I'm a new grad RN. Tonight is supposed to be my 7th and final shift of orientation for my night shift job at a SNF/Rehab facility. Last night my trainer, who is an LVN, had me pass the evening medications without her for the first time, to see it I could handle it. With 24 elderly patients, most of whom have some level of dementia, I administered medications for 4.5 hours. Many of the residents have to have their medications crushed into liquid or into applesauce. They have to be roused to an alert state and then spoon-fed the medications. At midnight, I was still not finished administering the 8 pm medications! My trainer let me take a lunch break and finished passing the medications herself.
So, I'm about to request a transfer to the rehab side of the facility where there are only 14 patients per nurse. Or I may just bow out of the job as gracefully as possible. I can't in good conscience be giving patients their pain medication three hours late. Also, I feel my shiny new RN license is at risk in this situation. I think 24 patients is way too many, but somehow the other RNs and LVNs manage it.
A bigger problem is that this is the same thing that happened to me during my nursing program, just magnified now with more patients. When I was in a hospital setting with only four patients, I still had difficulty administering the medications within the expected time frame. Nobody likes a slow nurse - What am I going to do?
