Nursing Home Nightmare

Specialties Geriatric

Published

new LPN started first nursing home job. I have only recieved 8 days of training and was left in 40 bed facility for whole shift with 1 TMA myself and 3 aides is this normal. oh my god should I get out of this isn't that a huge liability on myself if something goes wrong I barely remember where the bathroom is much less what ethel so and so's issues are and what to do in a emergencey. please help:angryfire

thank you I will check out the site and see what it says. you guys are all great you can get your questions answered right away. tahnks for all the help

aerin

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Specializes in acute care and geriatric.

aerinlpn,

YES get your own , NEVER rely on the facility- you make a mistake (and we all do) and watch how fast they desert you!!

In our nsg hme we have 40 pts to 1 lpn, and 4 cna's but more important than numbers is the work load- how many pts need total care, total feeding, etc.

It sounds impossible in the begining but you will probably get used to it- it just seems overwhelming at first. Give yourself some leeway and see how you are doing in a month

BTW-Can you call on another nurse in the facility for help?

Where I work we all help each other so we never feel alone.

Good luck swimming:monkeydance:

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Cerebrum - that was an awesome link - thank you!!

I have a question about it, tho. I compared my LTCF to the Ia. state average of 2hr, 6 min. of CNA hours. Ours is 1 hr. 41 min. - this means we have less than the average # of Cna's, right?

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Specializes in LTC, Hospital, Staff Development.

Oh my gawd. You need to move to the Northwest! At least we make 20.00 - 22.00/hr depending upon experience and only have 25 residents at the most. I would not survive in your facility and I have many years experience! Why don't you talk to your Union and tell them what dangerous conditions you work in?

Good Luck:monkeydance:

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Sounds okay to me. When I was an LPN, we worked 50-55 bed units with 2 or 3 CNAs on the 3-11 shift. It also depends on the acuity or dependency needed. For instance, we usually only have 2 or 3 PEGs and do not admit trachs. There should be state staffing info. Check with your local state agencies Re: the safety of the situation. Most staff nurses feel overwhelmed with the numbers when they are new.

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I work on the dementia unit of an LTC 3-11, and the staffing is as follows: 41 patients, 1 charge nurse (me) i.e. the ONLY nurse (lol) and 4 CNAs. That's it. No LPNS, no one to help with meds and treatments. I have two meds passes, gtubes, diabetics, decubiti from hell, etc., etc. The doors are locked because it is after all a dementia unit, so in addition to everything else it's hot as hell, and I arrive just in time for sundowning. Yes, it's a lunatic asylum and I'm probably the biggest lunatic there, but I have to tell you I love it. We have some of the most adorable, lovable people on the planet on that unit, and their only sin is that they have a habit of wandering. We also have screamers, hitters, and chair throwers, but after working 6 years in adolescent psych, this sort of behavior is deja vu all over again. What does make me angry is that on the day shift they have three nurses and 6 CNAs. :angryfire

What I'm trying to say is that yours is not an unusual situation, and I truly believe that you either have the temperament for this sort of environment or you don't. When I first started I wanted to quit too. Give it a little time and you'll know whether this is right for you or not.

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Yes, most facilities have very high patient loads per nurse. Like I said before, it does depend on the acuity. New nurses frequently feel overwhelmed, but it does get better. I was a staff nurse for 8 years (LPN) before earning my BSN and becoming MDS Coordinator and now ADON. I have been there. Please also remmber that hospital nursing is totally different. The nurse to patient ratio is much different, but there are totally diff. things going on. The hosp. pt. is usually acutely ill and has IVs, etc. Even after 10 years of nursing, I would want several weeks of orientation for hospital nursing. In the LTC setting, the most important skills are assessment and comminication.

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Specializes in OR.

i started out as a new LPN with 35 patients. I thought things might be greener and went to a differnt facility. What a nightmare. I had 3 months of experience. I worked graveyards and had 58 patients with 2 CNAs. Of the 58, 18 were diabetics and there were 6 patients who required tube feedings or flushes twice during the shift. I was required to pass alot of a.m. meds. After 2 days, i expressed my concern and was told "according to corporate, this hall was adequately staffed." Needless to say, i started looking for another job.

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Specializes in Tele/ICU/MedSurg/Peds/SubAcute/LTC/Alz.

Currently, I have up to 30 patients on the Alzheimer's Unit. Not many treatments or assessments going on there.

But, on the Sub-Acute Unit at 11pm to 7am you have up to 50 patients. The other person on is the Nurse Supervisor, who will help you or might not. It all depends on who.

Don't know how you do it. :idea:

Definately, need some tips. Because soon I will be the one of the Sub-Acute Unit staff. Extra hours are a must and my good ol' Alzheimer's Unit has new nurses that were hired for that unit.

What a bummer I must add. :o I was getting used to it. :trout:

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Specializes in Nursing assistant.

Ah! These three little words should forever be linked in our anesthetized little brains:

Nursing Home Nightmare

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Specializes in LTC and MED-SURG.
i started out as a new LPN with 35 patients. I thought things might be greener and went to a differnt facility. What a nightmare. I had 3 months of experience. I worked graveyards and had 58 patients with 2 CNAs. Of the 58, 18 were diabetics and there were 6 patients who required tube feedings or flushes twice during the shift. I was required to pass alot of a.m. meds. After 2 days, i expressed my concern and was told "according to corporate, this hall was adequately staffed." Needless to say, i started looking for another job.

Your second job sounds almost identical to my second and current job!!

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This sounds normal to me. We have 104 residents right now where I work. If we are lucky we have one nurse and 2 aids to every 26 residents. Most of the time we work with less because we have alot of call offs. I am the supervisor on my shift, have my med pass, and treatment to do, call the Doctor, look up labs and phone them in, handle call offs, and numerous other things that come up during my shift. It's crazy!! Just this last week, I had 2 nurses call off for my shift, and we could not get any one to come in so that left only 2 nurses working. I have 3 residents with tube feedings, numerous on IV's and too many to count that are diabetic. I had my first real anxiety attack. Is it hard to keep nurses and cna's in LTC facitllities? We seem to be in a constant shortage of staff.

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