New Grad with no experience, starting in a LTC. HELP!!!

Welcome to LTC !! It is horrible ! I have been at my place 5 months as a new grad...It's extremely busy & my license is in jeopardy EVERYDAY !! get your 6 months experience & get the hell out ! (if u can last that long ha ha ) Everyone that I know that works in LTC feels the same way: The work load is ridiculous, nurse to patient ratio is horrendeous, they will suck the life out of you , if you let them. We have 25 patients each , My co worker just left , she got a job in a hosp with 5 patients MAX !! She said its like a dream come true going from LTC ! If you can hang in there, the sub-acute experience will help you tremendously ! The great thing about nursing , is you can move around until you find your niche..Hopefully, the economy will improve & there will be more hospital jobs available SOON !! Good Luck

Okay, I need to vent. So during the middle of my 2nd day of orientation my DSD comes up to me and ask if I can come in tomorrow for a 3-11 and work on my own because someone called in sick. I said I am available, but do not feel comfortable being by myself yet. She said I will do fine and that I can go to the other nurse on the other wing if I have any questions. She even said she lives 5 minutes away and to call her if I need help and she would come over. I would be responsible for 34 residents. I did not feel right about this at all, but my DSD said I would be okay. So I decided to give it a shot since there will be another nurse on the other side.

So as all would expect I was swamped and overwhelmed. I was a turtle during my med pass and residents were complaining they were not getting the right amount of meds. I was not doing my FSBS before dinner and I was basically about 2 hours behind everything I needed to do. But in the middle of my shift, the other nurse comes to me and ask if I can either work the AM shift tomorrow or the Noc right after my shift. I was like ***???? Is that a joke? Please tell me you're joking. Unfortunately, he was not. Our DSD called him to ask me that question. When I asked the other nurse where is she, he said not in the area. I was like WOW?!?!?!? I've never been more set-up in my life. I was really put in a difficult position.

So I took the NOC shift and was going to be working 16hours straight. I figured that was the best choice since I was behind in my charting and everything else, I would be able to catch up during dead time. The moment I thought I was caught up, it was time for the 600 meds. Now I had pre-poured meds and still ended up swamped and behind. When the Day shift came they all felt sorry for me. I looked drained and stressed. They said it doesn't make sense to put a new grad with 2 days orientation by himself for a straight 16 hour shift. I totally agreed.

So these are my thoughts.
-Are all my days/shifts going to be like this in this LTC facility? That is a lose, lose situation. The nurses are stressed and the residents don't get the proper care.
-Most of the nurses say that they all went through that, but with about 1-2 weeks orientation/training, NOT 2 days orientation. I feel like was set up.
-I don't know what they expect from me, a new grad with no experience. Is my DSD to blame? Her whole deal just seem a little fishy. She said to call if I need help, but she was about 2 hours away during my shift.
-I am strongly considering to leave unless someone tells me this is the norm in a LTC facility and this is how new grads get introduced to the environment.
-I'm so stressed out and drained and just the thought of going back to work leave a nasty feeling in my stomach.

Any advice, comments, response, tips would help a lot. I was really looking forward to working here, but this experience has left a nasty taste in my mouth. Thanks for reading.