LPN in LTC Overworked But Feels RNs are Praised

Dear Nurse Beth Advice Column - The following letter submitted anonymously in search for answers. Join the conversation!

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Dear Nurse Beth,

Instead of increased staffing in LTC all I hear is excuses and being given more skilled residents I as an LPN am not trained to care for and there are no RNs around. But somehow they are praised! And I have 30- 40 people this is inhumane.

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Specializes in Tele, ICU, Staff Development.

Dear Inhumane,

I hear you. 

Federal law says there should be an RN at least 8 consecutive hours per day with a full-time RN Director of Nursing. There should be sufficient RNs, LVNs/LPNs and CNAs to meet the residents' needs.

According to experts, most nursing homes do not provide enough staff to meet even basic safety standards. That's not a surprise to anyone.

Of course you are beyond frustrated because you're in an impossible, actually tragic, situation. Sadly, many nurses survive by cutting corners in their practice, just trying to make it through their shift. I'm sure many nurses lose a part of their soul as a tradeoff for survival on the job.

It's hard to swallow when you believe RNs are getting more praise/appreciation/respect when you are so overworked and under-recognized. This may not help, but while it doesn't feel fair and isn't fair, it's also relative. CNAs, at the bottom of the pile, feel this way. In hospitals, hardly anyone really listens to CNAs but their work is so, so important. RNs, who sometimes know more about their patients than providers and definitely more than C-suiters do, feel this way. Internists probably feel surgeons get all the glory. 

Your personal power and self-worth have to come from within for any lasting peace. You have to figure out a way to gain some control, personally, to cope with your situation/career. It's the antithesis of helplessness, which is defeating. You may decide to go back to school, you may look for a different work setting, you may even gain emotional distance/perspective by other interests, such as a hobby. You may just decide to regularly meditate a moment before getting out of your car in the parking lot and determine to do the best you can. That's all any of us can do, really.

I sincerely wish you the best, and I, for one, appreciate your hard work.

Nurse Beth ( a former LVN)

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