so many falls!

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So I've been beating myself up like I always do. I work in LTC and my residents mainly have dementia and Parkinson's. I have a lot of fall risk residents on my side. I am the primary nurse from the 3 to 11 shift. Right before supper, most of my residents are sundowning and this is when most of them become agitated and want to get out of their wheelchairs or out of their beds. Its really frustrating esp since it's me and only two CNAs taking care of 25 residents. Our facility doesn't use bed alarms or chair alarms which I think is ridiculous. Our DON doesn't believe in them but she always asks us why we always have so many falls. For our residents who are fall risk we usually put them by the nurses station. However at 3 to 11 we don't have anyone there usually which is ridiculous. We do 15 minute checks on them but that can get really difficult since I have other residents to tend to too and if someone needs assistance in the bathroom, I need to be with them.

I just feel like I'm an inadequate nurse due to all these falls I've been having lately. Yes falls are preventable but sometimes I feel like the only way for me to ensure they don't fall is by bringing them All along with me with my med passes and stuff.

Do you work in the same facility I do? These residents are driving my crazy. They are constantly standing up and running around looking for a Flying Spaghetti Monster or god knows what else they think they are seeing. Lots of falls here to. It's irritating. I'm glad tomorrow is my last day.

On a side note it is funny to watch how all the crazies start to time their verbalizations and sync with those around them. It's almost like a twisted chorus.

Dementia is not funny. Of course, I don't know you, so I apologize in advance for my perceptions.

The way you refer to the residents you work with is hateful. I understand that working LTC is super stressful but you still have to show compassion. These residents are not "crazies", as you put it, they have dementia. (Unless perhaps you work in geri psych but even then it is unkind to refer to patients as "crazies").

My mother had dementia. Thankfully, she never had to be in a nursing home but if she had been and I knew the workers thought of her the way you seem to think of your pt.s I would be devastated and so would she.

Your residents are human beings that had rich, productive lives before living there and they deserve to be treated as such.

I know you are venting. We are all allowed to do that. I just hope that what you said here is something you keep very well hidden when you are caring for your residents.

I'm glad you were able to find another job that will hopefully be less frustrating for you.

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I love my residents! But sometimes it feels like there's a full moon and so many things are going on all at once. But I try my best to stay calm and get through the day. I just get down on myself a lot since I've only been a nurse for 4 months and I feel like these falls are making me look unsafe.

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I love my residents! But sometimes it feels like there's a full moon and so many things are going on all at once. But I try my best to stay calm and get through the day. I just get down on myself a lot since I've only been a nurse for 4 months and I feel like these falls are making me look unsafe.

My comment wasn't directed toward you at all. I hope you didn't think it was. It's obvious you care or you wouldn't have been asking for help :-)

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You guys all make me feel so much better! Sometimes I feel like I'm a bad nurse. But it just seems like higher authority figures are just setting me up to mess up and not succeed.

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