LTC is not for wimps!

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Specializes in LTC.

Wow did I make a mistake! I was supposed to be off tonight but I decided to pick up a shift. So I went to a skilled unit I've never been on (I'm usually on a Psych/Alzheimer's unit). I should have asked to shadow or orient on the unit before I picked up a shift! The med pass was CRAZY, I had Gtubes, these residents are alert and so had many many requests, a million zillion treatments...Geez! I mean I got everything done but I had to stay an hour after my shift just to finish charting! Needless to say it left me feeling accomplished for finishing everything but I'm so afraid I'm going to get a call tomorrow that I charted something wrong or entered orders into the computer wrong. This unit has sooo many narcs my heart was literally pounding while doing count! I feel so nervous being responsible for SO much. But then again..I'm the one who signed on for it. I felt sooo much more comfortable with the patients I had in the hospital on cardiac care during my preceptorship where by the end I was taking full care of 5 patients who were much more acute than these residents. I will say that the residents were soooo much nicer and more pleasant than what I'm used to. And thank God the other nurse working was willing to answer all my questions! This shift left me feeling like I can handle the stress of a skilled unit and that I just need to refine a lot of things like organization and prioritization. LTC is not for wimps!

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Amen! I work in LTC, have 32 residents who have G tubes, IVs, PICCs, Wound Vacs, blah blah blah.... I have to do all my own phlebotomy, change my foleys out, collect all other labs, and do wound dsg changes myself.

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Specializes in Geriatrics.

LOL! And they say that LPN's can't handle Hospital employment. What you do in an 8 hour shift in LTC may not be as immedient as you see in the ER, but, on a daily basis, we more than earn our pay. Your right, LTC is not for wimps!

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Specializes in CNA.

Yeah LTC is not as easy as a lot of people would like to think. But its a great place to work and very rewarding!!!

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Specializes in Home Health/Hospice.

Love this and thankyou for telling us LTC is not for wimps, it isn't. And it's a lot of hard work thankyou for your respect.

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Specializes in LTC.

And that is why I no longer work shifts I'm not scheduled for.

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And that is why I no longer work shifts I'm not scheduled for.

LOL!!!

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