First job in LTC

Hey 22!

I am just finishing up my ASN and working as a tech at an LTC (brand new job). I have to say that I love my job, the other techs and nurses have all been so supportive and welcoming. Most of my patients are post surgical and some are LTC. My facility does a lot of rehab. Hang in there, because you will learn a lot and have some very wonderful and NOT SO wonderful experiences.

It definately depends on the overall morale of your coworkers, though. Is it a nice place to work, is there teamwork amongst employees and is that supported by administration. I would say that if you're experiencing problems, request a meeting with your DON. My particular facility is not chaotic, however, clinicals are and I do not enjoy them at all, especially since I have a rather unappealing clinical instructor this semester. If you're feeling like you're not making any therapeutic contact with your patients, why don't you try to schedule some extra time in between passing meds to sit briefly with a few of your patients (maybe those requiring more in depth care) and speak with them about their needs and how you can better meet those needs.

Sometimes, as nurses, we need to take charge and delegate certain tasks to CNAs so that you can be a better nurse. Now I am presently employed as a CNA and I am quite aware of not only what my patients need, but also what my nurses need so my opinion might be a little biased!

What ever the case, try to enjoy your work and always keep in mind the reasons why you wanted to become a nurse. Don't be intimidated to delegate appropriate tasks to your CNAs, it's what they are there for, to aide the nurse in caring for the patients. Good luck and I hope the job gets better!

I'm in the process of applying for a supervisory weekend position in LTC. Have no idea if I will like it but after YEARS in the hospital setting I'm ready for a change. The view of LTC is so negative and I've even had people ask me why I would want to "waste" my nursing experience/degree in a "nursing home" - certainly there are differences in hospital nursing and ltc nursing, just as there are differences in hospice nursing and home health but the way I view it - ALL nursing is needed/important and regardless of what flavor of nursing, the facility and how its managed/run can make a huge difference in patient and nurse satisfaction.

In my experience the supervisory roles are totally different from being on the floor. I actually hate to admit it but at times I do get jealous of the people in roles that don't require them to be chained to a med cart 6 hours a day. I love the LTC/subactue patients but the med passes are just sucking my soul away day by day.

Weekends can be hectic because the DON and all those other folks wont be around and it seems like people slack on the weekends and there are also a lot of call-outs that you'll have to be calling around to fill, but generally the weekend sups I know seem to enjoy their jobs.

I just took a position as a nursing supervisor. I worked LTC for years as an LPN. I enjoy LTC cause I may have had 30 pt. but I loved joking with and talking to my pt. during my med passes. I pretty much HATE hosptial nursing, but that is just me.

I always took the view that I was going to give the best care to my residents I could, reguardless of time, because they deserved the best of me everyday. I wanted to care for them like I wanted my grandparents to be taken care of.

Good luck in your first job, if its hard at first you will start to get used to it, but it will be a hurdle, all nursing is I think.

"I wanted to care for them like I wanted my grandparents to be taken care of"

I take that view too, because I value all my residents but I WISH I had the time for them to feel like I was caring for them like I would my grandparents, I do my very best. I think we all do. None of us wants to rush through the day and feel like we could do more but we do...As an LPN you will feel like you are chained to the med cart :S and hope you don't have any falls, but try to push through it and try to be flexible as you can and roll with the punches and challenges of the day because there are many.

In my experience the supervisory roles are totally different from being on the floor. I actually hate to admit it but at times I do get jealous of the people in roles that don't require them to be chained to a med cart 6 hours a day. I love the LTC/subactue patients but the med passes are just sucking my soul away day by day.

Weekends can be hectic because the DON and all those other folks wont be around and it seems like people slack on the weekends and there are also a lot of call-outs that you'll have to be calling around to fill, but generally the weekend sups I know seem to enjoy their jobs.

I am right there with you on the sucking my soul away. That is exactly how I felt and sometimes still feel when working my LTC job. I recently cut down to part time and started a PRN job at the hospital and I finally feel like a nurse again. My personality is finally returning also. It is great and I enjoy being a nurse again.

nurse2b22 just hang in there and learn everything you can from being a nurse in LTC. Believe it or not there is a lot to be learned in LTC. I am just starting to see all of the things that I have learned since being in LTC and a lot of it does apply to acute care. I am guessing that you want to work acute care once you get your RN. At the very least you will be able to multitask like a pro when you move on to the job that you truely want.

Good luck with everything and if I can be of any help let me know.

I'm now wondering if the LTC position is worth it to even apply..part of wanting out of the hospital is to be able to connect with patients more, do more for them but it sounds like this is about the same..focus on medications, stress filled fast paced..hmm..even supervising sounds like it would be hands off...I dunno now...

I'm now wondering if the LTC position is worth it to even apply..part of wanting out of the hospital is to be able to connect with patients more, do more for them but it sounds like this is about the same..focus on medications, stress filled fast paced..hmm..even supervising sounds like it would be hands off...I dunno now...

You do, but you do not connect more with the pts in LTC. I can walk into someone's room and know without them even saying a word sometimes that something is wrong or starting to go wrong. Believe me in LTC you learn to go with the gut feeling when something is not right. You do not assess every resident every day. You usually only assess if there is a reason to assess (no time). You do not get VS on all of the residents everyday also. Makes me a little nervous sometimes, but there really isn't much you can do about it.

I do know my residents and their families a lot better than I know my pts in the hospital. However, there are many days when I only see most of my residents once or twice a day when I am passing their pills. Another thing that I do not like about LTC is that you count on your CNAs a lot more than you do in the hospital. I do not see someones skin unless there is a problem. The only way I know that there is a problem is if the CNA tells me. This is all fine and dandy as long as you have good CNAs. However in LTC the CNAs are not paid well at all so the good ones a lot of the time leave for better pay or they burn out. There are a lot of difficulties when working in LTC, but if you truely care about the elderly this can be a very rewarding career choice.

I am also a new grad working in LTC. I will start core classes in Janurary for RN. I REALLY do not like my job for some of the same reasons as you mentioned. Because of the pt/nurse ratio, I feel as though I am not giving my residents all the attention that they need. I feel like I am a "pill popper" also. I plan on staying until I get my RN, and then I am out of there. Some of the CNA's are nice while others pretend to be "my" supervisor. I just roll with the punches, learn as much as I can, and Pray for the day that I leave!

Good luck to you!

I have worked in LTC for over 26 years. The reason that I love it is because of the patients. In the facilities that I have worked in we were all like family. I just wanted to make the last days/years of my patient lives some of the best days/years of their lives. Yes the work is hard but after a while it does get better and you can see your see progressing and handling things more efficiently. In the facilities that I worked in I got to do IV's, trach care, ostomy care, wound care, and other things. There was never a time I did not feel like a nurse. My assessment skills grew a great deal. I have also worked in prisons, hospitals, pyschiatric units, but I always love geriatric nursing and it has paid off because now I am an administrator. Did I mention that I was an LPN.

I went to the facility this a.m. and applied. They asked me to wait for the DON - 30 min. later he comes up and tells me he will call me to schedule an interview - he said he would call me within a few hours. I've heard nothing. Am hoping he just got busy and I will hear from him. I've received a part-time offer from another LTC facility and a FT offer from a home health business as of today but am still hoping for something in LTC in a supervisory position -