LTCangel

Age 50, LPN for 7 years, RN for 17 years for total of 24 years. I obtained my BSN in 2008

Us opp

I've worked nights for 13 years. In the past I have pulled over someplace safe and napped. My strategy for my 35 minute drive now is chewing ice. My co workers wondered why before I leave, I fill a large cup with ice and I had to explain that all that crunching keeps me awake plus it's cold!

Momnurse6,I wasn't trying to say that you were saying any one group of nurses is better than another and I'm sorry if you took it that way. I understand that you probably work with more LPNs. I think it def sounds like a continuity of care issue and I would hope that as others have said that the DON handled the situation but you just weren't privy to it. If these things keep happening, maybe you can ask the DON for a Nurse's Meeting in which you outline what you expect from them when you get calls for orders and the follow up that you require. Education can go a long way in solving many problems. We have a wonderful NP that has been at our facility for about the same amt of time and I would welcome a meeting in which she outlined her expectations and ways that she wanted us to communicate with her. Fortunately, I don't think she's had the same issues you have. I feel having our NP has taken a lot of burden from our doctor and she is available M-F all day to deal with a myriad of issues that in the past we would have had to call the doc and try to explain the problem but he wasn't available in person to actually assess the resident the way our NP is. Sorry for rambling. Sounds like you are doing a great job and you are very contientous and caring. :)

A little bit of Mineral oil mixed with Mouthwash and a toothette have work well for me. It moistens and freshens. My LTC also has a product for mouth cleaning made by Biotene.

We got a 25$ Walmart gift card and a t-shirt with the company logo. Also a free Christmas dinner but I work nights so I didn't come in for that. We also got lots of cards and homemade goodies from residents' families and a scarf from family. Last year all we got was the dinner so I was pleasantly surprised since I work LTC and I know money is always an issue. I am appreciative. I need a new watch!

In my facility all staff do answer call lights but that is the extent of it. For instance, if the secretary walks in and answers a call light, she simply comes out and tells the nearest Nurse or CNA what the resident needs/wants. This can happen over and over. One of the reasons I prefer nightshifts,lol!

In my facility all staff do answer call lights but that is the extent of it. For instance, if the secretary walks in and answers a call light, she simply comes out and tells the nearest Nurse or CNA what the resident needs/wants. This can happen over and over. One of the reasons I prefer nightshifts, lol!

My DON likes to say that we are a 24 hour facility and that it's ok to pass some things to the next shift. That resident returning at 10:45 would have been something that I would have passed along. A set of vitals, a note to say they have returned and then passed any new orders and the full assessment on to the next Nurse. Especially, if I had completed all the work for all of those silly Tamiflu orders. You are only one person, sounds to me like you did an awesome job and I'm amazed you were even able to get a break. Kudos to you!!

I have been a Nurse for 16 yrs. Almost half of that was as an LPN. I earned my ADN and then my BSN. I worked a number of years in Acute Care and am now in LTC. I find that I have worked with great and not so great Nurses who have been LPNs and RNs. I can say the same for NPs, PAs, and MDs. I really don't think you can lump all LPNs in one type of category fairly. Good Nurses come with all levels of education. I believe a good Nurse possesses good common sense and good nursing judgement, but the latter comes with time and experience. In the LTC setting, brand new Nurses are often in charge of a large number of residents without much back up and I believe are often set up for failure. If you are having this issue again and again, I believe you need to start with the Management of the place and some education or re education needs to initiated. I gained much of the skills and judgement that I now have while I was an LPN, but I also had the common sense to know when to ask questions and glean whatever knowledge I could from those around me who were more experienced. I still do. I never want to think I know everything because I don't. I learn something new every shift I work. I also try to help younger or less experienced Nurses around me. In my facility, we seem to use a lot of Agency Nurses who come into the building basically to fill the spot with a warm body and many times that's all we get from them. Many times, they are brand new Nurses walking into an unfamiliar building and they know nothing about our residents and don't seem to want to learn. They just want to pass pills and leave. I don't know what the situation in your facility is, but you may want to find out. A lack of permanent staff who are committed to the care and well being of the residents can be a recipe for disaster. I always hate the RNs are better than LPNs debate because I have worked on both sides and even now I will find LPNs who are surprised to find out that I'm an RN because I actually "work", lol! I'm not sure I answered your question but it sounds as if some education is needed here.

I'm glad you've figured that out! I have been a Nurse for 16 years and I started out in LTC as an LPN. Went on to work in the hospital for 14 yrs and some of that in float pool. I ended up on an Ortho/Med-Surg floor and eventually got my RN, BSN. It's a long story as to why I came back to LTC but suffice it to say that I love taking care of our elderly generation. It gives me a great deal of satisfaction to have the time to learn the ins and outs of each of my residents. They make me smile, laugh, cry, mad, and very humble to make their last days here as comfortable and happy as possible. In today's world of Nursing, people are being released from the hospital quicker and sicker. My facility tries to make sure that we have performed all interventions possible before sending a resident out to be admitted to the hospital. It comes down to reimbursement. I do understand this because it's the same type of game all areas of healthcare are playing. LTC needs Nurses who can care for these reside ts. Learn all you can and def keep a running list of all the skills you have mastered. And please don't be ashamed to say you care for this nation's elderly. They deserve our best. :)

Uhmm...yes you are passing lots of meds, aren't you learning the reasons for these meds? Aren't you assessing your residents while you are in their rooms? You have your own hall, you should be learning the ins and outs of all of your residents and their specific conditions by now. Aren't you seeing their labs? Calling the doc with issues and learning what is ordered? Taking care of foleys, gtubes, trachs, wounds, wound vacs? Our facility also does IV fluids and uses PICC lines, does yours? Are you learning when someone is going downhill and needs sent out to the hospital? All of this and more is teaching you critical thinking skills. Think about it. Aren't you doing care plans on your residents and charting? You are doing everything that a nurse in the hospital is doing, you are learning time management skills. You are learning prioritization, you are learning how to delegate to your CNAs. Look at all you are learning instead of thinking that you are missing out on something.

I started out in LTC as an LPN and then after 1 1/2 years got a job at a hospital. I worked in this hospital for 14 yrs. While there I obtained my RN and then my BSN. I worked on a busy Orthopedic/Med-Surg unit. I ended up leaving that job for reasons I don't want to go into and I got a job at the same LTC facility I started out in. I have to tell you that I have not lost any of the skills I gained in the hospital. LTC residents are much different now than they were 16 yrs ago. There are also many RNs working there now. It used to be only LPNs and an RN who was the DON. The acuity level of these residents is extremely high, they are being discharged from the hospital quicker and sicker. A LTC nurse has to be on their toes and know their stuff or they won't make it. The stigma that LTC nurses are not real nurses needs to end! I am a great nurse, my assessment skills are excellent, and I love my residents as if they are my own family. Yes, it is stressful. Yes, we are understaffed. Yes, we have to care for too many at once. But I did the same things in the hospital. This is just my experienced humble opinion.

I once had a very wise Nurse Manager on my Orthopedic Unit who said during a staff meeting, "Give pain meds when they are due. We will not make them drug addicts in the 3-4 days they are here and we will not cure them if they are already drug addicts." I have always carried this advice in my mind since she gave it because it is true. I know I have encountered true drug addicts in my 16 yrs as a Nurse, but if they are suffering an acute condition then they are going to require MORE pain meds then the average person. It is not my job to judge but it IS my job to be the patient advocate and to give pain meds in a timely manner. Just Sayin'

Hang in there! Unfortunately Nursing seems to have a lot of this kind of thing. It is very unprofessional and when you start a new job you will learn who you can trust and who you can't. Just hang back and stay to yourself for a while and keep it professional. Good luck and God Bless. Focus on your residents and you'll be fine.

I have a 91 y/o man on my unit who has had a stroke and it apparently affected the "filter" in his brain and he will say whatever comes into his head very loudly because he is also very HOH. Every morning when he gets up he say, "Got any food around here?" I walked up the hall and caught him at my med cart, he had my bowl of applesauce and had taken the plastic lid off and was using it like a scoop to eat every last bite of applesause, lol! Later that morning I was told that when he was in the dining room waiting on his breakfast tray, he had began to bang on the table and yell. "We want food, we want food!" he managed to get a handful of other residents to join in and they almost had a riot on their hands! I love it!:redbeathe

I am an RN who works in a Nursing Home and yes I love it too. I do have my share of frustrations overall but they don't have anything to do with the residents. I have a family member that just obtained her CNA certificate and will be starting in a Nursing Home and I hope she loves it as much as you do. Thank you for your hard work and enthusiasm, it is refreshing to see.:yelclap:

I hve never been a CNA but I was an LPN before becoming an RN. The hospital I worked in for 14 years used a direct patient care model. I was responsible for EVERYTHING that my patients needed. That included baths, toileting, exercising, filling water pitchers, turning and repositioning, and meds, dressing changes, charting, IV therapy...the list goes on and on. We did have CNA's available to assist but not nearly enough and trust me I did everything all day long that my patients required along with admissions, discharges, calling doctors, carrying out new orders, and right down to answering call lights. I now work in LTC and am responsible for 46 residents on 7p to 7a. I really appreciate the CNA's that I work with and make sure they know it and I am not afraid to "get my hands dirty". But it boils down to this, the role of a CNA is within my scope of practice but the role of an LPN or RN is not within the scope of practice of a CNA. A CNA cannot pass meds, do treatments, dressing changes, tube feedings, trach care, nebulizer treatments, accu checks, IV therapy, blood draws, physical assessments, call the doctor, transcribe and carry out those orders, pronounce death, determine changes that require a resident to be sent to the hospital, etc, etc. I am also ultimately responsible for the care that the CNA's provide. In healthcare, we need to think of each other as part of a team that is working together to provide the best outcome for the patients or residents in our care and appreciate each other while we do it. Just saying...:loveya:

How much orientation do they provide a new grad? If it's anything less than 6 weeks, I would negotiate that or walk. LTC can be very overwhelming for any Nurse especially an new grad.

I also work in a union building, mandating is alive and well and happens ever single day. Some days to more than one nurse on a shift or one nurse on each shift. There is not a pool of casual nurses to call and no one else ever answers their phones because they are all tired from working so many long hours on their regular days. The facility does not allow Agency nurses to be called for last minute call ins, only to cover holes that they know about 24 hrs ahead of time. They do give a 50$ bonus for anyone who has been mandated for "Supplemental Staffing". It can make a long 12 hr shift turn into a 16 hr shift in the blink of an eye and they do not do a good job of backing up their attendence policies so the same people seem to call in over and over again without fail. I can look at the schedule and tell you who's going to call in.

I worked Orthopedics/Joint Replaement in the Hospital for 13 yrs and now am in LTC. Always roll to the UNaffected side for hips as the above poster said, preferrably with a pillow intact to keep the hip from crossing the body and possibly dislocating. For knees also, to the uaffected side and support the leg so that the knee does not roll. Hope this helps!

Whew!! Please say a prayer for me! I have an interview on April 13th with my local County Health Department and am excited and nervous! I worked in the hospital environment for 14 years and have been in the LTC setting the last year. Public Health is what made me want to be a Nurse to begin with and at the age of 42, I am so excited for the opportunity for the interview and am praying I am what they are looking for. I definitely have all of the experience in all of the skills that Nurses do and one of my passions as a Nurse is actually being able to teach patients and their family members about their illness, injury or disease process. I hope they find I am a good fit. All prayers and advice accepted!!

In all of the places I've worked in WV benzos, Ultram and Lyrica have always been locked up. I don't really understand a place that doesn't since they are all considered controlled substances.....hmmm. I have read all of these posts on FM and can relate and understand, since I have been a sufferer for several years now and had a hard time finding a diagnosis and treatment. I finally found a PM doctor who knew EXACTLY how I felt and I finally was put on a treatment regime that helped. He also diagnosed my Chronic Low Back Pain that I had taken for granted for years. I worked for 14 years on an Orthopedic Unit in a hospital and did a lot of heavy lifting, pulling, pushing....you get the picture. After I filed for FMLA for the FM, I began to be harrassed by my NM for being 1 minute late or anything else she could dig up. I started there as an LPN, got my RN, then my BSN and stayed loyal to the hospital and the unit. I was fired last March. I was denied unemployment benfits. I'm sure that when other employers call them for a reference that they don't give a good one since I cannot seem to get any other job except LTC. Then to top it all off my PM doctor was raided by the DEA and brought up on Federal charges that he was responsible for the deaths of some of his patients. They were never able to prove it but the State pulled his license anyway. So now I am back to sqaure one on looking for a doctor who believes in FM in my area. I am not on the correct meds and I am suffering in silence. I am working 12 hr shifts in a LTC facility and making less money but I don't have to do much lifting and I can sit at times for a while since I am on night shift. I am halfway through my MSN with a concentration in Teaching but had put a hold on it when all of this transpired as I have been suffering with severe depression and anxiety. Some days I just want to give up and quit but I am the main breadwinner for my family and also have to provide health insurance. Even with a BSN and 15 yrs experience in Nursing I am having a hard time finding any other type of job, I think it's because most of that experience has been at the hospital that fired me. I have a hard time not feeling ashamed for losing that job even though I did every thing in my power to keep it. I just filed a FAFSA so that I can try to get back in school and finsh my Master's. Please say a prayer that this works out. The Nursing Home has been a good place to hide out and still get a paycheck but it also has it's very stressful moments and they believe in mandating staff to stay over to cover call ins so there are many times that my 12 hr shift turns into 16 and then I am down for all of my days off trying to recover. Sorry if this was long, but it feels good to tell my story and ask for thoughts and prayers my way. I am only 42 and even with FM and back pain I believe I am still a viable member of the Nursing Community. It has been my passion and who I am for a long time now. Good luck and God Bless to all of you out there who are living with Chronic Pain, whatever the reason. May God Bless and Keep You. Lisa :redbeathe