KRSLPN

I have been an LPN for 20 years now, I have 10 years experience in acute care, working a general medical floor, post op surgical floor ( ortho, general surgery) and a step down cardiac unit where as part of my duties we monitored our patients while on the cardiac monitors. I am also IV therapy certified, and have experience inserting IVs for patients receiving simple fluids and antibiotics. I currently work in LTC passing meds, doing simple wound care, reviewing lab results and phoning dr's for orders related to these results. I hold valid unrestricted LPN licenses in 2 states, IV therapy certified, current CPR/AED certified, excellent typing and computer skills. Having stated all of the above, what else can I do, or what course or program can I enroll in, OTHER THEN RETURNING TO SCHOOL TO BECOME AN RN, due to my age and financial situation to make myself more marketable as an LPN? What are some suggested certifications, and how to obtain them to enhance my nursing skills and knowledge. Hopefully there is someone out there with that piece of information, thank you!

The point that always baffles me is this, WHY exactly do some nurses feel that a job in LTC is like a fate worse then death? And WHY do some nurses feel that to be a "real nurse" they have to work in a hospital?

One instance, off the top of my head, if upon assessment it's obvious a lower extremity is fractured (hip, leg, ankle) I would not move them, just summon the ambulance

Regarding meals and snacks. . .i find it very frustrating to see a resident roll up to the table, take a look at the slice of roast beef, mashed potatoes, buttered carrots, dinner roll and butter and chocolate pudding, pick up the dish of pudding, take a couple bites and push themselves out of the dining area and head, immediately, for the bank of snack machines in the hall. When I observe them at the snack machine, I approach and ask, "are you coming back to the table to eat your lunch?", to which I get the following reply, "I don't want that garbage". I then ask if they would like a sandwich or even a bowl of cereal. They shake their head "no" and roll down the hall with the newly purchased "noon time meal", which consists of chips, cookies, and a bag of M & Ms. When I bring up what I just observed to the supervisor, I get the following response, "it's their right". It is incredibly frustrating to observe this scenerio over and over again. A BIG problem I see in LTC is that nowadays, to avoid "upsetting" a resident, they lump everything as "their right" and basically the residents do whatever they want. I believe this is also a product of the younger residents as opposed to some of the older residents behavior.

Remember when being able to say you were a nurse, be it RN or LPN brought nods of approval from people. Not so much anymore. I've noticed a few things both on the job and through mass media. Patients and their families USED TO treat the nurse assigned their care with respect. I'm seeing that mindset long gone. Patients are rude, demanding and sometimes downright hurtful with their comments and actions toward the nursing staff. Patients treat the nurse as if they were their own personal servant. I went into nursing to make a difference in someone's life by administering them the prescribed medication, assisting them with eating, helping then wash and dress, etc. I DID NOT become a nurse to be berated because I didn't have a cookie to give a patient's grandchild that was visiting, really? It annoys me when a family member, one who is NOT on the contact list for the patient, calls and demands personal information about their family member, and when you explain to them, that due to HIPPA regulations you cannot give them that information, they phone the nursing supervisor and state, "that dumb nurse on the floor wouldn't tell me anything", which the supervisor also again stated the HIPPA rule and encouraged the person to speak to someone else in the family and they could share information. Too many people like to and want to use the nurse as their punching bag. Nurses are, I feel, definitely NOT treated with the same respect they once were. Is this a regional issue, I'm in NE Ohio, or has anyone else in the working world noticed this shift in how nurses are treated while on the job?

Thank you for the information, I feel that obtaining additional knowledge and certification can never be a bad move!

I agree with the point of view of one of the other members. The scenario, 2 patients in a room, this could be LTC or acute care. You agree to get patient #1 a bag of chips while on your break, you return, give the chips to that patient and patient #2 observes this. The next day patient #2 asks another nurse to pick them up a cup of coffee while on break. This nurse states, sorry I can't do personal favors for patients. Patient #2 now believes that patient #1 has gotten special treatment which could lead to complaints against you or animosity toward the other patient. My remedy to this, and although it may sound "cold", I do not purchase anything nor do I lend money nor do I perform any function not related to nursing care. That way nobody can accuse you of anything and there are no misunderstandings.

In your post you don't mention the length of time between the time you spoke with mgt and when you made your report to the state. If it were only a matter of days, I would think you should have given them a little more time to attempt to resolve the issues you spoke of. As far as what will happen when the state investigator arrives and makes it known to mgt that there was a complaint and IF it is revealed who made the report, in my opinion I would say, putting it simply, mgt is NOT going to view you in a positive light.

I've read on these pages before about LPNs getting special certifications through online and/or old fashioned textbook instruction. I am interested in gaining certification to assist myself in advancing my career. Would someone be kind enough to list specific websites or addresses where I can gain the information I am seeking.

Not.done.yet. Very accurate posting, hopefully inspired by navy will "get it"! It continues to amaze me how people view nurses. To some we will always be dressed in a perfectly spotless white uniform, standing around as if we're holding up the walls. One thing I wondered about the original post was when the person stated that it was their "first time" there and they were "walking through" the ICU. I do not know what hospital they were in, but I do know this, nobody just "wanders" around the ICU unescorted where I've worked.

I liked the idea one person posted about a chart showing each dept and/or job title with their specific color on . Great idea, makes it less confusing for the public, especially the older folks. If I could personally pick the color I had to wear on a daily basis, for me it would be navy blue all the way. Looks very neat and professional!

No need to get your panties in a bunch there Colleen! I read through all the replies here, and certainly appreciated what most of them said. The point I was trying to get to was this: lately it seem to me that I'm seeing so many posts from people asking if it's "worth it" to go to school to become an LPN. I don't ever think someone's time is wasted when they are educating themselves. In the area I live in, LPNs continue to be utilized in acute care, I myself was previously employed in acute care for 10 years before returning to LTC 7 years ago. Personally to me, acute care isn't "all that"

I've been a member of this site for quite some time and honestly, what I've been reading lately bothers me. Why is it that when I open up the LPN/LVN tab to read the posts it never fails that I come across at least one new one on the following topic, everyday. The subject I am referring to is "is it worth it to become an LPN/LVN". I don't see this being asked of RNs. I log onto this site to read about nurses and things they come across on the job or questions related to patient care. Why do we see so much of the other topic? LPNs have been in existence for decades and I doubt, although some may totally disagree with me, that they are going anywhere anytime soon. Hopefully, we can get back on track and discuss real nursing topics instead of reading whether it's "worth it" to be an LPN/LVN.

Oh yes, another person in mgt who wants to "change the world". Here's a thought for you on that one: take the chairs away because you feel the staff would document better if they were forced to stand and compose their notes after a long day of running up and down the halls pushing an incredibly heavy med cart. The ONLY thing you are going to accomplish by doing that to your staff is finding even poorer documentation because the nurse wrote the very bare minimum so that they could go somewhere else in the facility and sit down and rest their legs, feet and/or back. Also, to the member who started the thread, IF you don't think this is a bad idea, I have the feeling you've not been a nursing professional for very long.

Do a lot of you work in facilities that require their nursing staff to wear a specific color and style of scrubs? I am employed in LTC and the company I work for requires us to wear certain colors and style. I read about other people and the colors and styles they purchase and become envious since we are not even permitted to wear holiday print scrubs. Does anyone else work in a facility that does not permit them to wear holiday and/or seasonal prints?

I've experienced this "oh, you work in a nursing home " mindset also. Some people act as if what we do at our jobs is less important then an ED nurse, labor/delivery nurse or a pediatrics nurse. It's funny how you feel that you should defend the type of nursing you do. Personally, I wouldn't work pediatrics for all the money in the world.

These are also the same so called professionals that find enjoyment in bad mouthing the LTC facility that was not prepared for the incoming resident because THEY did not give the full picture regarding the person.

It certainly sounds to me that you've been made the "example" for the facility for missing a med. I still find it hard to believe that, if you otherwise had a good work record, that you'd be terminated for missing a colace dose.

I've always thought a good way to "reward" the nurse aides on the floor who do come to work and don't call off is this, when an aide reports off for their shift, whatever their wage is, divide what they would be making for the shift evenly amongst the other aides. (Example if an aide makes $10 per hour and there are 5 aides on the floor, each one would make an additional $2 per hour that shift.) It might help, maybe not, would probably depend on the facility.

The LTC facility I am employed at is about to begin using an EMR system. For those whose facilities already use them, how quickly did the staff take to the system. Any tips for using it to its maximum potential?

I've read the replies here and believe some of them are great comebacks. From personal experiences though, I've learned that an even better way to deal with these people is to COMPLETELY IGNORE THEM. Co workers that behave this way are looking for and hoping to get some type of response from you. If you completely ignore them, the little game they are trying to engage you in has become no longer amusing and, believe me, they will stop!

I completely agree with what Brandon & Altra both wrote and as far as what some of the posters said, they were way overboard on the dramatics. To give you my personal thoughts on a few of your concerns: 1. Gloves, no I don't wear them for insulin injections, BUT, if they make you more comfortable, by all means, wear them. NOBODY is ever going to tell you to take them off. 2. Med times, think about it, if you have say 30 residents to pass meds to, how much of your med pass are you going to get done if you are breaking those admin times down, you would be continuously be passing meds the entire shift and getting absolutely nothing else done. 3. Daily assessments are just NOT done in LTC. This is the big difference from acute care. Your residents are living in LTC with long term illnesses and conditions, they are, for the norm, NOT acutely ill. The "exception " here is if someone is having respitory issues, by all means assess lung sounds, same with bowel sounds for constipation or abdominal region pain. 4. This last point is one of my big pet peeves. It bugs me when I hear a new nurse state, "I don't want to lose my license for, (insert so called infraction). I swear some older nurses like saying this to new nurses to strike fear into them. Believe me, you are NOT going to lose your license for any for the "infractions" you listed in your original post. 5. To sum up my very long winded post, go to work, pass your meds, do your treatments the way you were taught, BUT don't get all caught up in the "this isn't EXACTLY the way we learned this in school". You will be fine. We've all been there and can speak from experience. I hope you stick with this forum and give us an update in a few month. I'm willing to bet by then you will be much more comfortable in your new career.

This thread confused me. Were you upset that you weren't notified that someone passed on your day off by someone phoning you at home or are you upset that this person's passing wasn't mentioned in report?

You state, " I'm usually staying over at least 2 hours to finish charting". I'm surprised your DON has not approached you, inquiring why so much overtime. I know that in the facility I work in, if I stayed over 2 hours everyday there would be some red flag waving and I'd be explaining this to the DON. I'm also going to say, it's possible to probably cut back on all this "staying over" if you can develop delegating skills, that way the CNAs can be doing more of their work, instead of you doing it for them, that would leave you the time to complete your own assignment.

I could have written this entry. I completely understand your feelings toward your residents, I deal with the same type of scenarios on a daily basis. To those of you who have not experienced these feelings, I'll give you a few examples of a typical day's experiences that bring about my feelings. I have residents who yell, complain, growl about EVERYTHING, from the number of pills they take to what is being served for breakfast. They seem to feel that it's perfectly acceptable to launch a verbal assault against the nurse because they have an "issue". Sadly, we have to stand there and take it, or risk losing our jobs if we voice our displeasure of being their sounding board. I also have to deal with the "I'm ENTITLED" behavior. These are the drug and/or alcohol abusers who have lived on public assistance their entire life, the ones who have NEVER worked a day in their lives. The ones who haven't been to any type of doctor in 30 years, but as soon as they come into LTC on Medicaid, of course, they demand appointments with the eye and foot dr as well as the dentist. These types can VERY QUICKLY help you lose all compassion for these residents. Does anyone else have to deal with these types on a regular basis, and if so, how do you handle it? For the original poster, I wish I had a solution for you, but I am, unfortunately, dealing with the same issues.