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| No. 10 | 
Jun 27, 2009, 01:54 PM
 Re: "How Can You Stand It?"
There's a lot of misconception about what we LTC nurses do, I think the main myth being that we 'lose our skills'. I don't know, it seems to me that when you're working with IVs, wound vacs, central venous catheters, dialysis fistulas, tracheostomies, feeding tubes of all kinds, ostomies, and nephrostomy tubes---to mention just a few---staying current on 'skills' is a no-brainer.
Just the other night, I had one of my dialysis pts come back home after his shunt malfunctioned and he had to get it replaced, this time in the internal jugular vein. He started bleeding out shortly after being settled into bed; I applied pressure, alerted staff to call 9-1-1, and was still standing there applying pressure when the EMTs got there ten minutes later. They actually complimented me on stopping the bleeding! Like they expected me to not know a simple first-aid maneuver, just because I'm a nursing-home nurse.   | | Advertisement Sponsored Links | | | | No. 11 |
Jul 08, 2009, 08:00 PM
Re: "How Can You Stand It?"
Wow, VivaLasViejas , that was probably the most valuable writing I have yet read regarding nursing.
Over 25 years ago I worked in a Skilled Nursing Facility in Key West Florida. From the residents I learned the complete history of an island way of life that included Harry Truman, sponge fishing, the military, starvation, Henry
Flagler and even Auschwitz and the Titanic. I remember this time of my life as some of my most rewarding nursing. Thanks for bringing back that memory. I admire you so much becasue of your altruism.
| | No. 14 |
Jul 16, 2009, 09:41 PM
Re: "How Can You Stand It?" Originally Posted by VivaLasViejas  The way I look at it, SOMEBODY has got to care about these people---the government sees them as numbers, the medical establishment largely ignores and under-treats them, and the corporations that own and operate nursing facilities view them only in terms of dollars and cents. ...
Someone far wiser than I already said this, and I believe it to be true: you have to BE the change you want to see in the world. This is my way of being that change. What is yours? 
It's the same in Australia. In the place I work they have the funds per shift for 1RN (does the documentation and most wound dressings) + 1EEN (hands out the pills) (endorsed enrolled nurse - a 2yr technical college rather than university course) and, if they're lucky on a shift, all the personal care attendants (who do everything else) turn up for their low-paid jobs (less than untrained vet assistants get because in western society we care more for our pets than our parents) at the rate of 1 per 5 residents morning and 1 per ten residents evening shift to look after 60 high-care (i.e. very frail, many comorbidities, mostly incapacitated elders). And this place is a non-profit, run by one of the largest churches in the country.
In fact, this is one of the major reasons I am studying to become a nurse, thence a post grad dip in mental health nursing to care for those with dementia better - and maybe, if all goes well, a research degree - so I have enough seniority to stand up and shout about this injustice and increase my chances of being heard and changing a ROTTEN system.
PS I love all your posts - you are an American me!)
| | No. 16 |
Jul 24, 2009, 09:07 AM
Re: "How Can You Stand It?" Originally Posted by VivaLasViejas There's a lot of misconception about what we LTC nurses do, I think the main myth being that we 'lose our skills'. I don't know, it seems to me that when you're working with IVs, wound vacs, central venous catheters, dialysis fistulas, tracheostomies, feeding tubes of all kinds, ostomies, and nephrostomy tubes---to mention just a few---staying current on 'skills' is a no-brainer.
Just the other night, I had one of my dialysis pts come back home after his shunt malfunctioned and he had to get it replaced, this time in the internal jugular vein. He started bleeding out shortly after being settled into bed; I applied pressure, alerted staff to call 9-1-1, and was still standing there applying pressure when the EMTs got there ten minutes later. They actually complimented me on stopping the bleeding! Like they expected me to not know a simple first-aid maneuver, just because I'm a nursing-home nurse.
I'm a new BSN gaduate and I have to say that my time spent in LTC as CNA helped me immensley with any skill in the hospital. There were wound vacs and drains that I was more familiar with then some of the experienced RN's on the floor; not to mention the amount of exposure I had to trach's, foleys, and ambulating patients. My instructors, preceptors and classmates always asked how I knew so much and where did I get my confidence (but not too confident  ), and I would tell everyone I learned it from the nursing home.
| | No. 19 |
Jul 30, 2009, 04:11 PM
 Re: "How Can You Stand It?"
As an aspiring RN, I thank you for sharing the information the way you do Viva. I am one of the fortunate students who has been around health-care in some form since I was about 12 and my Mother became an LPN.
Like you, my Mother devoted her career to LTC, working with Alzheimer patients. I would often asked her the same or similar questions...how do you do it? She would always answer the same way as you have in many of the answers you have given. I am so happy to have a Mother that has taught me to be more like the two of you in appreciating what is left in the tenderness of a patient that is nearing the end of their time.
Thank you so much for what you do, you are an angel trapped in a nurses body...  |
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