New to ltc, questions after 1st orientation

[SneakySnake]

I had my first day back to work and I have a few questions. I have never worked in a ltc facility before so I am not sure what the norm is. First question is about a resident with C-Diff. This resident had no type of isolation/contact precautions...is that normal for ltc? Staff would care for this patient and not even wear gloves or was hands before going right on along with their other duties. Second question is about checking blood glucose, giving eye drops and nasal sprays.....shouldn't you wear gloves, wash hands? There were other things that struck me as not quite right too but these were the big ones. Once again I have been out of nursing for a while and never worked ltc. Any input would be great. Also I was hired as part time ( 1 - 2 shifts per week is what I was told in the interview) but they have me on the schedule for next month 2-3 shifts per week......

[SneakySnake]

Thank you all for your advice. I will talk with my supervisor about the schedule when I go back in later this week. It looks as though I am going to have to quickly learn how to assert myself.

Now I am just left wondering what to do about the job. Part of me thinks that once I am on my own I can do my nursing practice properly and just cover my own butt. The other part of me says to get out! Everyone has informed me that state will be stopping by soon and when I have a question "I know this is the way it gets done all the time but what is the popper way to handle this when state comes?" I can't get an answer. I want to give this place a fair shot though because I am in a rural community and options for nurses are limited, and because the residents are so happy I am there.

Sigh....going back to work is difficult.....Thanks again y'all for listening.

[arabstarRN]

I am a new RN and yes, I have very little experience and what I do have is only from my clinicals, but WHY would someone NOT want to wash their hands in between patients, ESPECIALLY after caring for a patient with cdiff???? That just blows my mind! I am a type of person that wears gloves for a lot of things, and during clinicals saw nurses doing these same things with no gloves on - IMHO its bad habits that have been created and allowed to develop. I feel that gloves dont only protect the nurse, but also the patient from any bugs that the nurse his/herself may be carrying or picked up from other patients that survived the hand washing.

[horrorxgirl]

At the LTC facility I work at, everyone with C-Diff is put on isolation precautions, we hang a sign outside of their room asking all visitors to go to the nurses station first, they get their own thermometer and stethoscope and we put special bins in their room to keep their soiled things separate from the other residents. And YES we have to wear gloves for blood sugars, eye drops, etc.