LTC certifications

I've posted essentially this same request under a different thread. Hoping to receive as many responses as possible. Essentially I have been a nurse for 17 years. First 5 as an LPN in LTC, the rest in various acute care settings incl. med-surg, ICU and ED. Came back to LTC for reasons not nec. to enumerate here. To get to the point. I can't rely on the advice from my orig mentor due to a very pronounced passive-aggressive nature in our relationship when I became comfortable enough to start challenging her long held beliefs. Don't want to denigrate the lady as she IS very knowledgeable but she doesn't accept the possibility that my 17 years of nursing compare to the incredible number of years she has worked at our facility. I don't want her job. I don't want to have constant confrontations when she states as fact, what is really her opinion, and what has been acceptable for decades as this institution. We give really great care. I want to stay, but I need a foundation of LTC regs, compliance issues, etc., so that I can become a bit more, er, proactive in advocating for patients without starting yet another mini-war of her against me. If I have some basic knowledge of LTC regs combined with my own experience and passion for the job, it will give me a leg-up, so to speak, and maybe I can help to end some of the outdated practices that would never be acceptable in the hospitals I have worked at. When I recently called into a question a practice that the old-timers considered a nursing judgment, I was shocked at the push-back. I found numerous nursing articles, and now the policy has changed. I don't want the constant confrontation. I want to be educated, share whatever knowledge I had before returning to LTC and be respected, as I have shown respect, over, and over, and over again at this job. Certification will help me to get there.

So, please suggest where to go for this education. Real knowledge I can share and help to mentor the youngsters I love to work with. Not simply repeating the pablum I have been dished because, "thats always the way we have done it here."

Please help me to help my patients and the newer nurses I work with so we can make a change for the better, so we can be even better than we already are. I know, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. But where it's "broke" the state doesn't see. They don't know some of the things that have been done because of a focus on paperwork compliance. They don't see the ethical issues brushed under the carpet, that make me crazy. We are a great facility. I want to help us be even better, but I can only do that if I can prove I have made a genuine effort to learn the regs, etc.

Any, all advice, welcome, always.

Thank you for your time.

Regards,

Annewr