New grad, MRDD position...

[Fuzzylove81]

Hey everyone. I am a new graduate and I recently got a position at a day program and also a small caseload at a residential house for MRDD consumers. I am pretty nervous since this is my first nursing job and I will be expected to work independently at some point but have not completely developed nursing judgment. They do offer four to six weeks of training which is good but I am nervous about being on my own and being on call. There is a house manager and direct care workers that administer medications, G tubes, tracheostomies and even administer insulin. They are trained in all of those areas. But I am the person that they call when something goes wrong and with my not having any experience I'm not quite sure how I'm supposed to direct someone what to do when something goes wrong. Also with the direct care workers doing all of those what I consider nursing skills I'm not quite sure what I'm going to be left doing I will find out more next week in my orientation but would like to hear anyones experience. Thanks

[lindseylpn]

The direct care staff can do PO meds if they've been thru their med tech training but, we still do the things like meds/feedings thru a g-tube, trach care and injections. I'm not sure how things are delegated on a state by state basis but, this is how things are usually done. The direct care staff I work with does PO meds, minor treatments, topical meds and oral suctioning with a Yankauer. We do everything else nursing related. My facility has a nurse on site 15 hours a day and on-call the rest of the day.