Need Advice

mdslabod · Jun 27, 2005

GET OUT, NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PEACE AND LOVE,

BEEN THERE

nurse with just 3 months of experience. I started at the LTC facility that I was employed as a CNA. Anyhow I feel so frustrated and disappointed with nursing. I work a LTC unit of 39 patients by myself. I tell myself It will get better, but it dosn't. The CNA's try to boss me around and management loves them. I have one aide who I think is dangerous. I suspect her of being on drugs...I have seen drug addicts in my time...she was high on coke. Anyhow this place refuses to perform mandatory drug testing. This CNA is their lead CNA and for some unknown reason the DON loves her. If is say something I know they will not do anything about it. THey look the other way in most situations at this facility. I am so overwhelmed trying to take care of 39 pts. along with med pass that is soooo tough. I feel like I am dying. My question is this: Is nursing suppose to be like this? Does it feel like a battle ?

I love my residents but dislike management and a few staffers who are unsafe. I am concerned for my license. I am a LPN but have no support from the RN who works 2nd shift. I am going through mood swings with this job and feel so depressed. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance......

LTC nurse who's going crazy:crying2:

Hairstylingnurse · Jun 27, 2005

Thank you :) Well noted but to clarify.. I didn't want the one particular nurse to be asked for the main reason that I have heard her say about my friend "I knew she wouldn't be able to do this job" a couple of weeks back when my friend asked her to help her do something else.
Any way I see your point about getting help when needed.

Sue you sound like a really good freind.:kiss I will never for the life of me understand why nurses eat their young. I'm always glad to help out a nurse (new or seasoned). How can someone (like us nurses) get into a profession of compassion & caring be so hateful & resentful of to coworkers with the same interests and qualities.:uhoh21: But that's already a topic on another message board.

fuzzball · Jul 1, 2005

Thanks everyone for the replys. LTC is tough. Right now I have no choice but to do ltc. No one will hire a lpn with 3 months of exp. I feel so low. I am starting my prereqs for RN. It may take me 3-4 years but at least I will have the opportunity to work elsewhere ie. hosp, clinic, and so forth. I feel so trapped in LTC. I cannot quit because my husband has been downsized from a company he worked for 12 years. He is going to school now. I do not have alot of choices. Most places seem the same. I have placed applications out there, only to be rejected. I feel like I went to school just to push pills and do very little assessment. I feel like I am already losing my skills I have just obtained. I will keep applying and someday I know I will find a job I should like..anyhow thanks again for advice.

blondeagent99 · Jul 17, 2005

Hi fuzzball. I have been an LPN for over 30 years. I have worked many LTC's in my lifetime. It's not worth it. I would always get depressed and totally frustrated every time. LTC is one disaster after another period. Oh I hear people say that there are "good LTC's" but I never found one. I got tired of always feeling angry, overwhelmed, totally frustrated and depressed. I refuse to work in LTC anymore period. I would much rather scrub toilets for a living than work LTC. LTC's are a no-win situation period. Run for your life before you become severely depressed. Good luck :)

Hey BlackCat99 - why have you been an LPN for 30 years if you hate it???I'm just curious - not trying to be judgemental - but 30 years is a long time - surely there is something good to be said for it even if it is just a paycheck...

blondeagent99 · Jul 17, 2005

Hey BlackCat99 - why have you been an LPN for 30 years if you hate it???I'm just curious - not trying to be judgemental - but 30 years is a long time - surely there is something good to be said for it even if it is just a paycheck...I get frustrated many times and have to leave my unit for awhile - if you don't like one place just go to another - there is some places for all of us if we don't set our expectations too high :

chadash · Jul 17, 2005

Get out of there as fast as you can! If management shows no wisdom, it is a lost cause.

Blackcat99 · Jul 18, 2005

I said I hated working in LTC. I work as an LPN now in hospice and I love it. I have a job now where I actually have time to take good care of my patients. It's wonderful. :)

debroh1 · Jul 21, 2005

There are many job opportunities in LTC. You are putting your license on the line by continuing to work there, not to mention your sanity. Is it worth losing your license to continue to work there? It's hard to think of leaving residents that you become attached to, but sometimes thats the only way to get management to listen. At our facility there was a very big turnover of Nurses, and it took that to get management to question why staff would not stay, and why there were no applications. Things are improving and they listen to us more than before. Look around and inquire at other facilities. You may be surprised about conditions at other places either being worse, better, or the same. Just realize that you have many possibities of employment and there will be someplace better suited to you if you look hard enough.

dawnb70 · Aug 1, 2005

I am an LPN at a LTC facility. It's my first job as a nurse. I've worked there for 3 yrs., and every day I come home exhausted, emotionally and physically. The only thing that has kept me from seeking employment elsewhere is my love for the residents. Unfortunately there's not enough hours in the day to give them the care that they deserve. I always feel like I could have done more. Can anyone tell me what the resident to staff ratio is in Illinois? I am currently caring for 31. It seems that if LTC facilities had stricter guidelines for the amount of residents we care for there would be less "job hopping" and the stress level would definitely be lower. Also, does anyone work in a LTC facility that requires charting every shift on the Medicaid patients? We have just begun it where I work, and I feel like I'm drowning in paperwork!! :bluecry1: