So I just finished my 10th orientation shift, 4 days, 4 pms and 2 nites. HOW do you LTCers DO THIS? and WHY?
The massive med passes, the endless confusing supply of clipboards, flowsheets and ring binders, the lom who yells CONSTANTLY and takes swings at anyone who tries to help him, the primadonna in 208 who wants her grapes peeled in between her 8 neb treatments with sats of 98% and her 40 million vitamins/eye drops etc, the sniping complaining night shift, the just plain wierd long timers and the scared out of their wits brand new LPNs who dont even know how to insert a foley yet but have 32 residents to care for, the family that wants crazy old dad taken off his Seroquel cuz its the drugs fault he acts like that........ you know I could go on and on.
I am not cut out for this kind of nursing and honestly dont know how you do it day in and day out. The job market is a desert here and I will do what I have to for now but Im praying this doesnt have to be it for long.
sorry for the rant, but I needed to say that to someone who might get it.
Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.
There is nothing more satisfying to me than the relationships I get to have with people who have something special to offer, no matter how old or confused or debilitated they may be.
Just the other day, I was having one of my high-pressure-high-stress days and went outside for some fresh air around 1600, when I just could not take one more phone call or deal with one more staff member with attitude problems. After a few minutes of venting with my co-workers, I went back inside and nearly ran smack into Ed, who'd come to the dining room early to wait for his supper. When he saw me, he immediately broke into "You Are My Sunshine", which made not only my day but was the highlight of the entire WEEK. :redbeathe Then we spontaneously began singing "Blessed Assurance" together---Ed in his Parkinson's-affected baritone and I in my faulty alto, both of us wandering in and out of the melody but true to the words of praise written so many years before either of us were born. :)
I'm totally with the OP...knew after doing clinicals in LTC that it wasn't for me.
I'm just glad that there are those of you out there who have found it's your niche and enjoy it, b/c those in LTC need people like you to care for them and about them. Hats off to ya'll.
So I just finished my 10th orientation shift, 4 days, 4 pms and 2 nites. HOW do you LTCers DO THIS? and WHY?
The massive med passes, the endless confusing supply of clipboards, flowsheets and ring binders, the lom who yells CONSTANTLY and takes swings at anyone who tries to help him, the primadonna in 208 who wants her grapes peeled in between her 8 neb treatments with sats of 98% and her 40 million vitamins/eye drops etc, the sniping complaining night shift, the just plain wierd long timers and the scared out of their wits brand new LPNs who dont even know how to insert a foley yet but have 32 residents to care for, the family that wants crazy old dad taken off his Seroquel cuz its the drugs fault he acts like that........ you know I could go on and on.
I am not cut out for this kind of nursing and honestly dont know how you do it day in and day out. The job market is a desert here and I will do what I have to for now but Im praying this doesnt have to be it for long.
sorry for the rant, but I needed to say that to someone who might get it.
I totally get the endless binders and clipboards, checkoff lists, we have Medicare to thank for a lot of that. We have State to thank for restraint forms, fall risk assessments, alarms, et al. We have healthcare corperations trying to cut costs by cutting staff (and blaming us if a resident falls) as for the scared to death new nurse and the foley, hey we were all there once! I'm sure you were nice to her and helped but yeah, it makes a looooooong day. Those med passes get me every time. They just seem never ending don't they. There's all that alert charting, Medicare A and B. I'm just afraid they'll come out with C,D,E,F and G. I hated Adult Med-Surg, was convinced I'd never work in anything but Pediatrics...and here I am working LTC. Strange but I've gotten so I kind of like it. But, that said, it's ok not to love it, even not like it. You can do a great job no matter what you are feeling inside. I've met plenty of CNA's and Nurses who say they are here for the money, yet they are some of the kindest, hardest working people I have ever seen in action. I suspect you may be one of them. Feel free to vent, that's what this site is here for.
I do it, day after day, because I love it!! My spot is LTC!!! I would not work anywhere else! You need to find you spot in nursing- that is where you will shine! Some nurses are awesome at er or ob, some are at LTC. That is what makes the nursing world go round!!We all have a spot that we will shine at, and in doing so, all the other nurses do too. We need to respect each other and learn from each other!!
Thanks for all the interesting replies, I am glad there are those out there who find the joys in this job. As for me? I just filled out an application for a bank teller job and hope I get it. Irregular call-in for the nightmare that is this nursing home will be a bomb waiting to go off in my face every day (and night) that I do not need.
I mourn for my profession of 30 years that has declined in both respect and compensation. Nurses perform such a vital function, yet car mechanics and plumbers are more highly valued and compensated.
I quit without notice today, in a text message no less. Never ever in 25 plus years of nursing ever done that. Just couldn't pull it together to go to work ever again at that hell hole. I'm so not the first, but I feel really bad for dumping on my co-workers. Even Nurses do the no call no show thing..I'm one of them...lasted a whole 3 months. I can't see going back to Nusing either. I'm going to work minimum wage and do retail again for a while. Can't live on that for long but for a while I just need a rest to get out of this massive depression.
I hope you got that Bank Tellers job, give us an update please.
nola, so sorry to hear about your job- too bad it got that bad for you. It's a jungle out there right now though and I have been applying for job after after job since early spring with a few interviews, a few nightmares and no luck- nobody is paying anything around here either.
I have been looking back with fondness (cant believe Im saying that) to Home Health and may have a lead to get back into that and will DO IT if they offer. It is impossible to find anything else that pays near nursing, but I totally get the whole "wish i just had a job that didnt get into my head like nursing does - who cares what it pays?"
Im looking forward to 'nicely' saying to the DON of this LTC "sorry, its just not a good fit for me" and high tailing it outta there forever.
Best of Luck to you, hope you find some satisfying work. chin up girl - we who became caregivers are not weak, we have inner strengths others can never understand.
VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN
22 Articles; 9,996 Posts
There is nothing more satisfying to me than the relationships I get to have with people who have something special to offer, no matter how old or confused or debilitated they may be.
Just the other day, I was having one of my high-pressure-high-stress days and went outside for some fresh air around 1600, when I just could not take one more phone call or deal with one more staff member with attitude problems. After a few minutes of venting with my co-workers, I went back inside and nearly ran smack into Ed, who'd come to the dining room early to wait for his supper. When he saw me, he immediately broke into "You Are My Sunshine", which made not only my day but was the highlight of the entire WEEK. :redbeathe Then we spontaneously began singing "Blessed Assurance" together---Ed in his Parkinson's-affected baritone and I in my faulty alto, both of us wandering in and out of the melody but true to the words of praise written so many years before either of us were born. :)
And THAT'S why I love LTC.