Long Term Care Facility has 5 nurses and roach infestation

Specialties Geriatric

Published

I am a registered nurse in a long term care facility and I am sickened of what I see every night I work. I take care of 48 residents. I have 2 certified nurse aides working with me. My gripes are as follows:

Floor nurses consist of:

1 full time RN

2 part time RN's

2 LPN's

We work 12 hour shifts. I have walked into residents rooms and reached for their breathing treatment machines and watch 10 roaches scatter. Roaches in the residents restrooms, roaches on the walls, and it just sickens me. If those roaches are in the machines and on the walls, they have to be in the beds and everywhere else. Of course management knows there are roaches, they tell me to watch my head for falling roaches when I am in so and so's room. :banghead:

I walk into a residents room to do a bandage change and find out that I was the last one to do the treatment 2 days ago when it should have been done by every shift. :banghead: Oh... and the other nurses marked on the tx sheet that they have done the treatment! My initials are on a 2 day old bandage!! MY orifice! :banghead:

A resident asks me how many times she gets her eye drops after having eye surgery. I look at the MAR and tell her 5 times a day. She tells me that I am the only nurse giving her the drops. Again the other nurse has signed off as giving the drops 3 times during the day. :down:

I am about ready to call the state. How can a company run such a place? I am at a loss. I don't want to quit because the residents tell me I am the only nurse who listens and cares, but what happens when I get burned out? :(

Some advice please???!!!!

Thanks for the replies. The facility has called an exterminator twice already in the last month. We are still experiencing a high volume of roaches..The DON came running out of her office yelling that there were a group of roaches attached to each other walking along her office floor! YUCK! and the facility got 7 violations on a recent survey. NOT GOOD.

I am currently searching for another job. I hate to leave the residents, but I have to think about myself for once. :)

Roaches?! :eek: I can't imagine how a facility could continue to have residents if the infestations are as terrible as you say they are. Were any of the violations roach-related?

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Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
..The DON came running out of her office yelling that there were a group of roaches attached to each other walking along her office floor! YUCK!

You just had to add that, didn't you? :p :wink2:

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Specializes in Staff nurse.

If nurses are documenting meds given that are not given, it is FRAUD. Same thing with treatments or dressing changes signed off but not actually done. Get the state in there, even if you call anonymously. Please.

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Roaches?! :eek: I can't imagine how a facility could continue to have residents if the infestations are as terrible as you say they are. Were any of the violations roach-related?

Not one violation for roaches. State should come in when the roaches are active and then we would see how fast state does something. There are specific rooms where I see the roaches. Management knows the roaches have to be all over the place because they have brought in an exterminator twice, but it does no good.

It's really sad. Bad thing is that I am seeing these roaches at work and then go home and "think" I see them here. I could easily take them home in my purse/carry bag. I think I have some kind of phobia now and it really is freaking me out to see these roaches in the residents rooms. :banghead:

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..The DON came running out of her office yelling that there were a group of roaches attached to each other walking along her office floor! YUCK!

You just had to add that, didn't you? :p :wink2:

[

Sorry! I know it's awful. In one way it was horribly funny, in another way it was awful. The DON couldn't even use her office. She came running to the nurses station with her laptop and a handful of papers. The nurse aides say they see the roaches stuck together, obviously mating, especially in the night hours.

YUCK again!:eek::devil:

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If nurses are documenting meds given that are not given, it is FRAUD. Same thing with treatments or dressing changes signed off but not actually done. Get the state in there, even if you call anonymously. Please.

I am definately calling the state. It's getting old when I see a wound that is clean and healing one day..I change the dressing only to come back 2 days later to see the wound oozing green and my initials still on the bandage and other nurses signing off saying they changed it. The wound went from very clean and dry to oozing green matter in 2 days time. I had to call the doc and have him come in and look at the wound and he started another round of antibiotics. It saddens me because all it takes is a simple dressing change. :banghead::banghead::angryfire

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Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.

Yeah, the roach thing is funny in a horrible, gallows humour kind of way. DON fleeing her office in horror, aides describing late-nite roach action. . .baarrrrfffff

The lack of basic nursing care, that's not funny. Resident had to go through an extra course of abx 'cause of poor nursing care.:crying2: It's frustrating for those who provide good care to see it undone because of the negligence of others. :madface:

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Specializes in acute care and geriatric.

and why again did you want to work there?

as long as you are there, dont drink or eat from food that was left unprotected (uncovered)!!!

while roaches can happen anywhere, the lackadaisical attitude from management (watch out for falling...) tells you something, if they dont care about roaches, I am sure there are other things being neglected,

Update your resume, ask for a letter of recommendation and RUUUUNNN

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Specializes in Geriatrics..

Hearing that makes my heart sink. Those poor old people deserve better than that. If you PM me I will call the state on them myself then you will not have to take the blame for it. That place is what perpetuates the bad rap nursing homes have.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, LTC.

Worked as a CNA prior to obtaining my LPN in a place just like this one. Had to leave lights on in the rooms of total care pts just to keep the roaches from getting on them. Reported to state and was told that I sound like a disgruntled employee. :banghead: I truly believe the state is paid off by the large corporations that own these facilities.

Thankfully we are seeing more homes opening in my area that give great care. However, only wealthy pts can afford them. Not sure what the answer to this problem could be for medicare pts. Corporations are being paid to provide care to these patients, but are unwilling to spend enough of the money to get the job done.

We may not be able to make great changes in the system, but we can give great care where we are and touch the life of someone each day.

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