Does anyone LOVE Geriatrics?

Specialties Geriatric

Published

So I am in LPN school and work as a Care Manager (fancy term as a CNA/Home Health Aide) in an assisted living place and I adore it!!!! I look foward to going to work each day and smile though every shift. I have been doing this for years and love it. When people ask me what field of nursing I want to go into I say LTC or Assisted Living and they look at me like I have two heads!!!!!

Is that really that weird?? Yes, I know I won't get to use as many "technical" skills but I love hearing the stories, making the residents smile and being there because quite frankly some of them haven't seen their family in years and you are the only one who are there for them. And isn't nursing about caring?

Oh and I float to dementia too and I LOVE it!

Does anyone else feel that way? Do you think I am crazy?

Also, Will I be doing much Bedside care as an LPN or will it be up to the CNAs? If i want to be doing much care what is better AL or LTC??

Specializes in Geriatrics, Transplant, Education.

Love my geriatrics :-) Wouldn't change my specialty for a million bucks!

OP, you are definitely not crazy. As others have mentioned, Americans place less value on the elderly, and therefore look down on people who work LTC/ALF/SNF jobs. Good for you for caring! Our seniors need more people like you.

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I love the geriatric population. I have been an LPn for 3 years now and i have worked in LTC since i graduated and i absolutley love it! I am starting school for my RN next week & everyone at my job keeps asking me where im going when i finish school & they look at me like im crazy when i say im staying at my current job. LTC is special and rewarding in its own way. Thoes who dont work LTC or have heard the bad things about LTC dont reconginize the skills it takes to work with the elderly population. i love my little old ladies and my little old men. I adore the dementia residents & i have found that i enjoy them more than the A&Ox3 residents- I enjoy their stories even when i know that they dont know what they are saying. They keep me laughing and smiling. I have excellent relationships with all my residents, they love me as much as i love them, the recognize it when im not there, i have excellent rapport with my residents families, i have great commmunication with the doctor, I know my residents better than i know my self sometimes....Its an amazing feeling to , have when you feel within yourself that you are a true assest to a company and to a person. LTC is stressful and sometimes makes you want to pull your hair out, but it is also super rewarding. I've found that i've mastered several skills while working, I've found that I have a creative side that i never knew i had, and i've found that I am able to handle stress better than i ever imagined i could. LTC is a lot more than just pushing pills as so many people think it is. After I finish school, as an RN I imagine that I will explore other feilds of nursing at some point, maybe just PRN....but i do know that i will always come back to LTC because I love it.....I love my family, all 110 of them (when our facility is full :) ) & when one is called home, I always fall in love with the next one who comes in....even the worst ones :)

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Specializes in n/a.

I'm in a CNA course right now. I went into it with every expectation of suffering through clinicals in LTC and then hoping to find a job in a hospital. 50 clinical hours later? I'm not so sure about the hospital thing anymore. I absolutely LOVE LTC! One of my clinicals is at a 100% dementia facility and I love it. Even though they make a good $5/hour less than a hospital, I'm still considering trying to work in a SNF. I love the attachments that you get to these residents. That's something I just don't think I would get in a hospital because patients come and go so quickly. It doesn't feel like I'm feeding a resident, it feels like I'm helping a family member. I leave at the end of the day (even after 12 hour shifts) and feel like I wasn't working at all. Even though I didn't get paid anything and did pretty much the worst things that could be done (boy those nurses and CNAs just love having free help from students, don't they??? Lol) I still feel like I haven't worked a second. My dream used to be pediatric oncology (I know... what's wrong with me? lol) Now, I'm starting to think I would love to be DON of a SNF where I could really make a difference in the type of care the residents receive. I love my little elderly residents!

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Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

PICC lines, mid lines, trachs , wound vacs ,tpn, what more "technical" things do you want?

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Specializes in geriatrics.

It never ceases to amaze me how people think that in LTC you lose your skills. LTC nurses use the same skillset as acute care. The difference? We have 20 or 30 patients versus the 6 or 7 you might receive in acute. And only 1 or 2 nurses.

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Geriatrics is my favorite field of nursing, so I am very thankful to land a LTC position earlier this month. I feel I can give the patients a lot, make their days more fulfilled, show them great care and I feel like they really appreciate it.

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wow i was suprised by the techinal infor everyone told me that I would lose all my techinal skills! and i could never work with babies haha babies scare me. well other peoples scare me haha make sense??

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Specializes in LTC.

I have been working LTC for five years, first as a CNA and now as a RN (have been an RN for about 2.5 years now). I admit working in LTC wasn't my first choice, but the job market was lousy when I graduated and I had to take what I could get. But I have found that I do enjoy it very much. People are always asking me if I'm looking for a "real" nursing job now that I have a few years of experience, but LTC is as real as anything else. I deal with PICC lines, feeding tubs, blood draws, admits, discharges, dying patients, complex wounds and dressing changes, patient/family education, etc, etc. just like the "real" nurses at the hospital. And the residents almost seem like family to me.

Of course I have bad shifts where I wish I worked somewhere else, but that's true of any job. Overall, the good shifts outweigh the bad ones I think I have a pretty good gig. I don't know that I want to work in LTC my entire nursing career, but I'm happy to stay where I am for now :up:

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I love geriatrics too! :)

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I loved geriatrics, from working the floor to MDSs/infection control/inservice coordinator (one place had me tagged with a lot of jobs- LOL).

I still have stories in my head of my "favorite" patients.... I was helping pass out breakfast trays (coming out of the MDS office) and one of my fav ladies told me she'd send me to waitressing school, but was pretty sure they'd send me back- LOL :D I didn't have her coffee preferences memorized. She and her buddy were a hoot. We had annual BBQs for families and residents, and the ones who had orders could have beer.... my two lushes would slug down beer with the best of them - then get kidded mercilessly about drinking and driving in their wheelchairs- :D.

And, I learned a LOT about time management in LTC. Also, meds (generic names in particular) were drilled into my head fairly fast- with a 200lb cart full of meds, there were plenty to go through and learn :)

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I'm in a CNA course right now. I went into it with every expectation of suffering through clinicals in LTC and then hoping to find a job in a hospital. 50 clinical hours later? I'm not so sure about the hospital thing anymore. I absolutely LOVE LTC! One of my clinicals is at a 100% dementia facility and I love it. Even though they make a good $5/hour less than a hospital, I'm still considering trying to work in a SNF. I love the attachments that you get to these residents. That's something I just don't think I would get in a hospital because patients come and go so quickly. It doesn't feel like I'm feeding a resident, it feels like I'm helping a family member. I leave at the end of the day (even after 12 hour shifts) and feel like I wasn't working at all. Even though I didn't get paid anything and did pretty much the worst things that could be done (boy those nurses and CNAs just love having free help from students, don't they??? Lol) I still feel like I haven't worked a second. My dream used to be pediatric oncology (I know... what's wrong with me? lol) Now, I'm starting to think I would love to be DON of a SNF where I could really make a difference in the type of care the residents receive. I love my little elderly residents!

This is a very nice idea- but LTC budgets are dictated by Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement. And it's not good.... But LTC is a great place to work for the "just because" reason of liking the old folks :)

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I love my patients and would love to stay in LTC/skilled. You grow so fond of them and become like a family member. When I come back from my days off they never fail to tell me how they missed me. If they have a bad day, a little TLC goes a long way and you can set them off to a better night. I have been frustrated and felt I wanted to quit but to get over it if I take the time to go visit one of my favorites and let them remind my of why I am there :)

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