new RN needs advice

[emmacaitlinRN]

I have been working at a nursing home since late summer and it's not great at all, 18+ patients at a time the med pass is very heavy, getting the treatments squeezed in seems hard, and on top of that one of the more senior nurses who is per diem (I am younger and obviously new, and I am a staff employee) is being somewhat vicious in asking what my hours will be and what wing of the floor I will be on, telling me my job is more than the med pass, its to manage the cnas, do treatments etc, and I responded in kind, letting her know I had been doing that stuff (she was just working the other hall; I was working normally her hall that night). She is worried I am going to her her per diem hours as i am new staff. There is tension there between some of the senior nurses and a number of us who are younger and new who are now staff. I am unsure how to handle the tension verbally. I used to be a cna for years and am quite good at managing them.

[VeronicaWileyRN]

What is the difference between a per diem nurse and a staff nurse? This sounds like a big problem. I would suggest that you talk with whoever is in charge of staffing. Find out if you are going to be assigned a specific schedule and a specific hall? If you are being assigned a specific schedule and hall, then when the per diem nurse asks you what you are going to work tell her/him. If they have problems with it, they need to talk with the staffing person. There could be things going on that you and the per diem nurse may not know about, i.e. staffing changes=increases or decreases, someone could be changing position a per diem nurse may be changing to the Assistant DON position or doing MDS. There are so many things that happen in LTC. After staffing and you get no good results talk to the DON. Good Luck. Not all nursing homes have the same feelings or culture.

[Trubie, LPN]

IMHO, the staff nurse would take priority staffing over a per diem nurse. As a FT employee, if I didnt get my 40 hours and a per diem nurse was called instead, I would be upset.

[egglady, LPN]

If I only had 18 residents I would be happy- possibly even bored! I am used to at least 30! But I have been doing for for alot of years so I am used to managing my time to get things done!