LPN seeks advice about LTC duties

[scrublifenurse10, LPN]

I have been an LPN for 2 years. I worked the first year in a hospital on med/surg floor. We moved and my new location does not hire LPN's in hospitals....so I have worked the last year in a urology office. I am considering taking a part time job in a nursing & rehab/LTC facility. My questions are: 1) what are all the duties & responsibilities of the LPN? 2)What advice do you have for a newer nurse entering LTC field of work? 3)Do you have any forms you use to keep up with you patient care or anything like that? I had a couple for when I worked at the hospital....but they really are not relevant for LTC. Thanks in advance for any suggestions/help you can share!

[tnbutterfly - Mary, BSN]

Moved to Geriatric/LTC Nursing forum. Hopefully you will get some helpful information here.

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

Hello~

Being an LPN in a long-term care facility isn't much different from being an RN---you do the same job, and if you're a charge nurse, you have pretty much the same level of authority as an RN in that position. In fact, I think LTC provides more opportunities for LPNs than hospitals, because you're allowed and expected to do more skills, including IV starts (I think you have to take a certification class for this, though), G-tube reinsertions, trach care, complex wound dressings, sometimes even ventilators.

You will be extremely busy. You may have as many as 30-60 patients/residents depending on the shift you work, and you'll hit the floor running every single day---there is no such thing as slack time for an LTC nurse. You'll have treatments, med passes, diabetic care, phone calls, families freaking out on you, CNAs to manage, paperwork, new orders to process, falls, fights between residents, tube feeders, and the occasional code. It's crazy-busy. But you will learn critical time management and prioritization skills that will serve you well throughout your career.......indeed the rest of your life.

As for "brains", I just carried around a small notebook in my scrubs pocket to make notes on PRNs I'd given, blood-sugar or INR readings that were out of the ordinary, and so on. I had a master sheet which listed all the residents who needed routine BS monitoring and at what times, and those who had ongoing treatments or dialysis & so on.....basically, all the stuff I'd need at report time.

Hope this is helpful to you. Good luck!