New aide in distress..seeking advice?

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Hi everyone, so I'm a brand new STNA(CNA) in Ohio and I absolutely love the facility I work at. I work 2nd shift, but today I came in an hour later due to classes. Tonight was just one of those nights where **** was constantly hitting the fan. First off it's only my second week, and I'm still on orientation. There were 3 aides(including myself) on the floor, which is mostly Long term. So my night started off with one aide telling me she was going to leave, and I was going to have the back and the split(roughly 12 residents total). Ok, no big deal, and at the time I'm only responsible for 6.

First thing that happens, a resident's foley leaks in their bed and this causes a "fall" due to her not wanting to lay in urine. Not a huge deal since to her bed is to-the-floor and multiple fall mats surround it. However, I fill out the incident report and curse myself for not getting there sooner. This resident's bags, 2 different ones( leg and bed bag) proceed to leak 2 more times. I change her bed completely, 3 times within an hour. Needless to say it was a very busy night, I didn't get to take my lunch, and the other aides got to. That's not really a big deal. What is a big deal is since I'm still on orientation...I'm not in the system to do my own charting yet. So whenever I did have time to chart I had to track down an aide and have her log me in her account.

But the thing that bothers me the most about tonight is showers. I had 3 to do. One refused, and I didn't even realize I had 2 other showers until about 9pm(I'd go home in an hour). So yeah, 2 of my resident's didn't even get their showers today. I'm fairly certain I may have not charted for a resident completely, and another not charted at all! I feel so guilty and exhausted. Does it get any easier? Am I overreacting?

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From one newbie to another, "Hang in there!"

Depending on the facility, the overall feeling of being rushed and having to leave things half (or un-)done might never go away, but your ability to cope with the situations will improve, given time and the right amount of support from those working with you. We don't have any residents with foleys (all 80 total in the facility are in briefs) but one night I came across someone who'd had a massive, loose Code Brown that got everywhere: one them, on the bedding, on the pillow inside the pillow case, on the rails...everywhere! :barf02: Thankfully, the folks I work with are amazing and came to help, since all the residents are 100% dependent and I needed an extra pair of hands to keep the resident safe in order to clean up.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Telemetry, Med-Surg.

It does get easier. I can promise you that. After some time, you'll get to know the residents and that helps immensely. You'll learn which co-workers you can depend on for help and which ones you can't. You'll get into a groove. As far as the showers goes, it's pretty typical that they don't get done. When I worked as an aide, I worked on a dementia unit and most of the residents were terrified of showers and would become very combative. Sometimes it was easier and less traumatic for them just to give a thorough bed bath. Just do your best to make sure the residents are cared for. The fact of the matter is there isn't enough time in the day to do everything, and anyone who works in LTC knows that. As long as they're clean, dry, fed and safe, that's all that matters.

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Specializes in Emergency.

Sounds like the typical LTC(5 star or 1...all seem to be the same)...as was mentioned above "easier" is not really correct..."better" at working on an assembly line in our damaged health care system is more like it. For instance...the ignorance of :"As long as they're clean, dry, fed and safe, that's all that matters" as stated above pretty much sums it up...our sick and elderly are no longer human with this mind set as we become numb to the reality...automatons in our own right. Get out while you can since not many workers are concerned about unionizing for rights of the worker or patient these days, to fight is a losing proposition because there will always be some dimwit to take your place on the assembly line...

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It does get better. As you get used to it you form your own schedule for the night, know the showers for different nights, and as you get to know the residents better you will learn each of their risks. As for charting, I wouldn't worry about it too much. You are on orientation after all. If you're confused by how to do it, have someone show you better.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Telemetry, Med-Surg.
Sounds like the typical LTC(5 star or 1...all seem to be the same)...as was mentioned above "easier" is not really correct..."better" at working on an assembly line in our damaged health care system is more like it. For instance...the ignorance of :"As long as they're clean, dry, fed and safe, that's all that matters" as stated above pretty much sums it up...our sick and elderly are no longer human with this mind set as we become numb to the reality...automatons in our own right. Get out while you can since not many workers are concerned about unionizing for rights of the worker or patient these days, to fight is a losing proposition because there will always be some dimwit to take your place on the assembly line...

What was so "ignorant" about my statement? Sometimes that's all you can do. It would be wonderful if we could meet each and every one of their needs, but we all know that's impossible. According to Maslow's heirachy of needs, physical needs and safety are top priority. It's a known fact that nursing homes don't staff properly, so sometimes ensuring the physical and safety needs of a resident is the BEST we can do.

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Sounds like the typical LTC(5 star or 1...all seem to be the same)...as was mentioned above "easier" is not really correct..."better" at working on an assembly line in our damaged health care system is more like it. For instance...the ignorance of :"As long as they're clean, dry, fed and safe, that's all that matters" as stated above pretty much sums it up...our sick and elderly are no longer human with this mind set as we become numb to the reality...automatons in our own right. Get out while you can since not many workers are concerned about unionizing for rights of the worker or patient these days, to fight is a losing proposition because there will always be some dimwit to take your place on the assembly line...

WOW. Having a bad night, are we???

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Sounds like a typical night in LTC to me. You'll learn from it and get faster and better, and learn to deal with problems as they come up, and little problems like a leaky foley wont turn into an ordeal that requires three bedding changes next time.

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It'll get easier... It's always tough in the beginning .Eh I cried on the way home in my car after my first shift in a LTC.. lol hang in there. Before you know it, 6 patients would be a dream day to you. 12 patients and 2-3 showers is the norm over here. soon enough after working, you'll see how much faster you get, you'll get a routine down and yeah...just ride it out

Next time if that happens, try giving them bed baths before you leave. If you don't have time for that, really good partial bed baths..Also I would next time put a towel under the leg bag....and I would have told the nurse the bags were leaking so maybe they could change it. :)....less work for you with changing sheets all the time.

And try charting throughout your shift...leaving ofcourse the meal percentages, and the BMs, IC, C for last so you aren't overwhelmed and rushing at the end to do it.

=]

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