All Long Term facilities are NOT the same.

Glad you found one that is "outside the box"; sadly, MOST LTCs ARE the same. If you found one such as that you describe, you've found a gem!

I had an interview friday, the DON took me on a tour of the facility. It was gorgeous. No Smell. The staff looked happy and not overwhelmed.

The one thing that bugs me about LTC facilities is THE SMELL! My grandmother was in an LTC facility for rehabilitation and it reeked of urine. Which makes me wonder how often patients were changed and cleaned.

I work in a LTC facility and it is a beautiful place. When I walk in in the morning I see happy people (staff and residents), and I smell breakfast cooking, bacon, toast, mmm. Everyone is well dressed and happy. Many of our residents are having a better life than they ever had before they came to our home. The only priority is the well being of the people who live at our facility and that goes from the executive director to the cnas. I know that this isn't the case everywhere, I guess that's why LTC gets the bad rap it does. You don't hear about the nice places, only the bad ones.

The one I worked at was also pretty nice. I used to think they were all depressing places where people were treated like inconveniences, and while a couple of the CNAs were sometimes impatient, by and large this was not true. I was blown away by the affection and warmth I saw! I think we do need to have some more positive stories about LTC facilities out there, not just the horror stories.

I went in one the other day, too. Beautiful lobby, no unpleasant smells at all, and...get this, absolutely beautiful real roses on a small table in the lobby. So confused that we had to touch them. The no unpleasant smell thing was so obvious that I started purposely sniffing. Nope, not a thing. Not even the medicinal smell of a hospital. Very pleasantly surprised.

I went in one the other day, too. Beautiful lobby, no unpleasant smells at all, and...get this, absolutely beautiful real roses on a small table in the lobby. So confused that we had to touch them. The no unpleasant smell thing was so obvious that I started purposely sniffing. Nope, not a thing. Not even the medicinal smell of a hospital. Very pleasantly surprised.

Don't let the lobby fool you.. this one LTC facility I went for clinical...the lobby looked like a grand hotel entrance but once you got passed it ... it showed its true colors. the unit still had crank beds.. residents wore cloth briefs.. and the beds had cloth chux, and there was a smell. wasn't too happy with that place. Didn't have many activities for residents that cannot ambulate themselves. The staff was very very helpful to us though when it came time for baths and changing. They even let us observe during procedures.

I must say I work at a LTC that I am very proud of... NO smell, Everyone seems to be happy at their job. We are all spoiled not only by mngmt, but by our peers. We get all of the orientation that we want, issues are not brushed under the table, If we seem to be running behind, others on the unit willingly help out and pick up the slack that they can. Our residents are clean, and are never out without proper attire and hair nice. No over grown nails, and unshaven. We have shower teams, a Tx nurse, and even an automatic wheel chair cleaner. It is truely very pleasant. Now the down side to that is the pay is prob. $2.00 per hour less then some of the other not so pleasant places. But I just can't justify the extra $$ for the added stress of not being proud of going to work everyday.

I must say I work at a LTC that I am very proud of... NO smell, Everyone seems to be happy at their job. We are all spoiled not only by mngmt, but by our peers. We get all of the orientation that we want, issues are not brushed under the table, If we seem to be running behind, others on the unit willingly help out and pick up the slack that they can. Our residents are clean, and are never out without proper attire and hair nice. No over grown nails, and unshaven. We have shower teams, a Tx nurse, and even an automatic wheel chair cleaner. It is truely very pleasant. Now the down side to that is the pay is prob. $2.00 per hour less then some of the other not so pleasant places. But I just can't justify the extra $$ for the added stress of not being proud of going to work everyday.

I cannot stand when residents were not shaved, cleaned, or their clothes didnt match. When I picked out clothes for a resident I was taking care of I made sure his clothes matched and looked nice. Because if that was my family member, I'd want the person taking care of them to do the same.

I've worked in one like you describe and it was Heaven. Unfortunately the climate there was not good for hubby with COPD or I'd be there still. It was non-profit. That's why I wish ALL institutions were non-profit so people mattered more than $$$