Why dont we get respect as LTC nurses?

Specialties Geriatric

Published

Hi everyone,

I am hoping for some input to a questions that has been really burning my butt. I am a new nurse, and recently switched from med-surg at a local hospital (loved the job, hated the 12 hour shifts and the 45 minute commute), to a nursing home in my home town. I have spoken to numerous people about my new job, which I have, by the way, found to be very different but no less challenging than the work I was doing before. I am learning every day, and I truly do enjoy the job. I made the choice to change focus due to the fact that I have small children, 5 and 8, and the opportunity I had was a 7-3 shift, mon-thur. The money was less, but the savings in travel and not having to pay daycare made up for that.

Soooo, My big problem is, why is it that it truly seems that so very many nurses seem to look down their noses at long term care and geriatric nursing? I have even had one of my fellow graduates, (we both graduated May, passed the boards in June) actually say "I'm so sorry.":madface:

I couldnt believe my ears. And after I picked my jaw up off the floor, all the things I could/should have said came to me. Of course.

Has anyone else had this experience, or is it just me? And if you have, how do you deal with it? It is bad enough we undervalue and dont respect our elders, but now, I feel as if I have lost respect in the nursing community, (I am generalizing, I know, and I DO know that not every nurse feels this way, please dont feel that I think all nurses feel this way, cuz I do not).

I have been reading the nursing posts from so many of you on this specialty, and I can see that people who have worked in LTC understand. So sorry, I just needed to vent and get some understanding and hopefully advice from some of you more seasoned LTC geriatric nurses. During my med surg experience I felt more like a waitress than a nurse, it was kind of like 'turn em and burn em', without any time to connect with any patients, you were scrambling so hard just to meet their basic needs. I also realize that as a new nurse, I would have gotten better at the scrambling part, but still, after just two weeks at my new position, I already know almost all my 24 residents names, many of their likes and dislikes and have already been able to forge connections. So back to my question, how do you deal with it when you feel like other specialties look down on us?

I have also had ER nurses from the local hospital be VERY condesending to me when calling. Just twice, same nurse both times. And in case you are wondering, I am pretty thick skinned, I dont get my panties in a bunch over any little comment.

Any input would be sooo appreciated.

Thanks,

KristyBRNfortruenow

Specializes in MedSurg.-Tele, Home health, LTC.

i love nursing, and i like long term care. yes it's hard, but i like working with older people. for some reason i get more respect from them than the people outside the long term care facility. i work as a nurse for a month in a hospital and i didn't like it, maybe because i am new. well, i guess i will stay her in ltc for until i get tired of it and move on to something. i don't really care if others will put me down just because i work in ltc. we all passed the same licensing exam, and somehow started at lower wages. other than that, we are all nurses.. and if somebody will put you down..they are the ones who have issues, maybe the need to get la** or something. but, just be glad you are not like them..happy holidays!:icon_razz: :holly1:

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Specializes in MedSurg.-Tele, Home health, LTC.
awwwww, honey. nurses will look down on geriatric/ltc nurses, prison nurses, nurses without husbands, nurses with the wrong purses. just wait till you have the joy of some emt trying to make you feel like crap!!!

do they make fun of these too? this is so funny, i never know that? i thought not having a husband is cool for nurses :lol2: :rotfl:

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
There is a definate hierarchy of respect in nursing, and yes I think LTC is considered less hotshot. I noticed when I switched to CCU/ICU, that my status went up from what it was as a Med-Surg nurse, which was a higher status than when I was LTC. People consider it more technical, and it requires a higher level of education.
RNs in med-surg possess the same education and licensure as the RNs who work in LTC. LPNs/LVNs who work in med-surg possess the same education and licensure as the LPNs/LVNs work in LTC.
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Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

Yikes! I did not mean to offend. You just sounded really stressed out in your post. As one of those who does the hiring...I am embarrassed to offer the salary I do, but I have no control over that...it is a corporate decision and not mine to make.

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RNs in med-surg possess the same education and licensure as the RNs who work in LTC. LPNs/LVNs who work in med-surg possess the same education and licensure as the LPNs/LVNs work in LTC.

Untrue, there are continuing education requirements to work in ICU that are above and beyond a nursing lisence. It definately requires a more in depth medical knowledge. You are correct about Med-Surg however, but I was talking about nursing specialties.

When I worked LTC right out of nursing school it only required a relatively short orientation period. When I switched to acute care, it require a month long orientation period, because there is alot more in depth skill required in the hospital. Then, switching to a more specialty area required addition training and classes.

I have a friend who recently switched to surgical nursing. The training is very extensive, at least 6 months. Switching to any nursing specialty requires much more than just a nursing lisence.

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.
Untrue, there are continuing education requirements to work in ICU that are above and beyond a nursing lisence. It definately requires a more in depth medical knowledge. You are correct about Med-Surg however, but I was talking about nursing specialties.

When I worked LTC right out of nursing school it only required a relatively short orientation period. When I switched to acute care, it require a month long orientation period, because there is alot more in depth skill required in the hospital. Then, switching to a more specialty area required addition training and classes.

I have a friend who recently switched to surgical nursing. The training is very extensive, at least 6 months. Switching to any nursing specialty requires much more than just a nursing lisence.

I think the poster was refering to nursing school education, not the continuing education

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
Untrue, there are continuing education requirements to work in ICU that are above and beyond a nursing lisence.
None of my posts had ever mentioned anything regarding the ICU. I had mentioned med-surg and LTC.
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The Family Care Program is designed to take Medicaid money and use it for NURSING care in the patients home or in an assisted living facility, NURSES will be coming in to the home to help the family member take care of their loved ones.The phylosophy of wharehousing our elderly and disabled IS beginning to shift to keeping them OUT of nursing homes, do some research ,I think you will find that because of the poor care LTCs have provided in the past and continue to provide , the GOVERNMENT has FINALLY made strides to keep our loved ones at home. I have heard you say that most family is ill equiped to take care of their loved ones, most family can learn, PLUS they will have NURSING care come into their homes to help them.In my state the Governer is Democratic and is pushing for this type to be expanded throughout or state.

I don't know how they will do all this, and on $10.00 an hour, or even $20.00. TennCare, the Medicaid program in Tennessee, is bankrupt from offering this option to families. It was really big for awhile, TennCare patients were really racking in the benefits of having a private duty nurse at their beck and call in their own homes, many of them receiving nursing care 24/7.

Nurses will not work for $10/hr. The private duty CNAs are sitting with patients for right around that now. When you get patients who have COPD or any kind of disease process that needs to be monitored, this is too high acuity for a CNA. Private duty LPNs make $19-$25/hr.

Private duty nursing or CNAs cost TennCare anywhere from $10,000 to $24,000 monthly. The cost of a lot of nursing homes is $4,000-$5,000 a month.

The government does not care if your loved one can stay at home. The government doesn't care if you roll your loved one into a lake. The government cares about the bottom line.

Consequently, TennCare is no longer accepting private duty patients and private duty is fading away as the patients die off.

If you are talking about someone to come in to teach the family how to care for their loved one, or to assist with baths, home health is already used for this purpose.

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Well, the purse snatcher will most likely be a burden on the group that's trying to survive. The granny can help care for the child in the group by telling stories from her youth, while the other adults try to keep everyone alive.

If we're struggling to survive we won't be concerned with bedtime stories.

I'm sorry, Grandma...

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But the purse snatcher may change, if given the opportunity. After all, Granny may have been pretty wild in her younger years only she got the opportunity/time to change.

I still say Granny has to go. And that doesn't mean I don't like old people... we will all get there one day if we live long enough. There just comes a time to step aside. I'm learning that as I get older.

Though, youth isn't everything. I would give Granny reprieve over a sociopath without a second thought (it is well documented there is no cure for a person with no conscience).

Mama - I've seen this same scenario from other groups that had nothing to do with nursing - and a lot of them will dump the purse snatcher. Now, if 'I' were the granny, I might be the only person onboard with any medical know-how.

I say that this scenario is too broad to make a decision. I'd want to know a little more about the people onboard. Such as the age and general health of the grandma - I was a gramma at 40!;)

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Each area of nursing have their own unique challenges. I have worked in ICU and LTC. The ICU nurse looks down the the floor nurse. The LTC nurse looks down on the private duty nurse. Everyone thinks their job is harder, requires more skill etc. As a LTC nurse you don't have the bells and whistles that the hospital has. Access to stat lab draws, xrays or dream of dream a cardiac monitor. Your patient load is higher and between the paperwork and "the great med pass" you are generally pushed for time. Don't worry about what othe nurses think. Stupidity comes in all shapes and sizes. Do what feels right for you and feeds your soul. Read and keep current in all your skills, not just the skills you need right now. Hospital stays are shorter, not everyone can go home, the population is getting older and if you look around LTC is not just for old people anymore. The youngest I have right now is 33 the oldest is 103. Each present unique challenges and I hope I met them everyday. LTC means that the stay is longer than the hospital will allow. It does not always mean til death do us part.

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Specializes in LTC, Home Health.

Some of the worst cases I have seen in LTC were pts who came from home in such a horrendous state...we took care of them and got them into a much better condition, and guess where they went..right back to the family home where they came from us to start with....makes you wonder.

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