I have been offered a RN charge nurse position at a LTC facility.
The "unit" I'd be working has thirty-plus residents.
I will be on the 7p-7a shift.
I asked the ADON about staffing.
She said there is ONE nurse, and ONE cna for thirty-plus residents; and NO med tech! Which means I'll have to do ALL the 2100 meds, and PRNs, insulins, treatments, charting, etc., on thirty-plus residents????
What about the residents who require more than one assist to get them up?
ONE CNA FOR THIRTY PLUS RESIDENTS?????
I need a job ~ bad! ~ but I don't even know whether to take it!!!!!
She said there is ONE nurse, and ONE cna for thirty-plus residents; and NO med tech! Which means I'll have to do ALL the 2100 meds, and PRNs, insulins, treatments, charting, etc., on thirty-plus residents????
What about the residents who require more than one assist to get them up?
ONE CNA FOR THIRTY PLUS RESIDENTS?????
I need a job ~ bad! ~ but I don't even know whether to take it!!!!!
You know the more I think about this, the more I feel this needs to be reported to the state agency that monitors LTC. They may have imaginary nurse/patient ratio "on paper" for inspections, while what the ADON told you is the actual ratio! The residents are the losers here.
the LTCF where I work is the same way. I routinely have 30+ residents and usually only 1 CNA. And that CNA has to work the other side of the building too, which also has 30+ residents.
So for 65 (sometimes up to 70) residents, from 11p-7a, there are 2 nurses and 1 CNA.
I have also seen the time there was 1 nurse (me) and 1 CNA. Scary to a new nurse (I've not even been a nurse an entire year yet!), and I have called the Board of Nursing, only to hear, "Oh you poor dear! That's dangerous...you shouldn't be put in that position! Call the Board of Health and tell them!"
When I call the BOH, I get a rather callous lady who tells me that while it is sad, it is legal to staff that way.
The REAL unfortunate part is, all the facilities here are that way, and I can't afford to drive very far for a job, and if I did leave. Who would be there to take care of the elderly? They need me, and I need them.
So I guess I'll stay until the Lord sees fit to move me somewhere else that I am needed.
EVERYONE is saying NO! Myself included. IF those are ALL the details, sounds strange to me. Of course, no way! I (really) would work retail if I HAD to get a job, before taking THIS job!
Good luck, and keep going forward, and stay encouraged, you'll find something hopefully soon!
I might of missed it, but I didn't see anyone ask what the acuity of the patients on that 30 bed unit. Are they ambulatory? Mostly independent? Alert and oriented?
I've worked in facilities which would have a unit designated for the primarily independent except for meds, showers etc.
Whatever would 3 CNA's do on a unit like that for even 8 hours? It would be hard pressed to keep a nurse busy for 8 hours on this type of unit. Check the unit and the facts before making an uninformed decision.
Pete495
363 Posts
What was the other job you took Shezam?