LTC and loving it

artsmom, BSN, LPN · Sep 15, 2012

I am so glad there are so many people that feel like I do. We need to start breaking this bad rep up!

Tat2ooedNurse · Sep 15, 2012

I just finished my first 5 days of overnight training at my first job as a LPN in a LTC setting..MY FIRST JOB..and they are trusting me with over 50 people and 3 CNA's to tend to. So far in this 5 day span I feel like i got it down. I also have 5 more days of training this coming week. I've gotten compliments to my organizational skills and that the girl before me couldn't handle it because it was too much. I do not have ANY interest in going outside of this scope. Being that I was a CNA for 4 years prior to this and also the clinical hospital locations I felt I didn't make that connection with people you get in LTC. The poster was right..you can be in some of these peoples lives for a LONG time..to me that is what really drives me..easing the pain and helping foster a relationship with someone at the end of their life is a beautiful thing. I am happy I decided to become a nurse..no it will not be asy..no it's not glamorous..but hey..it's worth it..all the blood, sweat and tears.. Nurses need strong shoulders because people rest their heads there the most.

dmpearce · Sep 16, 2012

While I did not like my time in LTC, it was because of management, not the patients. However, I agree with the sentiment here- I am so sick of hearing new grad nurses say they would NEVER stoop so low as to work LTC. I hear the same thing on Med-Surg too. Everyone wants the ER or the ICU, thinking that is where "real" nurses go (This is such a myth too. I've seen equally terrible nurses in the ED as in a LTC). Nursing is a thankfully diverse area with so many different specialties to go into, it is a shame that there is so much stigma and judgement towards nurses that choose to work in a particular area. Those patients need good nurses too!

DebanamRN, MSN, RN · Sep 19, 2012

As an ER nurse I give you all the credit in the world. I can tell when residents receive loving care, and I feel proud of the nursing profession that includes such wonderful, caring nurses. I can't do LTC, I just don't have the personality for it, so God bless all of you. I really think you are doing great work.

mrllangston · Sep 19, 2012

I love my LTC job. I have been in some form of LTC for 20 years, including Retirement communities and Assisted Living. I even have my Assisted Living Admin. License. I always said when I first left LTC 23 years ago that I would never go back, but I was wrong. This is where my heart belongs. Currently in nursing school to obtain my RN and eventually help change some things for our elderly population.

wakyone · Sep 19, 2012

I worked nights in LTC when my kids were little and it was the hardest job I've ever had. People who makes the negative comments have never done LTC. You use all of your skills and knowledge because generally you have a whole unit to cover and no docs around. They become like an extended family; many have family who live out of town and you can see the gradual declines in health that you won't see in a hospital setting. I wanted to do LTC as a new grad and was advised against it because patients die, they do not get better and that might be too hard on a new nurse! I get irritated with the notion that ICU/ER nurses are at the top of the tier-different strokes for different folks. Good LTC nurses are hard to find-Congrats to you!

SE_BSN_RN, BSN · Sep 19, 2012

Why does there seem to be such a stigma against LTC nurses? It almost feels like that is the bottom of the barrell. Even I thought (while working in LTC) that I needed to move up and out- twice- and hated it both times. I started in a hospital, hated being micro-managed, and went back to a LTC. I stayed for 6 years, got my RN and once again felt the need to move on up to the hospital- where I once again hate it, and for the same reasons! I have finally decided that it is okay to just say I love LTC, and this is where I want to stay. My dreams of being the charge nurse in the ICU and ER are gone. My focus in life is to be where I am happy, and that is with my old people.
I like seeing them, and they appreciate friendly, consistent care. They remember my husband and I bought a house several years ago, and we talk about the work we are doing and the amount of money it costs, and they tell me their new housing days. Or, with my demented patients, we just head off to whereever they are for they day, and discuss related events/news. I even like when I can be a part of their final days- making them comfortable and relaxed, easing their families worries knowing someone they know will be with their loved ones, and so on.
I write this because I excitedly gave my notice at the hospital and am heading back to LTC where I can be happy with the old people (like my 105yr old who swears by bacon and women being educated as requirements for long term survival!).

I have often wondered the same thing, too, although I started out in LTC, it was not the place for me. I was very defensive when the ER nurses would call and say "Why did you send this person wet....dirty....this dressing needs changed, why didn't you do that......why didn't you call and tell me they were coming".....why, why, why, blame, blame, blame, you, you, you..... because you apparently don't understand what my job entails. I may have just been getting around to changing that dressing when something happened, and the well being of the patient took precedence over a dressing change. You do prioritize in the ER, right??

I was tired of being told that I wasn't a real nurse, and my management did NOT have my back, consistent unsafe staffing, stress, and not to mention meds for 28-30 people! Then add in all the paperwork, falls, meetings, and everything else in LTC....being asked to work OT because there wasn't enough staff, and then getting yelled at because I worked OT. And, if you didn't work the OT, you weren't a team player and go above and beyond.

The stigma lies in the uneducated person that does truly not know what the job in LTC entails....and this includes other nurses!

There were days I loved going to work, but those were few and far between due to the culture of the management's unwillingness to help out on the floor. They were to busy timing call lights and getting mad when you wouldn't stop IMMEDIATELY what you were doing and answer a call light, while they stood there with their stopwatch. then you were REALLY running around like a chicken with your head cut off!!

I switched to home care, and I really do enjoy it. I am not only the nurse, I am the CNA, too, so I won't even go down the road of the CNA's who like to gripe that some nurses are "above" wiping butts and changing diapers. Sometimes in LTC the nurse can't do it all. I am getting experience that I wouldn't have gotten in LTC.

If I even had to put my family member in a nursing home, I would rather it be one where the nurses enjoyed their job, and who wasn't just there because they needed a paycheck.

I am glad that you have found your niche. LTC isn't for everyone. I want to work in L&D someday because that is where my passion lies. But, if I ever do, and then realize it isn't in the end, then I know I have other options. I was scared to death to switch to home care because I would be on my own, and there is no management office to walk down the hall to for asking questions, or to help if a situation arises. Now, I am quite comfortable, and my stress level has gone way down.

SE_BSN_RN, BSN · Sep 19, 2012

The reforms began in the 80s, yes but there are still LTCs out there that don't follow it to the T. Slowly they're being handled but they're still out there - quite a few in fact.
The 80's, in my mind, wasn't that long ago -- a good number of my colleagues have been working in LTCs since the 60's and still do things that are questionable.
But it's cool, because our DON is buddy buddy with the state investigation team that gives her a heads up when they'll be rolling into town (and by heads up, I mean "We'll be there on this date, at this time - days in advance).
My fiancee's mother works on an investigation team in the Western part of the state - I shared that story with her and she said it happens ALL the time. The DON gets a week or two heads up - they change schedules around, everyone gets re-oriented on exactly what violations the team will be looking for, rooms get super cleaned up, ALL residents are given showers a day or two before they come, CNA staffing goes from 4 to 6, etc.

Amazing how things get "fixed" right about time the state comes in, isn't it? And, equally amazing, how everything goes back to "normal" when they leave. I had a coworker fired because she told state some stuff that went on in the facility....she was being honest! She took her concerns to management where they were, as usual, ignored!

I gained valuable experience from LTC. I also have learned what kind of manager I DO NOT want to be!

ellen 12 · Sep 19, 2012

I was tired of being told that I wasn't a real nurse, and my management did NOT have my back, consistent unsafe staffing, stress, and not to mention meds for 28-30 people! Then add in all the paperwork, falls, meetings, and everything else in LTC....being asked to work OT because there wasn't enough staff, and then getting yelled at because I worked OT. And, if you didn't work the OT, you weren't a team player and go above and beyond.
The stigma lies in the uneducated person that does truly not know what the job in LTC entails....and this includes other nurses!
I switched to home care, and I really do enjoy it. I am not only the nurse, I am the CNA, too, so I won't even go down the road of the CNA's who like to gripe that some nurses are "above" wiping butts and changing diapers. Sometimes in LTC the nurse can't do it all. I am getting experience that I wouldn't have gotten in LTC.
If I even had to put my family member in a nursing home, I would rather it be one where the nurses enjoyed their job, and who wasn't just there because they needed a paycheck.
I am glad that you have found your niche. LTC isn't for everyone. I want to work in L&D someday because that is where my passion lies. But, if I ever do, and then realize it isn't in the end, then I know I have other options. I was scared to death to switch to home care because I would be on my own, and there is no management office to walk down the hall to for asking questions, or to help if a situation arises. Now, I am quite comfortable, and my stress level has gone way down.

i work in care of the aged. I get along with other staff, patients and families- but not management. This has made me just about unemployable because I tend to be a strong patient advocate and end up in aguments with management.

I worry home care would not be interesting enough. I need to have a very medical role - assessment, wound care and end of life care. I love to care for the most frail in society. I am not really into long social chit chat situations.

Do you think home care would suit me?

crazyts · Sep 20, 2012

i work in care of the aged. I get along with other staff, patients and families- but not management. This has made me just about unemployable because I tend to be a strong patient advocate and end up in aguments with management.
I worry home care would not be interesting enough. I need to have a very medical role - assessment, wound care and end of life care. I love to care for the most frail in society. I am not really into long social chit chat situations.
Do you think home care would suit me?

If you bore easily or like fast paced settings then no private duty home care probably isn't for you.

ellen 12 · Sep 20, 2012

Thanks for you response crazyts :)

annlewis · Sep 20, 2012

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