Does anyone really enjoy LTC?

Specialties Geriatric

Published

I've always wanted to be a nurse but I wasn't sure, if I was cut out to be one. At my mothers suggestion I took CNA training. I LOVED caring for the residents. I knew right away I wanted to go to nursing school and work in a LTC or assisted living.

That was back in 2002, I never got the opportunity to work beyond my training, despite being hired by the facility I trained in. (My son was diagnosed with a wilms tumor a week after my training ended. He good now !!)

I have gotten back on track and I am taking my prerequisites for the LVN program. But every time the subject of "where do you want to work" comes up, everyone including professors, former CNA's, graduated LVN's going on to RN's are always negative saying "you'll hate it", "you weren't there long enough to see the bad", "if you go LVN you'll be trapped there too" it's all meds"

It's really been getting into my head. Does anyone out there really enjoy LTC as I did?

well,,,, i too worked at a LTC facility when i was an LPN..... i loved it at first,,,, i was on a subacute unit so i did get to use a lot of skills,,, kinda like the hospital (this facility was connected to the hospital). but my last year, things started to get rough there. the hall was staffed with 2 nurses, but more often than not i was the lone nurse for 22 patients some days, some with trachs and a vent mixed in with the others(post-op hips, colostomies, ect). it was GREAT as far as autonomy goes, u do use a lot of assessment skills, but i think that particular facility's acuity was way high for the nurse to patient ratio... i went back to RN school so i would NEVER have to look at another LTC facility again.... the CNAs were lazy as hell, id have to remind them to change patients or turn them. i was cussed a lot,,,, and management didnt really do anything, just a little hand pat.... CNAs calling out,,,,, that was a BIG problem. that means if u didnt help change ur residents, they didnt get changed,,, OHHHH and another thing was skin tears,,, we got them every day,,,,,,,,, this one sweet little old lady patient of mine sustained 6 skin tears in one week,,,,, that was when i knew i would never work in LTC again,,, to hear her cry was awful.... and she was sooo sweet,,,,, just because the CNAs transfered her without taking the foot rests off of the wheelchair LAZINESS!!!! got to the point to where i would make every CNA let me help them transfer her every time and if i caught them doing it alone they were written up... i said "its my ass not urs" didnt do any good.... good luck... u may need it:uhoh21:

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

I absolutely love LTC traditional geriatric units, but I hate nursing home rehab.

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Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

Y'all say you love old people but then all leave working with them. SNF's need GOOD nurses who care. Not ones that bail out when the work gets too hard or the staffing isn't perfect.

I agree that we need more staff and more pay, but leaving the elderly to the people you call lazy CNAs and lazy nurses won't help them at all.

I don't know what kind of places all y'all have worked in, but in every facility I've worked, there were at least as many RNs as LPNs....especially on the subacute/rehab floors. If your facility is Joint Commission accredited or if you have managed health contracts, you have to have RNs.

Alot of the problem is, and please don't get mad at me, is that new LPNs have had 10 months of school!!! 10 months and yet we allow them to work in skilled facilities and they are allowed to do everything the RNs can do except pronounce someone when they die...and frankly, that is one ot the easiest skills to acquire--knowing the difference between being alive and being dead. 10 months....no wonder the turnover is so high.

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Specializes in Travel Nursing, ICU, tele, etc.

I started out in LTC as my first nursing job. The very best part about it for me was the long term relationships that you are able to form with your residents. I still carry the memory of some of those sweet folks in my heart. The second thing is that you will have to come to terms with death and dying in a way that very few in this society ever do. It is a huge privilege to be around someone's death, it is like a birth. Often you are the only one there when someone passes over.

There are many great nurses in long term care and great aides. You will truly be blessed if you have a few of them around when you are working. You will not be able to do everything you wish you could do for your residents, but you will be able to do some things, and you will feel that you have made a difference at the end of the day.

Go to LTC with your head held high!! If that is your calling then go for it. Follow you heart. :heartbeat:heartbeat:heartbeat

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Specializes in UR/PA, Hematology/Oncology, Med Surg, Psych.

Like I said previously, I feel some nurses are almost 'called' to LTC. But, as for myself....I couldn't do it again. I would have to leave nursing.

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I started out in LTC over 2 years ago after getting my LPN at age 42. I figured that I wasn't as quick as what acute would need. Little did I know that I would end up on a respiratory unit with trachs, O2 and some very "acute" people. We do have a small amount of true geriatric residents. I started on the day shift with 20 resident to pass large amts of meds to, 4-6 trachs to do, 3-4 tube feedings to start and other misc treatments to do. Needless to say I did go home in tears some days.:o On days I wasn't a med nurse, they utilized me as a CNA. Doing patient care I also had to do the treatments if a resident had them.

LTC these days does not just mean geriatrics as some have pointed out. The biggest complaint I have is short staffing and large patient loads - not only for the med nurse, but for the CNAs. Bad staff is another complaint. But I have to believe that short staffing and bad staff happen in any setting.

I with everyone else, check out the facility, staffing levels and talk to the CNAs - they know which facilities are good and which are bad.

Do I regret where I'm at? No. I feel I am making a difference. My residents are my family away from home and I truly love them all - even the difficult ones. I have switched to the night shift in order to finish RN school and for a little breathing room.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
Alot of the problem is, and please don't get mad at me, is that new LPNs have had 10 months of school!!! 10 months and yet we allow them to work in skilled facilities and they are allowed to do everything the RNs can do except pronounce someone when they die...and frankly, that is one ot the easiest skills to acquire--knowing the difference between being alive and being dead. 10 months....no wonder the turnover is so high.
At the LTC/SNF where I am employed, the new RNs have an extremely high turnover rate, too. Many have quit within 1 week of their start date. Therefore, do not simply blame the problem on new LPNs. LTCs/SNFs are notorious for extremely short orientation periods, poor leadership, and apathetic nurse managers. You cannot expect new nurses to stick around when they are only being oriented for 1 to 3 days, and are being screamed at and embarrassed by uncouth nurse managers or administrators.

Additionally, many LPNs have the 2-year associate of applied science degree in practical nursing. Most LPNs/LVNs have had schooling that has lasted between 12 months and 2 years.

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Specializes in LTC.

I can certainly understand why and why not someone would want to work in an LTCF. Of course, there are ALWAYS people that can't handle the dying process as often as it occurs there, or they just don't prefer geriatrics. I work in a LTCF, and although I'm certain it's NOT what I want to do forever, I love my job! I love that I have the same residents everyday, and that I've gotten to know them, and know their personal needs and daily routines. Another plus for me is getting to work around Alzheimer's residents -- I find their cares the most fun and creative, and the disease is very interesting.

If it's what you do in, and you're in the minority with it, then you're in the minority. We need good nurses in LTCFs, these residents are victims of adult abuse to often because of nurses who don't want to be there, but are because of the steady hours or whatnot.

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I think I'd enjoy LTC except for the crazy ratios! Running around trying to administer meds to 30+ invalid patients in two hours is just crazy!

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Specializes in LTC, Hospice, Tele, ICU.

When I started nursing school I swore that I'd never work in a nursing home. I graduated and accepted an ICU position. Within 3 months I hated it and went to a nursing home close to my house because they had a day shift available (hard to find in my parts). Well little did I know that God's plan was at work! I love LTC. It is hard work but it's all worth it when you can get to know the people you care for and their families.

Also, I've come to the conclusion that no matter what field of nursing one goes into there will always be another bunch of nurses who bad mouth it. I've worked as a CNA in a hospital and saw how the med/surg nurses bad mouthed the ICU nurses and then saw the ICU nurses bad mouth each other and other floor nurses too. I even see it in the LTC area - days vs. eve, LPN vs RN.

Be true to who are you and what called you to nursing!

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Specializes in LTC.
I think I'd enjoy LTC except for the crazy ratios! Running around trying to administer meds to 30+ invalid patients in two hours is just crazy!

I think it all depends on the quality of the facility. My cousin and I are both CNAs going through nursing school, and working at two different LTCFs. She sometimes has thirty residents to care for by herself, which means that the charge nurse has the same load. At my facility, I share nearly twenty residents with my aide partner, as does the nurse. Both facilities pay the same, they're both under the same organization. Works for me!

Also, I hear a lot of nurses stay at LTCFs because of the more constant workday. When you think of most hospital jobs, they are not as constant, very few even have the same patients everyday (L&D, ER, MedSurg, etc.). At a LTCF, you do nearly the same thing everyday, and your residents stay for years. Has anyone else considered this one of their reasons for staying at their LTCF?

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I think it all depends on the quality of the facility. My cousin and I are both CNAs going through nursing school, and working at two different LTCFs. She sometimes has thirty residents to care for by herself, which means that the charge nurse has the same load. At my facility, I share nearly twenty residents with my aide partner, as does the nurse. Both facilities pay the same, they're both under the same organization. Works for me!

Also, I hear a lot of nurses stay at LTCFs because of the more constant workday. When you think of most hospital jobs, they are not as constant, very few even have the same patients everyday (L&D, ER, MedSurg, etc.). At a LTCF, you do nearly the same thing everyday, and your residents stay for years. Has anyone else considered this one of their reasons for staying at their LTCF?[/quote]

Yes, this is one of the reasons I stay in LTC. You know your residents, you know when there is something wrong and you know their meds. It is in my mind easier NOT to make a mistake..as long as you keep to the 3 checks and not start pulling by heart.

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