I love LTC.

I just graduated and I want to go into LTC. Elderly people are the coolest patients I have ever worked with. They were always really great to me!

I'm a student and have considered going into LTC after graduation. We did our clinicals this semester in LTC and I really enjoyed it.

It really is refreshing to see a nurse on here who truly loves what they do. Thanks for the uplifting post! :)

I am also a LTC nurse. It is so great to know that there is someone else that truly loves these sweet people. I know that no one can understand the care and dedication you have to have in order to do this job. We are sometimes the only family they have and they truly need special people to help them. YEAH!!!!!! FOR ALL NURSES !!!!!--no matter what specialty.

I say thank God for you and nurses like you that do love LTC! I wish there were more and I wish you got the appreciation you deserve. You do a very hard job with little or no help I am sure. I also wish you could get the pay you deserve. I wish more nurses in the field I am in or in all fields felt at least a little bit of the way you feel about your field.

I see too many nurses that complain day in and day out about their jobs and the hardships of that job. They complain so much that I wish they would have chosen a different field and having found themselves in a profession they are not happy in would grow the bells to get out and find a different field.

Again I say thank God for you! I will also add Thank GOD for all nurses that do love the profession they have chosen and can find not only the strength but courtesy and kindness to keep coming back everyday and smiling and passing good cheer to all the Patints that are fortunate enough to have the good ones.

I am a nurse in LTC. I, too, love working with the elderly. They appreciate me as much as I appreciate them!

And as tedious as the job gets, there is ALWAYS something that happens that makes me know I am in the right place. For me. For now.

Just this past Tuesday night, we got a new lady in who is dying of cancer, her and family requested no chemo, no radiation. She was scared, understandably so, and I was all she had for 12 long hours. I was in her room checking on her frequently, making sure she had her med (IV Push Morphine and Ativan) on time, and keeping up with her pump and her catheter, giving her sips of water and helping her wipe her face because she got so hot (morphine).

Towards the end of the shift, she told me that she was glad I was there, my voice had such a nice sound to it, and made her feel safe.

Now if that's not a compliment and a whammy to one's heart, I don't know what is.

I know what you are talking about when you talk about taking care of the elderly. I love them too.

Glad to have ya here, knowing we all care!:kiss

I've always thoguht of doing LTC, but then I heard that the ratios are 40 patients to one nurse, and it scared me to death. That just doesn't seem safe! I know you have CNA's to help, but where I've worked in the past, good CNA's are few and far between, which means the workload is even more chaotic.

I'm glad you love LTC, as I do, too. It sounds like you are a good nurse, but singing your own praises for all to see is a bit of a turnoff. It looks like you are trying to gain attention to yourself rather than the field or the residents. I hope I'm wrong.

Oh Peggysue, Must you why cant anyone take things at face value anymore geesh. Kudos to all who work LTC and love it. I totally loved it too but could not take the unsafe staffing levels. I wish things would change with that as I would go back in a heartbeat. Money isnt the issue staffing is. I say Kudos to you and keep up the good work.

I am not a Nurse. Not even in Nursing school yet. However, I got lead to thought about potentially entering nursing from LTC and a particular LTC RN.

I loved working as a caregiver with all the old people(For lack of a better word). It was awesome. I never once thought about the fact that I was at work. Instead I would focus on doing something, big or small, for the residents. I came to really love the company of all of them.

However, I have worked in an End Stages Alzheiemers unit and been into nursing homes many times... I couldn't do that, I don't think. Not because I do not have the love for the people there like I did in Assisted Living. I just hate to see them that way.

I kinda suffered a culture shock moving from an ALF to a Alz. Unit. Since then, I have tottaly moved into a different area of work. I hope one day I will be able to give it a try again though.

I work in LTC and love it as well, except for all the administrative BS it's great! My unit is particularly cool because it's mostly young people with MS...MVAs w/SCI...Rehab after long hospital stays etc. We usually get 'em, make 'em better, and then send 'em out. It's nicer that way. We do have our elderly and very ill pts as well, but it's nice to have a mix.

Originally posted by angelbear

Kudos to all who work LTC and love it. I totally loved it too but could not take the unsafe staffing levels. I wish things would change with that as I would go back in a heartbeat. Money isnt the issue staffing is. I say Kudos to you and keep up the good work.

Same here!

Originally posted by CCU NRS

...I also wish you could get the pay you deserve. I wish more nurses in the field I am in or in all fields felt at least a little bit of the way you feel about your field.

I see too many nurses that complain day in and day out about their jobs and the hardships of that job. They complain so much that I wish they would have chosen a different field and having found themselves in a profession they are not happy in would grow the bells to get out and find a different field.

I used to work ER...

I quit that madness. I was good at it, but not for me anymore...

I make more (not ever the most important, but worth mentioning here, in this context) than 95% of ANY of my nursing friends...

The NP that gives me orders (on the weekends) makes 5% more than me, she's going back to staff nursing (that's another thread!)

I NEVER thought I would end up here (I used to think ALL LTC nurses were worthless...sorry)

Fellow nurses...Don't be afraid to try something new...I start IVs (less than before) hang IV meds (no drips), and use my assessment skills (as much as ER) daily, and have no doc in the facility...Me and my LPNs are it...We ultimately decide who goes to the ER, and who stays...Sometimes a crapshoot! We do many of our own orders (within our scope) and ALWAYS get an doc to approve (know your docs, and what you can do - no narcs w/o an order first)...

It's not for the weak, be proud, and be professional (Always send adequate paperwork to the ER, ALWAYS call report BEFORE the patient gets there) (see my previouspoint about all LTC nurses are worthless :zzzzz)

Listen to your aides (the good ones)

And (within reason and in the patient's best interest), do what the family wants, PERIOD! If they want dad to be sent to the ER, DO IT. You will lose this power struggle!!!!!!

And just trust your gut...

sean