Is this legal?

[faetastic]

I am a recent LPN graduate and have come to an underserved community to work. I am working in ECU because at this time, it's the department in the most need. When I started here there were two wings. One RN and one LPN worked with the help of numerous RCA's.

In December, one of the old wings closed down as 2 new wings opened. The rooms were given on a 'seniority' basis, although it seems to all of the staff here that the residents were hand-picked. Most of the people that moved over to the new wings are independant and easy. The heavy residents remain on the old wing. The RN's were asked by our RCC where they felt their skills would be most valuable and they picked "Eden", the new side.

So here I am, it's 0300 and I am working alone, without a care-aide on the heavy side. 2 coded doors and a long hallway are between myself and the RN and RCA in "Eden". Most of my residents are 2 person assists, and it's bloody hard to keep yourself awake for 12 hours when you're completely alone.

Why did the RN's take on the easy wing, and why were the allowed to make this decision? IMHO, I feel that they have failed their residents and themselves. To be fair, it is not all of the RN's, but a couple in particular who refuse to do care and spend their nightshifts sleeping while the RCA runs around and looks after the 2 new wings. It is not fair to the LPN's or the RCA's to work in conditions like this.

On top of all of this, the LPN's are expected to do personal care for 3-4 residents daily and meds for 22. The expectations are absolutely ridiculous and I feel that I am unable to practice safely and assess my residents at this time.

Six months in and I am already feeling the toll.

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

While not illegal, certainly seems like a tough job. Perhaps start looking for something that would fit what you want more?

[faetastic]

I guess I missed out some stuff and went into rant mode... My issue is more the fact that I don't have help if I need it. What if one of my residents attacked me in the middle of the night? We do have a couple of people here that are known to become very aggressive at times and have punched, kicked, bitten, stabbed the staff. One of our nurses recently had her jaw fractured by an aggressive male patient. If something like that happened, who would be able to come and help me? I'm quite a distance away from any other staff in the building. When I do the night shift, I am also unable to take a break. I can sit at the computer and try and keep myself awake, but sometimes it would be nice to be able to go and lie down for half an hour...No can do. I think the expectations are completely crap, and unfortunately it's not only myself or the other LPN's that suffer, but the residents too.

I could look for work elsewhere, but I'd rather try to make changes happen here.

[ohmeowzer RN, RN]

i think you should talk to your nurse manager. they should be replacing you for a break and coming back and checking on you. i am a RN and also a charge nurse and if i assigned you back there , i would go back to check on you and make sure you had a break. keep us posted after you talk to your manager.

[chicookie, BSN, RN]

i think you should talk to your nurse manager. they should be replacing you for a break and coming back and checking on you. i am a RN and also a charge nurse and if i assigned you back there , i would go back to check on you and make sure you had a break. keep us posted after you talk to your manager.

:yeahthat: You really should talk with the nurse manager and let her know that you feel that it is an unsafe environment to work in. They might do something if not you might have to go higher in the chain of command ladder. If you want to keep working there that is. I would just look elsewhere.

[KyPinkRN]

I too have been written up in the past year for being ill... I think it is absolutely ridiculous to punish people for being ill. Meaning those with a legitimate doctors' excuse. True, people do abuse their sick days, but I believe that if you are truly sick, or your children are, you should not be punished. In a profession where we are supposed to be promoting health we often are the last ones to take a day off when we are ill for fear of losing our jobs. Take, for example, last night one of my coworkers came to work throwing up, diarrhea every 10 minutes... probably the flu or something. Now we are all exposed to this, as well as our patients, because she "didn't think she could call off"

Pretty much at my hospital if you're sick, tough, you get an "occurence" anyway, doctor's note or not. And if you exceed their arbitrary acceptable number too bad.