New graduate nurse has a concern about pt. care at my job

[justwannabanurse]

Hello everyone! I just graduated 12/11 as a GPN and I am working in a LTC facility this is my first nursing job. I have been there a month now, and it is a nice facility but I think they need to be more organized & pt. care could be a lot better than it is now. My concern is that we have 34 residents on our floor & 2 LPN's on the floor which isn't bad I don't think. As a GPN I am limited to what I can do because my employer does not want GPN's giving meds unless the RN supervisor is on the same floor. So, when I am not able to give out meds I do all the chem sticks, treatments, charting, taking off orders, vitals etc. Lately, when I am going around doing my treatments I am noticing that for the past week if not longer treatments are not being done on other shifts........you may ask how I know this well my initials and date are still on from whenever I last did the treatment.

I am not one to complain or start trouble but for over a week now Day shift & night shift are not doing their treatments & I am very much a pt. advocate & I just feel as though it is extremely important that they get done when they are supposed to expecially when we are talking about pressure ulcers on bottoms, and open areas then they wonder why they have so many wounds on their floor, and excoriated bottoms. The first couple of times I noticed that they weren't being done I just thought well the previous shift must have been too busy to get to treatments. Now Last Friday I worked and did my treatments I was off the weekend came back to work on Monday........YEP you guessed it still haven't been changed! I oriented on day shift, and in fact the treatments that I am speaking of are supposed to be done on each shift. Just thought I'd get some advice on how I could handel this situation, I definetly don't want to just turn the other cheek, but don't want to come across as thought I know everything because I am the newbie. Thanks in advance~

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

Unfortunately, you will soon learn that incompetent employees tend to blend into the fabric of many LTCFs easily. This is because management is so desperate for staff that they would never dare to confront lazy nurses and insubordinate CNAs for their substandard performance, even though the glaring proof might exist. Management would rather have these "warm bodies" show up year after year rather than hire new people.

You would be doing the ethical thing by reporting the dressing changes that haven't been done. However, you might soon find yourself a workplace target if you report.

[justwannabanurse]

Thanks for your comment!