Are all LTC facilities this short staffed?

[vc01ca]

I am currently working as a CNA at nursing home while going to nursing school. Our facility is pretty big consisting of two wings. 208 beds total.

Here is how our staffing goes...........

1 RN = 208 residents (both wings)

4 LPNs =52 residents (two halls each)

8 CNAs=26 residents (one hall each)

As a CNA this is a typical night for me. I work the 6pm to 6am shift.

6am-7pm First we get report, pass out dinner trays, do feeds (I generally have 2-3 people who are spoon fed), then pick up trays. While doing that I try to answer as many call lights as I can. Plus there are sometimes alarms going off which we have to get.

7pm-8pm Get people gowned, laid down, bed check. Pick up rooms and empty trash cans as I go. Answer call lights.

8pm Pass snacks,Answer call lights.

8:30-8:45pm to 10:30pm Finish getting folks to bed and finish bed check. Continue Picking up rooms and emptying trash cans. Answer call lights. Do one or two showers. I normally have two to three showers to do a night. I try to get them them done as early as possible.

10:30pm to 12am Do another bed check plus do my vitals as I am doing my check. We do a full set of vitals on everyone twice a day (once each shift). So I have 26 sets of vitals to do. Answer call lights.

12 am -12:30am If the nurse will stay on my hall I take my half hour lunch. If she is busy and everything is calm I eat on my hall. We are supposed to have 2 15 minutes breaks as well, but we never take them because their generally isn't anyone to cover us.

12:30 to 1am Do all my paper work and write down all the I&O's. Initial my book if I have time. Answer call lights.

1 am to 1:30 am Pass ice, Answer call lights.

1:30 to 3am Do another bed check and do my partial baths. We have to wash 10-12 people each night and showers do counts. So I do about 8-10 partials this round. Answer call lights.

3am to 3:30 am Write down more I&Os and do any other paper work that needs done.

3:30 am to roughly 6am Do my other shower if I need to. Start my last bed check round and start getting people up. We generally have 8 to 10 get ups. A few are hoyer lifts which take time and there sometimes the other aides can't help because there isn't a nurse to watch their halls. At my facility they are real big on making sure no one leaves their hall unattended. Make beds pick up and clean up any messes. Get my daily weights as I go. Answer call lights. Take out my brief barrel and give report to the other shift. I normally am get out of there no later than 6:15 am

Okay, so I obviously realize we are understaffed. We can't even do bed checks q2hrs like we are supposed to (there just isn't enough time). So my main question are most LTC place like this with similar duties/schedules? I've debated on looking for another job because I am afraid it will be worse elsewhere.

[Thujone]

That sounds exactly like what my instructor (who used to be a charge nurse at an LTC) told me about how night shift works.

[divine-guidance]

i have worked the night shift and it was nothing like that. i never had showers or vitals to do but my shift was 10pm to 6am. all i had to do was keep the pts dry. i checked them every 2 hrs. around 3:30 i would start to get some of them up. most of the night i was sitting somewhere trying to stay away. it was so relaxed there on the night shift.

[Dorali, BSN, LPN, RN]

I've never worked nights, but coming in at 6:00 am, I've never heard of the night shift like that! We have about 2 or 3 people that are pretty much nocturnal, worked graveyard shift their whole life so that's what they're used to. Those are the only ones that might have a shower. The med aides do vitals when they're passing meds. Who wants a shower or bed bath in the middle of the night while they're trying to sleep. That just sounds absurd. We have roughly 60 people at my facility and have 3-4 CNAs at night, so 15-20 residents each. I think they mostly just keep everyone dry & turned q. 2 hours. Shift is 10p-6a. 2-10 shift feeds 1 meal, does any showers day shift doesn't get to and puts people to bed. The rest of the evening is bed changes and call lights.