I am a new LPN grad. I just started a new job, at a LTC Facility. This wasn't my first choice, but there is not much else out there. I am fine with working LTC, for the experience, but im feeling a lil nervous and overwhelmed by my situation. I am on the night shift with about 50-60 pts on my own and only one other LPN in the building with me( shes on her own unit). I am responsible for all pt. care during this time two med passes and glucose checks, insulin, breathing treatments, etc. I am, like i said, just out of school and feel like this may be too much of a work load for a new grad. Am I wrong? Most of this stuff I can't start doing until they start to wake people up and I dont see how Im supposed to get it all done by 7 am. Also, does anyone have any advise on keeping some sort of regular schedule while working nights?
PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!! i would love to see ANY of you, experienced or not, to give prilosec/synthroid (1/2-1hr before other meds) on 60 pts. what if even 2pts werent feeling well.... aides are busy with other toileting/fall risk pts?? bs's need to be taken before brkfst, adl's etc etc. not only is this not safe, but...it causes extreme burnout.
its disgusting that some "experienced" nurses say its "do-able", yet, i have NEVER seen these experienced nurses modeling the way for us newbies. well...there's been 1 or 2:lol2:
be honest, anyone can "run" to get a med pass done, but...how many can actually keep up this unreasonable pace day in and day out?????
yeah, i have seen and worked with some lazy nurses who could do more, but, the ones who never sit and get the job done are few and far between. We all know it is 10% of the people who do 90% of the work, why do we have to burn out that 10%???
I didn't say that. I said she needed to get the pass extended, and I asked if everyone got meds. I said, "It depends," and made a 5-6 am pass of 3 hours of ONLY synthroid and Prilosec.
But please, take it all out of context and twist it up.
Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
SuesquatchRN;4127859]Hey, I didn't give it a blanket go-ahead, I asked what it would actually entail.
I started on NOCs as an LPN with 40, 2 aides. It was fine because I had a very easy 6 am med pass. Really a no-sweat deal. If hers were the same she'd be oaky.
. . .and she'd also be doaky. . . .runnning for the hillllllls . . . . . . :chair:
Its me supervising four cna's and another nurse for the other 60 residents. So two nurses for 120 pts. Almost everyone gets meds including pain meds. At least half gets accu checks insulin, breathing treatments, and labwork done at this time also.
A new graduate of any kind (LPN or RN) should never be alone with that much responsibility. We nurses are all constantly learning on the job and mostly we learn from each other. I've been where you are and if you value your license - keep looking for another job. I don't think home care is good for a new nurse either because there is a lot of follow up and responsibility. You need to look for a job on another shift where there are other nurses there to help guide and support you. Unfortunately, management is always more concerned with a bottom line than safety so you probably won't get very far there. Go back for your RN - there are way more job opportunities. I regret getting my LPN but it's so difficult to work full-time and go back to school. Been working on my RN since 2002 and still haven't completed.
I worked LTC as charge nurse with 3 LPNs and 9 CNAs. 100 residents. Day/night 12hr rotations. I was the only RN in the building. I had 7 years experience at the time and I was still not feeling safe. Dealing with staff issues, resident issues and the RAI/MDS assessments was too much. I was getting interupted all the time and so getting anything done was near impossible at least on days. On evenings and nights, it would slow down some, but I still had a lot to do. And I didn't have any meds to do unless an LPN called in sick and there was no replacement (about once a week). It was really bad. After a year and a half, I had had enough.
All of this to say that even on nights, with a busy med pass and charge responsibilities, it would be too much. On top of that, you have to deal with the arguments between staff, between staff and residents, and resident to resident issues. Just because it is a LTC, doesn't mean that everyone will get along all the time and you get to be the peacekeeper on top of everything else.
Your job sounds like it might be too much for anyone to cope with.
This seems to be the tren in LTC. With the economical crunch they have more applicants than ever. With this glut they hire every new grad or passer by, throw them to the wolves on some impossible shift and just hope you don't get the sued. The management doesn't care, all they are worried about is budget. If you mess up, they will pin it on you and take the next application from the pile.
I just hired as a nurse at a local LTC facility. Due to my credentials they tasked me with solving their med error problem which they blamed on the med techs. Well I did my job, found the problems and told them. When I told them it was a staffing problem I was told "Our staffing hours are pssed down from corporate office based on resident diagnosis occupancy. Corporate and I are unwilling to add more hours to solve this problem."
I'm a new nurse and was IN THE SAME mess ..Passing meds to 60 pt on my frist job why did i do that ?.That was not what i wanted to do but i could not find work as new nurse. Long story short i made an med ERROR .now what am i going to do .I HAVE STOP WORKING DON'T WHAN'T TO DO THIS JOB ....
Its me supervising four cna's and another nurse for the other 60 residents. So two nurses for 120 pts. Almost everyone gets meds including pain meds. At least half gets accu checks insulin, breathing treatments, and labwork done at this time also.
Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
Its me supervising four cna's and another nurse for the other 60 residents. So two nurses for 120 pts. Almost everyone gets meds including pain meds. At least half gets accu checks insulin, breathing treatments, and labwork done at this time also.
Now that's just crazy-talk. . . I can't imagine that, BluEyedLPN. Like a tightrope without a net.
Thanks everyone, Unfortunatley though, I have already accepted and started that job. I am going to leave as soon as I can find another one, I just hope nothing happens in the mean time. They also just gave me a week of orientation time, but said I can ask for more if I need it. I feel like I need a months worth of Orientation.
I feel like I am doing ok so far, but I am going to ask for more orientation time. They may not like that, they seemed like thier in a hurry for me to start on my own, but oh well, im still gonna ask. Theres still so much i dont know how to do, im just not ready to be by myself yet.
SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN
10,263 Posts
I didn't say that. I said she needed to get the pass extended, and I asked if everyone got meds. I said, "It depends," and made a 5-6 am pass of 3 hours of ONLY synthroid and Prilosec.
But please, take it all out of context and twist it up.