LTC Nurses please respond

crd521 · Jun 11, 2015

It's only fair that I should go first, so here goes:

1. 100 bed max capacity, currently at 60% capacity

2. We have 2 floor nurses on all shifts so our max ratio is 50:1

3. We are allowed 4 CNA's so a current ratio of 15:1/max ratio is 25:1

4.No, not really, I feel like I haven't got enough hours in the shift to properly care for them all and their needs.

5. Yes but only since March

6. Yes, even if the shortage is caused by the management..ugh!

7. 12 years: 3 years as an LPN and 9 as an RN.

8. Not entirely but I am satisfied that we (staff) really are doing everything possible.

9. Yes we have rehab to home and typical geriatrics, with an occasional resident who needs a locked unit (which we dont have).

10. $20/hr and yes i feel well underpaid for the liability and the workload.

11. As stated earlier, I have only ever been a nurse in Illinois.

wanderlustnurse88, RN · Jun 11, 2015

1. What size is your LTC facility? I.E. Maximum capacity for residents. 62 residents

2. What is the nursing to patient ratio? On days and evenings 1 registered staff to 31 residents, nights 1 registered staff to 61 residents

3. What is the CNA to patient ratio? Days and evenings 5 CNA to 62 residents, on nights 3 CNA to 62 residents

4. Do you feel you are able to provide quality nursing care to your residents? No it feels like we are too rushed and not enough time for resident care

5. Is your facility doing computer charting? Yes. We switched to an EMAR last year and it is great. Computer charting as well

6. Are you subject to mandated overtime? No but it sometime feels like we have to do a double shift when there is no registered staff coming in and management won't come in.

7. How long have you been nursing in the LTC setting? Almost 3 years

8. Do you feel that you are able to keep your various residents safe? At times.

9. Does your LTC home have a mixture of residents? I.E. Rehab to home, typical geriatric, psych, homeless otherwise? Mostly geriatric, lots of behaviours/psych, some younger residents here for progressive diseases

10. What is your hourly wage (ballpark) and do you feel you are underpaid for the work you are doing? 32 an hour plus shift premium and team lead

11. What state are you practicing in? Ontario, Canada

WittySarcasm, BSN · Jun 11, 2015

I left LTC a year ago but I was in it for 3 years and I have heard that not much has changed. So here's what I noticed.

1. What size is your LTC facility? All together we could hold about 150 patients.

2. What is the nursing to patient ratio? Depended on the unit. Because we had a respiratory unit that had nothing but vents, if you were on that unit you'd get 15-30 patients. Otherwise about 30 patients. That was for the first two shifts. The third shift you'd get 30 for the respiratory unit and up to 45 for the other units.

3. What is the CNA to patient ratio? The CNA would have from 6 patients for the first two shifts and 10 for the third shift.

4. Do you feel you are able to provide quality nursing care to your residents? It was hectic and many times I worried if I saw the patient enough but yeah I did. I had a wonderful staff with me that also cared for the patient and because we had tv in the dayroom many times I would try to just say hi to them as I walked by. I learned to have a groove that helped a lot when working, it would give me the chance to check people at least 3-4 times a shift.

5. Is your facility doing computer charting? We had just moved to computer charting.

6. Are you subject to mandated overtime? Nope.

7. How long have you been nursing in the LTC setting? I was in it for 4 years before moving on.

8. Do you feel that you are able to keep your various residents safe? Yes. I mean residents will get bumps and falls because the LTC is almost like a home setting but I felt we kept them safe through the day.

9. Does your LTC home have a mixture of residents? We were a state nursing home before we went private. So we got the homeless and those that were "to behavioral for any other place." On top of that we had the respiratory unit, rehab unit for those to go home soon, long term, and our locked unit for aggressive residents.

10. What is your hourly wage (ballpark) and do you feel you are underpaid for the work you are doing? I was paid about $22. I felt I was underpaid but I was under the new grad pay too, so maybe I would have been bigger if I had more experience.

11. What state are you practicing in? Arizona.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Jun 11, 2015

1. What size is your LTC facility? I.E. Maximum capacity for residents. The last nursing home I worked was a 120-bed facility.
2. What is the nursing to patient ratio? The LTC wings had a nurse/patient ratio of about 1:30 and the short-term Medicare rehab wings had a nurse/patient ratio of about 1:18.
3. What is the CNA to patient ratio? Day shift CNAs had about 12 to 15 residents each, whereas night shift CNAs had about 25 residents.
4. Do you feel you are able to provide quality nursing care to your residents? No.
5. Is your facility doing computer charting? Yes.
6. Are you subject to mandated overtime? No. All overtime is voluntary.
7. How long have you been nursing in the LTC setting? I worked in LTC for approximately six years, from 2006 to 2012. I left in a blaze of burnout.
8. Do you feel that you are able to keep your various residents safe? No.
9. Does your LTC home have a mixture of residents? I.E. Rehab to home, typical geriatric, psych, homeless otherwise? Yes.
10. What is your hourly wage (ballpark) and do you feel you are underpaid for the work you are doing? My highest LTC wage as an LPN/LVN was $27.04 hourly in 2010. My highest LTC wage as an RN was $33.00 hourly in 2012.
11. What state are you practicing in? Texas.

BTW, I no longer work in LTC and will do my best to not return to that setting unless I was placed at immediate risk of becoming homeless.

NurseCalamity · Jun 11, 2015

1. 128 bed, but not filled to capacity

2. 1:25, 2 nurses per a floor which can hold 40 something residents.

3. 1:12. They're so busy I feel so bad.

4. Nope, can't provide quality care or even spend 5 minutes with a resident.

5. Nope, we still do the classic Mars, Tars, and charts. All paper.

6. Nope overtime is a choice. Mandating is illegal.

7. LTC- 3 years as a CNA, in my first year as an LPN.

8. No safety.

9. Yes a mix of skilled, acute, rehab, psych..

10. 18. 50 with 2 raises a year... I don't make enough for what I do. I do my wound care, put the orders through; call the doc, and pass thousands of meds.

11. Pennsylvania.

Adele_Michal7, ASN, RN · Jun 11, 2015

OP, 50 patients to one nurse?!!

marvelmom · Jun 11, 2015

1. 40 max bed. 33 in house right now.

2. Roughly 1:17 during the day 1:33 at night.

3. 1:7 during the day 1:17 at night

4. Yes

5. Yes

6. No however I do work 8 hours overtime every other week due to short staffing voluntarily.

7. 12 years as a CNA and 1 as an LPN

8. Mostly. There's always room for improvement.

9. Yes. Rehab to home, long term geriatric, psych, and Alzheimer's.

10. I'm contracted as agency so I make more than some of the nurses there. I make per diem and it averages out to roughly 23/hour.

11. Kansas

kiszi, RN · Jun 11, 2015

I no longer work in LTC, so I will answer based on the last job I had there.

1. What size is your LTC facility? I.E. Maximum capacity for residents. 120 beds

2. What is the nursing to patient ratio? Typically around 1:36 or 37 on days and PMs, at least 1:50 on nights

3. What is the CNA to patient ratio? 1:12 on a good day, up to 1:20 on a bad day

4. Do you feel you are able to provide quality nursing care to your residents? Nope. It was all I could do to get meds out at a reasonable time, fit in a few treatments, and eyeball each resident once or twice.

5. Is your facility doing computer charting? Yes

6. Are you subject to mandated overtime? No

7. How long have you been nursing in the LTC setting? I did LTC on and off for about 3 years.

8. Do you feel that you are able to keep your various residents safe? I worked with a decent staff, and we did the best we could.

9. Does your LTC home have a mixture of residents? I.E. Rehab to home, typical geriatric, psych, homeless otherwise? Yeah, all of the above

10. What is your hourly wage (ballpark) and do you feel you are underpaid for the work you are doing? I made $23 an hour as a PRN RN. Was more than my other job at the time, but still not worth it.

11. What state are you practicing in? North Carolina

crd521 · Jun 11, 2015

Thanks everyone who has replied thus far, seems the answer sadly is things are about the same all over. I was a bit tired when posting and didnt even notice my ratios were backwards *ack*

crd521 · Jun 11, 2015

If we ever hit our max capacity then yes, that is whats staring me in the face

mander · Jun 15, 2015

1. What size is your LTC facility? I.E. Maximum capacity for residents. 216 residents

2. What is the nursing to patient ratio? 1-2 LPNs per 44ish patients, 1 RN days, 1-2 LPNs evenings, 1 LPN nights

3. What is the CNA to patient ratio? Days and evenings 4-5 CNA to 44 residents, on nights 2 CNA to 44 residents

4. Do you feel you are able to provide quality nursing care to your residents? Usually.

5. Is your facility doing computer charting? Yes.

6. Are you subject to mandated overtime? No.

[COLOR=#000000]7. How long have you been nursing in the LTC setting? Almost 2 years, RN. [/COLOR]

8. Do you feel that you are able to keep your various residents safe? For the most part.

9. Does your LTC home have a mixture of residents? I.E. Rehab to home, typical geriatric, psych, homeless otherwise? Mostly geriatric, few younger brain/spinal injuries, a rehab unit with half geriatric half rehabers, and my unit - 44 residents with dementia!

10. What is your hourly wage (ballpark) and do you feel you are underpaid for the work you are doing? I am the unit manager and I am salary but it evens out to 25/hour. Don't ask me what I actually work vs what I'm paid for :eyeroll:

11. What state are you practicing in? New York (Around Buffalo)