very very over whelmed!

Specialties Rehabilitation

Published

ughhh this job is killing me! I took a positon as a Nurse Manager of a 40 bed rehab unit. I generally have a couple of admissions a week as well as Planning discharge meeting one day a week and One whole day is devoted to patient care conferences. I spend about 90% of my day on the phone answering phone calls or dealing with staff issues..aka bickering! My major issue is their expectations for the unit. I have 4 CNA's to the Unit so thats 10 patients each. 2 LPN's which do the medicaiton pass. They expect that all the patients are up and ready my their appointed time but that also call bells are answered promptly. now if the majority of the patients are 2 Assist when is there time for the multiple call bells to be answered. I try to help out but it burys me in deeper and later. at this point I do not get to eat or take any breaks thru out the day annnnndddd I am there 45 minutes late each day. I love the job but i can't take it anymore! this job is undo able they have gone thru 3 nurse managers alone last year in its self. I swear i just want to go back to the ICU and get my sanity back!

Jamie

Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
Some days I just want to strangle people who can and won't be continent!
This is just my opinion, but I suspect that some of the younger and middle-aged males who "purposely" urinate and defecate in their adult diapers when they are really continent of bowel and bladder, are doing it possibly because they are nothing more than undercover perverts. I think that a few of these men actually find something pleasurable in being cleaned and wiped from front to back by female nursing staff.
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Specializes in inpatient rehab (general, sci, tbi, cva).

Sure, that's logical and I've seen that, too.

This character was equal opportunity, so I don't know if I could call it a sexually-loaded perverse situation or not.

He was just plain lazy, which was the reason why (along with a few other bad habits) he ended up in rehab with us. Mind you, we're physical rehab. I'm sure he'd done some stints in other rehabs, too, if you get my drift.

That is a whole other ball game, and just another reason why rehab is so fascinating--part med-surg, part psych.

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Specializes in trauma, ortho, burns, plastic surgery.

First of all, I like your subject!

Rehab is not the heal! Is all about building attitude and much more about TEAM management! If you have a positive atitude and you have a good team nothing is impossible! Rehab is not a heal in these conditions but could be if one of you try to cheat or you really don't have team ....looool

Is hard work but satisfactions are huge, the team is like a family and you are at home! I worked in a ortho trauma and rehab hospital, was great, years ago, I will remember all my life my team members, we keep contact till now.... we was a team! Good and bad we pass togheter and yes we was all like one and one like all!

Nothing will not working without a good team management if only one is out of the game and this is an unexpected movement or the communication is poor, the team felt down, this is the rule of rehab team, all like one and one like all! Is hard to build a such team (very hard to find perfect membres for this type of team) is much harder to keep it!

But is the much amazing team ever, is like a drug after, you can't live without them, you want more and more, more complicated nurses cases, more excited about, a perfect coordination, the perfect results, the perfect team, let's celebrate after! Yeaaahyyyy!

Rehab can not be done with always complaining people, neither with "princesses", or people thinking about them self before thinking at their team, rehab was and is for TEAM, and really I am intersted about how looks here in US a perfect rehab team, what is your perspective about reahab team (structure of the team, number of patients pe nurse, how they organize their actvity, coordonation, and how it's work). I could tell you how worked from where I come, and the results was great!

I will always belive that rehab could be possible with a perfect team, and yes you could be in heaven not in heal...loool

Hope that one day you will find your place and you will be happy!

Hugs Zuzi!

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Specializes in Rehab.

There are good and bad facilities in any nursing specialty. It's sad to hear about the negative feelings some you have, but if you enjoy rehab nursing and the victories you get to share with patients and their families, look for another facility that has a better approach towards the "team" and everyone's success. I work at a VA hospital in spinal cord rehab, another wing is TBI and the last wing of the building is polytrauma; the team approach, adequate staffing, and patient wins are common throughout. I saw the same thing in a county hospital TBI rehab I rotated through in school. Maybe it's government facilities, I don't know, but rehab nursing is rewarding, and I hope you all find a "home" to work in where everyone wins.

In terms of patients that "won't" control bowel and bladder when they "can", it seems that oftentimes it is an issue of this being something they can still have control over, even negatively, in the face of the "losses" they have had. Things are often not what they appear to be with all the emotional/loss issues being dealt with along with new physical challenges.

Best of luck to all, and remember that it is our consistent, caring touch that helps our patients and their families deal with their loss of wellness.

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Specializes in ICU/CCU, Rehab, insurance, case manager.

well I gave my notice a few weeks ago and today was my last day. I am glad to be leaving the rehab setting where i don't have to deal with pysch issues that have never been dealed with and manipulative behaviors. I am going back into the insurance industry and i feel so relieved :) good luck to you guys that stick it out.

Jamie

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
well I gave my notice a few weeks ago and today was my last day. I am glad to be leaving the rehab setting where i don't have to deal with pysch issues that have never been dealed with and manipulative behaviors. I am going back into the insurance industry and i feel so relieved :) good luck to you guys that stick it out.

Jamie

I wish you the best of luck! Rehab is not for everyone.
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I feel for you, Rehab is a hard way of life in this business and if it is not in your blood then it will drive you nuts.

I have managed an Acute IP unit for the past 14 years in a town just north of New Orleans. The shortest tenured staff member I have on my unit is 8 years. We are a family, we live and die for each other, but we don't do it alone!

How is your relationship between your nurses and the therapist? If you have an us against them relationship with your therapist then life is HELL. Our therapist give as much nursing care as they do therapy and that's what makes it work. They answer call light , toliet patients, ect. It's not always been that way, but we worked it out. It takes time, but I feel you have to look to them for your solution if you want to make it work.

Give it a try! I hope things get better for you.

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Specializes in Rehabilitation Nursing.

I have been working in our Rehab unit for a little over a year and a half and I love it. But I will have to admit, rehab units do have high turnover rates and ours is seeing this first hand at the current place in time. We had 2 Full time nurses quit within a couple weeks of each other, leaving us nothing but short staffed. Our staff have been very helpful by picking up extra shifts and everything, but I think at the current state in mind we are all beginning to become burnt out.

However, I still enjoy my job, even though some days it is the most stressful thing that I can do or even think about.

We are a 12 bed rehab unit and with the short staff situation we have been only allowing ourselves to take a max of 10 patients at any given time. Not too bad, besides half of them are on bed alarms and 2 assists. But what are you going to do. Has to get worse before it gets better.

Help is on the way though, I believe we hired a couple new people and I hope that they feel as passionate about rehab nursing as I do!!!

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Specializes in inpatient rehabilitation.

I also work in a hospital rehab unit, 12 beds. I like rehab, but with bad staffing it has been hell. We have one CNA no matter what. Even if we have 5 patients that are 1 assist, or 10 patients with half being 2 assist, it doesnt matter and our unit is suffering with high turnover and CNAs being overwhelmed and stressed, and that in turn doesn't help the RNs either. I think rehab is great, the success stories are what keep me going, but staffing needs to change. They need to base it on acuity, especially since we are the only unit that gets people up and dressed and ready to go to the dining room or therapy. I feel for you.

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