Help...are these feelings "normal"

jameeladf · Feb 16, 2006

Hi TallyJo-

I have worked on the nursing unit of a retirement community for two years. It is very normal to feel saddened by the state of the residents you are caring for, it would be abnormal to feel nothing. I was very saddened when I first encountered the physical condition of some of the residents I worked with--perhaps it is because it made me and still causes me to think of myself many years from now, for everyone must age. Some age less painfully than others. Don't let your experience with the elderly determine your outlook for future experiences in nursing, because depending on the area you choose to delve into, you may or may not be working with them on a regular basis. I think the key to handling yourself and making the best of your experience working with elderly residents in clinicals is to work hard to make sure YOU made that resident as comfortable as you could, that you did what YOU could do for them to best of YOUR ability to care. It is a tricky balance, that of compassion and purpose.

gr8rnpjt, RN · Feb 16, 2006

Hello...I am a first semester RN student of an ADN program..I really need some help here...I am so confused about my feelings right now...We started clinicals today and we are in a nursing home...we had orientation last week and today we were assigned our patient....the nursing home smells so awful and I am so sad when I see these people...the care they receive there is not up to standard and today I was assigned a patient who is 105 years old and was told to auscultate lung sounds....my instructor listened with me and she could hear them but I couldn't..I was so frustrated I only listened to lung sounds twice in lab and that was on my classmates and she says I can tell some of you practiced and some didn't...I didn't have a problem on my classmates but major problems hearing on my patient ....When we went to bathe her we took her pants off and found a washcloth inside of her diaper (I guess for absorbancy???) for some reason that caught me off guard and really threw me ....anyway I came home crying today as I did the last time I went there ...Am I having normal feelings or am I jsut not cut out for this..I don't feel called to work with the elderly at all it is so depressing to me...I know that maybe this should be on the student nursing board but I am hoping for lots of response..I am so hoping that this is part of the process and I am not some lightweight wimp.. thanks for reading this

TallyJo, don't give up. There are so many choices for nurses nowadays, in acute care there are many specialties and maybe long term care is not for you. I cried a lot after my first clinicals, it was all so overwhelming...

but do not despair, you will learn so much and see so much more, that you will definitely find something that you like. Best wishes to you and just know that we have all been where you are now. We all question at first if we can handle this and for most of us, we can. Take care, and do not despair. Better days will come. :nurse:

schwalmys8862 · Feb 16, 2006

Maybe nursing home work is something you should steer clear of and find a med-surg postition in a hospital. Yea, it is sad and what you are feeling is normal. Nursing home work is something not everyone can do. Also, if you couldn't hear lung sounds maybe they were diminished. Plus, you have only done it twice! It takes practice and when there is a teacher breathing down you neck sometimes its easy to lose it and forget everything. Just pretend she isnt there and dont let her intimidate you. Some of them are good at that. Relax! even though its hard when your with a teacher.

EmmyBP · Feb 16, 2006

I am an LPN student currently... My first day of clinical - at a nursing home - I ended up crying at the end of the day... wondering what the heck I had gotten myself into. I had never been in a nursing home, I had never had any experience with older people - all of my grandparents were dead by the time I was born. It is tough being in the position you are in. 'This too shall pass' You want to become an RN for a reason, keep that reason in you mind at all times. It does get easier. I have been in clinicals for 5 months now, we are currently covering med-surg and in a hospital. There are days that are harder than others, but you can make it through it. I have come to appreciate the older generation much more. I still don't love geriatrics and never will, but it's ok because there are lots of opportunities out threre. Personally I can't wait for our maternity and pediatric rounds!

best of luck to you.

Emmy

tracey2705 · Feb 16, 2006

I find long term care very depressing, too. I can't work there. Like others said, don't give up but set your sights on a different area. Although I worked on medical floors at first, eventually I stayed on surgical units or at least a combination of surgical and medical patients. I like the fast pace of a surgical unit.

As for not hearing her lung sounds. It does take practice. Also, she's probably not taking very deep breaths. Get some more practice on people you know--friends or family. Then you'll be familiar what lung sounds are supposed to sound like and you'll more readily realize what you're hearing in the patients.

leslie :-D · Feb 16, 2006

when you auscultate lung sounds in the elderly, expect them to be diminished w/bibasilar crackles......that will probably be their baseline. and it does take a certain type of person to work w/the elderly. i knew so many doctors that would get depressed, as well as several other comments made by other people, that they could never do this.....so you're not alone. but when working w/the elderly, their mobility is ltd. so you're going to want to establish a baseline and make your assessments from there. good luck! they really are a delightful bunch!

leslie

meownsmile, BSN, RN · Feb 16, 2006

I also didnt take to my LTC clinicals very well. But hang in there you will move to another location with the next clinical rotation and it will probly be much better. But, i will remind you whether you are working in a office or hospital after you graduate you will still come across these circumstances.

As far as the washcloth goes, the patient probly did that herself to "save" having to put a new one on. Elderly seem to tend to do that frequently, and you would be surprised how many that live at home do that rather than buy more sanitary garments. Sad but true.

It does get better, and you will find reward.

Cute_CNA, CNA · Feb 16, 2006

I'm not a nurse but I also think your feelings are normal. It is terribly sad to see a person who was once so full of life just wasting away in an environment that doesn't seem as beneficial as it could be.

You might want to consider a different area of nursing; it seems that there's plenty to choose from. I think it's a good thing that you feel compassion for these people, but your reactions to their situations might interfere w/your caring for them. Keep the compassion, just find another area of nursing in which to express it.

I wish you luck. :mad:

buddiage · Feb 16, 2006

I remember taking my dog in for visits to a nursing home. It was shocking at first. These poor nurses had so much to do, they looked like they were in dispair (needless to say, I made sure my poodle made visits with them too, they could use it!). In the "back" of the nursing home, I ran on to someone who's diaper was leaking all over her clothes. It reeeeeked in the back, and there was a "hershey's kiss" on the floor from a loose diaper too. I figured if this place was going to get any better, it could come from me.

I understand your initial shock. It will get better- don't give up something potentially so powerful on the account of a difficulty (although totally understandable) that you will not endure forever.

UM Review RN, ASN, RN · Feb 17, 2006

Hello...I am a first semester RN student of an ADN program..I really need some help here...I am so confused about my feelings right now...We started clinicals today and we are in a nursing home...we had orientation last week and today we were assigned our patient....the nursing home smells so awful and I am so sad when I see these people...the care they receive there is not up to standard and today I was assigned a patient who is 105 years old and was told to auscultate lung sounds....my instructor listened with me and she could hear them but I couldn't..I was so frustrated I only listened to lung sounds twice in lab and that was on my classmates and she says I can tell some of you practiced and some didn't...I didn't have a problem on my classmates but major problems hearing on my patient ....When we went to bathe her we took her pants off and found a washcloth inside of her diaper (I guess for absorbancy???) for some reason that caught me off guard and really threw me ....anyway I came home crying today as I did the last time I went there ...Am I having normal feelings or am I jsut not cut out for this..I don't feel called to work with the elderly at all it is so depressing to me...I know that maybe this should be on the student nursing board but I am hoping for lots of response..I am so hoping that this is part of the process and I am not some lightweight wimp.. thanks for reading this

Yes, your feelings are normal. It's quite overwhelming to go into a nursing home for the first time. The sights, the smells, the strange way that the people look--I remember going to my first nursing home and I was frightened and repulsed.

But those poor people had needs and my desire to help them overcame my initial feelings of disgust at their surroundings and their condition. I just learned to breathe out more than in and keep a poker face so as not to embarrass them, poor dears.

I came to love many of those wonderful old folks, and if you can give it a chance, you might too.

Even if you don't like geriatrics much, it's quite possible on a Med-Surg unit that you will have plenty of elders, since the population as a whole is aging.

NeoNurseTX, RN · Feb 17, 2006

Did you have your steth on the "bell" side? I did once my first year and was wondering why I couldn't hear anything.

Don't get discouraged - real nursing doesn't have to be in an area you hate - and you will most likely hate some of your clinicals.