Aussie19

I would say it would probably depend on the facility. The agency I work for has hired LPN's for some positions but must have RN's in other positions. Good luck.

If the second one is what you are most interested in I would go with that one. It takes more than money to be satisfied with a job.

We used to have alarms on exit doors but Medicaid sited that as a privacy rights violation and we had to take them down. Now the policy is that there must be a staff in the living/dining room area at all times monitoring the exit doors and entrance to the kitchen. You cannot lock the kitchen door but you can redirect the residents to another area for active treatment. That is how it has been handled where I work. It is not 100% but have not come up with a better solution yet.

I work forI was a nonprofit agency as well in the ICF/MR setting. I was not given an orientation. I had to figure things out for myself. Nice to know other agencies skimp on orientation as well. Good luck to you.

Congratulations. I hope you enjoy the new position.

Unfortunately this field notoriously has lower salaries than hospital nursing. That doesn't sound too low to me for this field. I have not had a raise in 4 years. I keep getting told it is because Medicaid put a freeze on our funding for 3 years. That freeze should be up this year, but I bet we don't receive a raise. Good luck to you if you take the job. There are many rewards money is just not one of them.

When I worked 11-7 in LTC I had 50 patients a night. Actually as the only RN was responsible for all 100 residents. Didn't stay in LTC too long didn't like the care that was given(or not given as it should have been due to lack of staffing). On a good night we had three CNA's in both wings.

I work at an ICF/MR and we wear street clothes. I usually wear jeans and t-shirts. I only dress up for meetings. I haven't worn scrubs in almost eight years now.:monkeydance:

Five to ten minutes depending on traffic.

I can only speak for myself as a fibromyalgia sufferer. I question a genetic link not psychiatric. My mother has fibro and I believe one of my brothers does as well. The other brother has another autoimmune disorder (Crohn's). I find it a little more than coincidental that we all have autoimmune disorders. I believe I have had this condition from at least childhood. I can remember wondering why my neck and shoulders hurt so much when I had not done anything that would cause such pain. Because of the tight muscles in my neck and shoulders I also had frequent headaches. I remember the doctor telling my mother when I was ten that I was to young to have tension headaches. Gym class could be almost unbearable especially when I was having a flare up. I was always wondering if anyone else had the kind of pain I did. Pain is a part of daily life. Frequently I have very visible knots in my muscles. Headaches are still very frequent. I have no significant psych history. I do have bouts of depression usually when I have had trouble sleeping for long periods of time. Lack of adequate sleep/rest will make your pain worse and chronic pain does cause depression. You get caught up in a viscious cycle. I only use OTC pain meds usually ibuprofen. I do not want to take narcotics. I also take a low dose of Effexor not for depression but for the fibromyalgia because it helps decrease the pain although not much. That is all I take for fibro. There are more things that go with fibromyalgia than just pain. Sleep problems are very common as well. Actually the list could go on. I would not wish fibro on my worst enemy. I liked the story of the woman with lupus who used the spoon theory. That is very true for fibro as well. I have had to learn to limit myself and believe me it has taken along time to get that through my head. I am an RN and work fulltime in an ICF/MR. I very rarely miss work and when I do it is usually because of sinus infections since I get those frequently. I have never been to the ER because of my fibro. I just live with the pain and go on. The part of fibro that bothers me the most are the sleep problems. When the overwhelming fatigue hits I can not function. I can work with the pain but can not fight the fatigue. Sorry this is so long but I want to convey that I do not constantly complain or tell everyone I have fibro. I just ask that no one judge anyone else unless or until they have walked in their shoes. I hope that those people who may be skeptical of people with fibro and other autoimmune disorders never have to suffer with one.

I agree this is the best job I have ever had and it's because of the clients who have so much to offer.

In Ohio we give a 14 hour course on Med Administration that was created by ODMRDD. The direct care staff must take the course, pass the test with 80 % or better and do successful return demonstrations on med pass and basic skills to recieve their basic certification. We also offer certificates for g and/or j tubes med admin and also for insulin administration. I am the Nursing Coordinator for a 12 bed ICF/MR and a certified trainer for Medication Administration. I have trained most of the direct care staff to do med admin. I personally preferred it when only RN's and LPN's passed meds. However, I will be the first to admit that it was getting difficult to find nurses to do the med passes.