Put off by LTC

Specialties Geriatric

Published

Well, I decided that the facility where I am is def. not for me. I work 11-7 on a pretty busy floor, trachs, Gtubes, etc. 3-11 leaves me all of their work and 7-3 blames me for everything that they can. Med times are changed at random daily so that they have to be given on my shift, even if the res has been on it for months.The aides are terrible. They don't want to be asked to do anything and disappear off of the floor for hours at a time. They are known to tell the nurses to "do it yourself you make more money". The problem is that this is my first job in LTC and even though I have gotten job offers recently I don't want to this anymore. I'm totally disgusted w/ the way that the aides' work, with how the res are treated and how the shifts spend more time fighting over who does what than actually working. I went back to nursing school to help people not sit in my car on they way home and get upset because I was accused of sleeping all night because someone left a sheet on a chair. I'm nervous to take another position in LTC, but as an LPN there is nothing out there. Everyone wants RNs and I can't afford to back at this point, I just graduated and wanted at least one year experience before going back, instead I'm bailing after 5 months. I'm very upset over this.:sniff:

Any advice?

Oh my God... I'm so feeling the exact same way right now. Except I've only been working 2 months. The whole system is a mess, and as a new graduate I'm not out to go on some crusade to fight for change. I just want to get some experience as peacefully as possible without any problems. But I will tell you that working at the facility where I am I'm truely afraid that I'm going to lose the license that I just earned. I've been filling in for a sick nurse on the weekend shift and the nurses during the week seem to always backlog everything until the weekend. All of the family members seem to always save up all their frustrations and threats for the weekend nurses. I have a psycho resident right now with a psycho family who keeps making up lies about any nurse that they want to get fired at the moment. So we are spending more time going around getting statements in our defense than caring for the other sick residents who are in more serious condition. The facility does not back you up for anything at all. I'm just afraid that I'm going to be fired from my very first job and reported to the state for something that's truely not my fault.

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Ok so I'm a big mouth and have gotten way over the new-grad shivers over time. Try this, if you really don't mind looking for another job if you have to.

Keep track for a shift of what you do. How many dressings, how many diaper changes, how many pills you passed (exactly how many, not how many patients), how many g-tubes you cleared, how many people you turned, how many folks you picked up from nearly falling on the floor, how many aids you had to search for and how many times, you get the picture.

Then the moment someone tells you you slept, whip out your list. "Look, last night I passed 1,354 pills, crushed 927 of them, changed 19 dressings, cleaned 38 butts, made 16 beds, searched for 2 aids 19 times, found them 6 times, peed for a total of 2.4 minutes, ate for 1.7 minutes, charted on 37 people in handwriting you can read, called 4 doctors, called 3 doctors AGAIN, took out 8 bags of trash, bathed 8 people, two of them twice and did it all in EIGHT hours. If you do'nt think I did enough, YOU try it. Here's report, have a nice day .

That should shut 'em up. Folks will stamp on you if you let them. If you know you're doing everything you can and doing a good job, stand up for it. If they never get off your back, despite your good job, bow out and let them find someone else who wants to do all of the above!

Good luck!

Now that is a great suggestion!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Specializes in Long Term Care, Assisted Living,.

I have been in long term care for 25 years and have found, in my way up the ladder that it can be a career you can love. I too started as an LPN, and, as hard as it may be, I do recommend that you start back to school as soon as possible. There are many wonderful facilities that are cutting edge in the types of patients you care for. I would strongly recommend a not for profit setting, as for profits do tend to be all about the dollars, rather than evidence based practice and elevation of competency. Good luck!

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