Letters from a LTC Nurse

[Spritenurse1210, BSN, RN]

I was feeling a little inspired after my shift today. I feel as though LTC nurses are generally under appreciated as a whole by the public, as well as other medical professionals. This is from the perspective of a Night shift floor LPN to the general pulic. I certify that this is my own original work of fiction, and that any similarities mentioned in this letter is purely coincidental, and my intention for writing this is for entertainment purposes only, not to offend or scrutinize any group or groups of people.

Dear Mr. and Mrs. General Public:

I am the night shift nurse caring for Granny, Mom, or Dad in your local nursing home/rehab center. Rarely you hear from me, for I am the one at 2 am holding Mom's hand after she's had a nightmare, or helping Dad off the toilet as well as giving out medications and dressing wounds. All with the assistance of CNAs without whom I couldn't do my job. As you have a good repor with the day and evening shift nurses, I largely go unoticed. For whatever reason your loved one has been placed under my care in my facility. This is my job, and I not only enjoy it, but I take it seriously and am dedicated to good patient care. I'm not placed here to judge, but to practice the talents that the Lord has blessed me with and care for your loved one with dignity, love, and respect.

Lately, Nursing home nurses have been getting a bad rap. Not all of us are too tired, or burned out to care. Our professionalism is often overlooked by those in our own field, because nursing home nurses aren't considered "real nurses".

We are excellent multitaskers, juggling doctors, doctor's orders, residents, familys, treatments, medications, and emergencies, all without asking for anything in return, except for respect. We carry a daunting patient load of between 20 to 60 people at a time, each with chronic long term illnesses, or acute illnesses. Our assessment skills, common sense, nursing judgement, and patience (yes patience) are tested daily as we are pressured to the max to perform with limited resources and time constraints.

I challenge these stereotypes. I've seen some great collegues make incredible impacts on our resident's lifes. Each resident is an individual with individual needs, and creativity is needed in order to provide wholistic care. Perhaps the most challenging would be those with Dementia. For those of you with no experience with these type of residents, Its very challenging to get someone who's incapable of understanding how to do basic physical care, such as eating, dressing, and bathing to cooperate. some of them can get violent, some of them just cry, some of them are physically and sexually agressive, however each one deserves to be treated with dignity, and respect. This requires a creative person in order to overcome these challenges, and yes, it can also involve getting down into thier world. Secular nursing education has taught us we must reorient each dementia resident to thier immediate surroundings. However, in my experience it's shown me that telling an eldlerly man that his wife died 20 years ago, will only cause him undue distress, especially since he'll forget what i've just told him and 10 minutes later ask me where his wife is again.

Each one of my residents are special to me, I care about and yes, even love each and every one of them. I've come to grow close to you, the families, and enjoy getting to know your loved ones under my care. However, I'm human, I make mistakes. I get tired, and most of all, when my residents hurt, so do I. I will continue to care for Mom, Dad, and Granny to the best of my ability, ever watchful, ever vigilant. I will continue to treat them as my own family members, so at the end of each shift, as I'm reporting off to the oncoming nurse I feel a sense of satisfaction. I do it so I'll be able to look at myself in the mirror and know I've done all I humanly can to comfort the sick, the dying, the infermed, as well as the demented and depressed.

Sincerely,

Your 11p-7a and 7p-7a shift LPN

[SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN]

I just started a night gig in LTC.

This was a lovely letter.

:)

[thekid]

excellent, excellent letter. I work ltc too and can relate and I often feel so bad for our night nurse who has an incoming morning staff charge nurse who does not say thank you for what she has done, only points out what hasn't been done yet. Thank you for caring.

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

I've never worked in LTC, but I have a lot of respect for those that do. It's not as easy of a job as some might think it is.

[IMABSNRN]

:clphnds: Beautifully stated. Thank you for taking pride in your job!

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

I've never worked in LTC, but I have a lot of respect for those that do. It's not as easy of a job as some might think it is.

You can say THAT again............!

This is a beautiful post that ought to be required reading in every nursing school throughout the land. Thank you for writing it!!!

[RNVP25, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

Beautifully written. thank you,

I will be in a LTC next week for my first clinical assignment for school.

this has been insightful.

[pca_85]

My perfect job once I'm done with school is 7p-7a in LTC, I totally agree with your letter and see where you're coming from. Nicely done :) I'll buy stamps....I can think of a few people I'd love to send a copy to!

[Spritenurse1210, BSN, RN]

It takes a special sort to work in Long Term Care. Definately NOT specialty for the faint of heart. :) Thanks everyone for reading and the comments :)