Nurse director of Assisted Living

[jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B]

Are there many LPN's who are directors in assisted living?

What is it that one does as a director, besides making sure medications are available for all of the residents, and supervising care aides?

Are there administrative duties such as billing/coding that type of thing, or because it is private pay, that doesn't get taken into consideration?

There seems to be a heap of jobs for nurse care directors as of late in my area (RN or LPN) and surrounding towns, and curious about any specifics you'd care to share.

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

The reason there are lots of jobs in AL is because they're terrible. You have all the responsibility but very little authority; you're on-call 24/7/365; you often have to cover call-ins in addition to your own work; and everything that goes wrong in that facility gets blamed on nursing, meaning YOU. The average life expectancy of nurses in these jobs is about a year and a half---it's easy to get burned out fast with all of the demands which just keep expanding.

On top of all the above and more, nurses in these facilities often wind up being part of the sales team. It's all about the almighty dollar. I once found myself in the formal dining room of a facility with a napkin over my arm taking lunch orders, which was supposed to be an attraction for potential residents and families. That was NOT what I'd gone to nursing school to do, and doing it kept me from doing what I had gone to school for. I left there within three months.

So that's why these director jobs are hard to fill, and why nurses don't stay. It gets worse but I don't want to totally scare you off. Good luck to you in whatever you decide to do.

[zee.pangilinan]

Sometimes, we are just on the wrong seat. I've been in AL since 2007 and worked for 3 different communities so far. The expectation is as what's mentioned above such as filling in when someone call offs, scheduling, care plans, assessments, etc. but all this cannot be done without a team of great care staff behind you. The job is about developing a strategic method that will work in your community. My Regional AL director has been a nurse since 1976 and has always had the passion for AL. Your line of work also depends on how great your Executive Director is. To work in an AL, it's a team.