OMG!!!!! I had a LONG post all typed up and I lost it. . . TWICE!!!!!!! :banghead:
The general goes as such: I am a new grad and tomorrow is my first day of work. . . EVER!!!! I have NO healthcare (or any) experience and I only get 3 days orientation!!! I am soooo afraid! I am 21 years old and in the 9 days of med pass that I had in LTC, I would run myself ragged all morning giving meds and by breakfast I would have medicated only SIX people!!! My assignment will be THIRTY for meds AND treatments and they are expecting me to have mastered that within 3 days!!
I am also the direct supervisor of 45 CNA's! I am a nervous wreck now that the euphoria has subsided. Does anyone have any advice??? Please I will listen to any and EVERYthing you have to say! I need ALL the advice I can possibly get between tonight and 6am tomorrow! What should I expect? How can I make life easier? What should I bring? How should I act? What do you wish you would have known/done on your first day/week/month?
Again, ANY and EVERYTHING you can offer will be GREATLY appreciated!!!
I'm just in shock that someone is 21 and has no job experience whatsoever.
Sorry, I reread my first post and I wasn't clear. I do have job experience. I was an assistant manager of a restaurant for a year and a Sales Merchandise Expert at a major retail corporation for two. I haven't worked in nearly 2 years and have never been in a major (like serious) supervisory position (I was 18 as the assistant manager and had only 2 employees plus my boss! ) but I have had a job before. I was just referring to healthcare experience.
So Kemkem... How was your first day? How do you feel after reading everyones posts? Just thinking about you and hope you are ok.
Thank you for asking! Today actually wasn't so bad. . . aside from the fact that I am already being tested! One CNA DEMANDED that I take her test for an infection control class that she had just taken and had to test for! It was like 10 pages long! When I politely told her that she was responsible for demonstrating knowledge of the information by taking the test independently she called me a "stupid little girl" and stormed off! But other than that it was pretty uneventful. I thought today would be my first day training but it was actually only orientation. . Paperwork and movies and such. You know how it goes! I'm still reeling though over how I was spoken to. I guess my age doesn't command much respect huh?
One CNA DEMANDED that I take her test for an infection control class that she had just taken and had to test for! It was like 10 pages long! When I politely told her that she was responsible for demonstrating knowledge of the information by taking the test independently she called me a "stupid little girl" and stormed off!
Good for you; Smart Woman.
That was the right way to handle the situation, nobody can bully you if you don't give them the first inch.
I'm still reeling though over how I was spoken to. I guess my age doesn't command much respect huh?
YOU can command respect regardless of your age. Don't think as a 21 year old, think as a responsible professional.
When I was 21 I had already been working in a company for enough time to complete management training and got my own "command" over a staff of people. My first day taking over for the previous manager I had almost everyone turn in their resignation because they would not work for someone younger than them.
I proceeded to have my first week as manager to be the one in charge of EVERYTHING while I frantically tried to hire new staff... all of whom ended up being older than myself.
The result of this trial by fire is that my branch ended up breaking all the previous records for the last year and I received award and recognition from the corporate heads.
When metal is purified it is put through heat and pressure and all the impurities are consumed; what is left is pure, strong and malleable to fit the job at hand.
Specializes in Peds, Hospice, Home Health, Dementia.
relax. and ask questions!!!!!!!!!
do not assume you remember everything correctly. taking a bit longer to getthings done will be much better than making a huge mistake.
are you an RN or LVN? 3 days orientation is ridiculous.
remember... YOU are liable for those patients... if you are really questioning your ability that much...... then demand more training. its YOUR license at risk.
i dont mean to scare you... but i am working for a home health company that is shady with training also and i now know that the bosses DO NOT always know best. protect yourself. stand up for yourself and your license. good luck
No... your age doesn't. But age never does. You can though. Sure they may get that first impression but after that you will determine how you are seen by how you carry yourself.
Glad to hear your first day in was ok. Apologize when you do something wrong, but never apologize for your age or lack of experience. Those are nothing to be ashamed of.
OMG!!!!! I had a LONG post all typed up and I lost it. . . TWICE!!!!!!! :banghead:
The general goes as such: I am a new grad and tomorrow is my first day of work. . . EVER!!!! I have NO healthcare (or any) experience and I only get 3 days orientation!!! I am soooo afraid! I am 21 years old and in the 9 days of med pass that I had in LTC, I would run myself ragged all morning giving meds and by breakfast I would have medicated only SIX people!!! My assignment will be THIRTY for meds AND treatments and they are expecting me to have mastered that within 3 days!!
I am also the direct supervisor of 45 CNA's! I am a nervous wreck now that the euphoria has subsided. Does anyone have any advice??? Please I will listen to any and EVERYthing you have to say! I need ALL the advice I can possibly get between tonight and 6am tomorrow! What should I expect? How can I make life easier? What should I bring? How should I act? What do you wish you would have known/done on your first day/week/month?
Again, ANY and EVERYTHING you can offer will be GREATLY appreciated!!!
Thanks In Advance!!!
I am sorry, you have worked very hard to become an LPN, what you are doing in jeopardizing your newly acquired license.
SNFS are regulated by CMS ( Medicare) and the state will come and review the care and hold you responsible. You are practicing an unsafe nursing practice and accepting job no one with your experience can do.
You are more worried about the CNAs, while you should be concerned with your professional practice. There are so many rules and regulations in a SNF and what they are asking you is beyond your education.
When I had new PNs graduating I would tell them they would need a minimum of 6 weeks orientation, some would need more. And they were the second nurse on the floor not left alone.
You need to look up you new employers rating with CMS. See how they rate.
You need to know all the CMS and local rules and regulations for care, don't depend on the SNF to provide them since it is your professional responsiblity. You need to know your own nursing practice, there is no way a new grad can do what they are asking you.
Talk to your instructors ask them if this is a safe situation. I am guessing they are paying you well, but in the end all your hard work is going to go down the drain over extending and accepting an unsafe assignment.
This has nothing to do with management but over extending and accepting an unsafe nursing position.
Best of Luck.
PS. I looked up your other post, a weekend position, works well for seasoned nurses who need to work a weekend due to personal issues such as child care.
This position will not teach you about long term care, you will be holding the nursing home together for the weekend. I am assuming that you will be the only nurse available to assess the patients for the weekend. That is where you should be worrying about not the CNAs. What working 16 hours in a row is not safe.
i am sorry, you have worked very hard to become an lpn, what you are doing in jeopardizing your newly acquired license.
snfs are regulated by cms ( medicare) and the state will come and review the care and hold you responsible. you are practicing an unsafe nursing practice and accepting job no one with your experience can do.
thank you for your response! although you are very valid in those thoughts, the fact of the matter is that at this point i have gone on about 6 interviews and all of them (and by all of them i mean every last one!) offered 3 days orientation with about the same workload (or more. . . sometimes 35!). as a matter of fact, someone i oriented with today only got two! she has experience yes but still!! turns out though, i get 4. not much better, but. . . i picked this one because it paid the best. . . that was about the only difference. i think this is pretty much the norm in ltc nowadays.
you are more worried about the cnas, while you should be concerned with your professional practice. there are so many rules and regulations in a snf and what they are asking you is beyond your education.
this is where you're wrong. i am not more worried about the cna's then my professional practice and i don't know what in my post would lead you to believe so. as a matter of fact i only mentioned them in one sentence and it was to make a point. i mentioned the cna's because i was trying to draw the bigger picture. i didn't think i needed to actually say "i am concerned about my professional practice" as i thought that that could be derived from the post itself. however, the truth of the matter is that my workload is enough without having to be charge to 45 cna's on top of it and i cannot go without mentioning the cna's as i think everyone will agree when i say that they are a very important part of our practice. of course i would mention them! without cna's how in the world would i do my job effectively? your team can make you or break you and so i would think that (when discussing the magnitude of my assignment) mentioning all parts of the team as a cohesive unit would, again, draw the bigger picture.
when i had new pns graduating i would tell them they would need a minimum of 6 weeks orientation, some would need more. and they were the second nurse on the floor not left alone.
now that sounds like orientation!! :yeah::yeah:unfortunately, it's seeming more and more that one can only expect that type of introduction to nursing in a hospital. i am an lpn and, as we all know, hospital jobs are not very easy for us to come by nowadays (understatement of the year). as much as i would love to work in a hospital, none in my area hire lpn's (even those that were techs with them first), i can't move and i don't have the luxury of waiting for that to change.
you need to look up you new employers rating with cms. see how they rate.
they actually did excellent! i don't remember what it was (i saw it earlier today at orientation and wasn't quite sure what it was) but i do remember them telling us they went from getting 16 flags two years ago to only one this year. . . whatever that means! lol!
you need to know all the cms and local rules and regulations for care, don't depend on the snf to provide them since it is your professional responsiblity. you need to know your own nursing practice, there is no way a new grad can do what they are asking you.
will do! how do i look it up? is it something i can google or is there a process?
talk to your instructors ask them if this is a safe situation. i am guessing they are paying you well, but in the end all your hard work is going to go down the drain over extending and accepting an unsafe assignment.
to be honest, the pay is not that great but i did talk to my instructor as well as several of my classmates and 2 of the members of the graduating class before me. my instructor said it sounded okay, (about the norm) and that she knows i can do it. my classmates were all as overwhelmed as i feel and the 2 seniors told me that thats exactly how they felt at first (they both have very similar jobs. . . ltc. 30 or so pt.'s for meds and tx as well as supervisory type roles) but that you get used to it and you just have to figure out a routine. . . again, it seems like this is normal but for me it seems crazy just because medpass in school was so tame compared to this! welcome to the real world, i guess, huh?
this has nothing to do with management but over extending and accepting an unsafe nursing position.
best of luck.
ps. i looked up your other post, a weekend position, works well for seasoned nurses who need to work a weekend due to personal issues such as child care.
this position will not teach you about long term care, you will be holding the nursing home together for the weekend. i am assuming that you will be the only nurse available to assess the patients for the weekend. that is where you should be worrying about not the cnas. what working 16 hours in a row is not safe.
you're probably right. although there is another lpn and rn on both shifts, i still will ask for more orientation and seriously consider resigning if i really feel like my license is at risk. i have worked too hard to get it to lose it. . . period. thank you for all of your advice as well as your input. :redbeathe
:banghead:
But other than that it was pretty uneventful. I thought today would be my first day training but it was actually only orientation. . Paperwork and movies and such. You know how it goes! I'm still reeling though over how I was spoken to. I guess my age doesn't command much respect huh? 
:yeah::yeah:unfortunately, it's seeming more and more that one can only expect that type of introduction to nursing in a hospital. i am an lpn and, as we all know, hospital jobs are not very easy for us to come by nowadays (understatement of the year). as much as i would love to work in a hospital, none in my area hire lpn's (even those that were techs with them first), i can't move and i don't have the luxury of waiting for that to change.
kemkem
46 Posts
Sorry, I reread my first post and I wasn't clear. I do have job experience. I was an assistant manager of a restaurant for a year and a Sales Merchandise Expert at a major retail corporation for two. I haven't worked in nearly 2 years and have never been in a major (like serious) supervisory position (I was 18 as the assistant manager and had only 2 employees plus my boss!
) but I have had a job before. I was just referring to healthcare experience.
Sorry about that!