an hour, but that's one hour too much for me. I told my administrator this morning that I was resigning and turned in my timecard to the office.
Problem is, now I'm starting to doubt my decision. The new schedule starts tomorrow, and they are so short staffed as it is. Part of me doesn't even want to look back, just run. But a part of me realizes how badly I need the money. The way I see it, if they really wanted me to continue working there, they wouldn't keep putting me in this position - and I've asked them not to do this toooooooo many times. Did I do the right thing?
