Difference bw assisted living and nx home?Assisted living job 42 pt per nurse, safe?

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I could not imagine I would have to face the fact about the staff:pt ratio.

One care and rehab job before I was offered had a ratio of 1:30, $25/hr. CNA and treament nurses also included in the staffs. I turned it down because my first thought was that this is unsafe staff pt ratio.

Now another job offered in an assisted living facility with 3 aids (CNA), 1 nurse manager, and 1 LPN with 42 pts (not sure whether there is any treament nurse). And the pay is a less than the 1st job offered above: $21/hr.

I did research about ratio 1:30 and understood that forum members of this website had discussed that the ratio is unsafe but not unusual. That was why I did not accept the job.

NOw it's 1:42! Oh my! I dont know how I am gonna deal with this heavy load!

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My concern are:

1. "What is assisted living?"

2. "Do pts in assisted living have less severe medical conditions than those in just general LTC?"

3. What are the ranges of pt loads from the least and the most amount of pt you've encountered or known or experienced?

4. Based on #3, is this ratio 1: 42 safe, esp. in assisted living?

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Thanks for reading and sharing,

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.

I would like to know this for myself as well. Am awaiting for responses! :0)

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Specializes in Telemetry, Case Management.

Its been a good while, but I think the assisted living would be fine.

Assisted living is people who just need a bit of assistance -- given their meds, or reminded to take them. Usually they are able to walk, talk, use the phone, toilet themselves. Perhaps need a bit of help with dressing or grooming, zip up a dress, things of that nature.

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong. I worked agency for an asst living place several years back and that was my perception of that place.

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

I'm the DON for a 42-bed ALF, and although many of my residents need quite a lot of help (we have sliding scale diabetics, wounds, dementia, and all sorts of physical disabilities), I find the load manageable. I do put in a 40-hour week, but I can generally accomplish all I need to and help out other managers and staff. I love what I do---the residents are great, and while staffing is ALWAYS a headache, we are fortunate to have some excellent caregivers and a supportive administrator. It's really a good job---if you like to be creative and can think outside the proverbial box, you'll do well.

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Thanks very much for responding.

So 1:42 in assisted living is less heavy than 1:30 in rehab?

I would like to know this for myself as well. Am awaiting for responses! :0)

I found this thread about the question. If you want, it can really help as the posts answering my question. And usually on the bottom of this post, it shows several similar threads by the website. Roll down to the bottom

Difference b/t LTC and Assisted Living

https://allnurses.com/forums/f99/difference-b-t-ltc-assisted-living-189378.html

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Specializes in Cardio.
Thanks very much for responding.

So 1:42 in assisted living is less heavy than 1:30 in rehab?

Difference b/t LTC and Assisted Living

https://allnurses.com/forums/f99/difference-b-t-ltc-assisted-living-189378.html

Of course...They only take meds and have walkers when in Nusing Home they don't walk at all..(most of )..

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I just started working at an assisted living facility in California and THANK GOD I made the right choice. In a SNF, the patient load is heavy, you are admitting, discharging, passing meds, possibly doing CNA work if there are no aides or shortage of, dressing changes, foleys, feeding tubes, colostomy and on and on. Not only that, you are so pressed for time, that you may make unsafe decisions and cut corners. At our assisted living, the nurses do not wear scrubs (business casual), we have medication aides that pass meds, patient ratio is about the same but it is so much safer because the residents are mobile, the staffing is good and we do not have residents with foleys, colostomy's or feeding tubes. We do blood sugar checks, administer all injections (med aides pass PO's), and do wound care. And by wound care, it is slight because you cannot have above a stage II wound. The rest is paperwork. I would choose assisted living because it is safe, my license is protected and our hours are great. True the pay may be slightly less, but a SNF is not worth my license. I have worked in a SNF as an aide and during nursing school. I know what REALLY goes on, and I am glad to not be apart of it!

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I haven't worked assisted living, but it LTC you are always short staffed. I think assisted living might be a better choice even if the patient load is higher based on other posts it seems that they need less care.

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Specializes in LTC.

I have worked in a nursing home for 3 1/2 years as an LPN. The ratio at my job is 1:30 and I have a treatment nurse once a week if I'm lucky. When I worked the 3-11 shift and we were short the ratio was 1:40; 30 in one unit and 10 at another unit that I went to when I was finished with the first 30. In a nursing home the residents are not as functional as they are in the assisted living, therefore you have more treatments to do, such as pressure sores (yes it does happen). Giving them their medications is harder because most are cognitively impaired and fight when taking medication. When they refuse, it is more work for the nurse because now you have to document. I have never worked in an assisted living, but from what I hear, your role is a bit different. Most assisted living facilities by where I live have med techs pass out medications. As an LPN you would be doing more of the assessments, paper work, and contacting the doctors. Your ratio may be higher in an assisted living, but their needs are not as much. However, I would think that in that population you would have more demanding residents. My overall opinion is that where ever you go nursing is challenging and hard work and even though nursing homes seem more hands on, I don't think I would be able to do the paper work required at the assisted living facility without the clinical experience I have gained in the nursing home.

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I recently obtained my STNA license and have never worked in the medical field. I am currently attending a part-time LPN program at a community college and will hopefully graduate next spring.

Which would be a better place to start - a LTC or an ALF? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.:mad:

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turtle rain, you probably wouldn't be offered a job at an ALF as an LPN. Here, they have ONE nurse, and RN, and lower-paid unlicensed personnel do the meds and ADL stuff.

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Specializes in LTC.

I worked in an ALF a couple of years ago. One 1st shift, there were 3:30-40. On 2nds, it was 2:30-40. On 3rds, it was 1:the whole building. (60+/-). We did med reminders, as we not supposed to handle the meds. They were required to be in an organizer and we simply opened it and "dumped" the meds into the res. hand. We also assisted with showers, dressing, did laundry, dishes, took out trash, and light housekeeping. We also took people to and from the dining room, changed briefs, and passed the dinner trays to those who "stayed in" for meals. We had no certification, and were paid $7.50/hr to start. We also didn't do accuchecks. There was 1 nurse, an LPN who oversaw the assistants, and an RN who oversaw the whole operation. I have heard of other assisted living facilities here that are more hands-on, with a nurse on-duty for each shift. It really was an easy job, but I stayed pretty busy most of the time. If I could find a nursing job like that making $21 vs $25 for LTC, I'd jump for joy!

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