passing meds for 57 residents??

[NurseLoveJoy88]

is this too much?? My job is getting rid of the med techs so some of nurses will have to pass meds for 57 residents. There will be a charge nurse to do care and treatments and etc. But I still think this is too much. I can barely handle passing meds for my regular 30 residents. I scared for my license.

[sasha1224]

If you think about it, having 57 residents to do care for, that averages to one minute per hour that you can spend with them. In eight hours, eight minutes. Passing meds alone(let alone treatments) would take more than this in some instances. My one and only experience in LTC was horrible. I was supervisor of 200 bed facility(one vent unit, one behavioral locked unit, one skilled unit and 2 regular units) and I also took a team of 26 on one hall. I applaud LTC nurses, I thought it was too much.

[bronxnynurse]

at my facility i pass meds for 43 with the responsibility of charge and treatments

[psalm, RN]

Too much to expect a competent nurse, one who won't cut corners that could endanger her residents and her staff. Does your state have a hotline for elder endangerment? Some states do...you can call anonymously and report the situation and let them check it out.

As one who worked nearly a year 7p-7a in a nursing home, I can tell you those folks don't sleep at night! The sundowners and dementia patients keep us busy. Treatments not done on day shift are supposed to be done on nights...we did the best we could. It wasn't a matter of poor time management, it was unrealistic expectations on the part of management for low staffing and high maintenence residents.

[miwukman]

Several years ago I worked for a California State Prison as a Medical Technical Assistant, basicaly a nurse with a badge. I worked pm's and averaged 300-350 inmates for med pass during an 8 hour shift. It was very difficult to accomplish the task of passing medications without help but that was how the state made us work. The amount of errors made during pill line was astonishing and I will never place myself into that position again. (no matter how much money they pay)

[scoutsmom]

I will say, its too much for any one human to do!! , and do it right, and when will the "system" ever change,? and why do we put up with that???, you can "juggle" all you want, and ect... but it is still too much!!

[vivacious1healer]

Run.....run.....run like the wind! And don't look back!!

You may be increasing the risk of medication error....be that med given to wrong pt/wrong dose/wrong time....and oops now it's out of the hour before/hour after range!

You are increasing your risk of burnout....if you aren't already there yet!

You may be setting the precedent that it CAN be done, since you were able, and thus it becomes policy!

The residents deserve better and so do you!

[tlc2u]

It sounds like all of you agree on what is too much.

Can anyone tell me for a 1st job what should I look for in jobs that would be manageable as a new LPN? How many clients? What type of facilities?

Any advice for choosing a 1st job would be appreciated.