cschmill

i see a mother, a father, someone who put food on my grandparents table, someone who fought for my freedom. a wealth of knowledge if only someone will listen. it's a shame the way our elderly are treated these days, going without medications because they can't afford them, put in homes where some of them never see thier families again. i know this poem well, and think of it often.

i agree with everyone else, i would never let anyone compromise my license by asking me to chart something that wasn't true. i thought the whole aspect of nursing was to keep people at thier optimal functioning level, not about how to get the most money you can for the facility. it's fraud, the chart is a legal document.

i was a CMA for 7 years before graduating in january of this year. CMAs pass the meds, do the treatments (depending on what they are). LPNs are the ones doing all the assessments, talking to the doctors and taking the new orders, making the judgement calls in a situation (depending where you work). i have never known of a place where CMAs are above LPNs. the pay difference is considerable, i got a five dollar payraise when i went from CMA to LPN at my job.

i have some advice that was given to me that i found very useful: 1. be enthusiastic, volunteer whenever possible. even if you get it wrong, your instructors will still be impressed that you made the effort. 2. there are no stupid questions, ask as many as you need until you understand. life is a learning process. better to figure it out than to say 'oh well' and have it come back to haunt you after school. 3. be dedicated, i was told to expect 3-4 hours of homework/studying a night, and i found myself doing at least that. 4. remember to take some time for yourself. it's very important to take a break during studying. get up and walk around for 15 minutes every hour or so, it not only refreshes you but your brain as well. 5. eat right and get plenty of sleep. it not only keeps you healthy, but in top performance. 6. don't sweat the small stuff. you will have a day when you come home saying 'i'm never going back there!,' but most often the next day will be the best one ever. i hope this will help, good luck and believe in yourself!

don't let anyone's personal opinions influence you. i heard the same thing, "why not just get your RN?" you have to do what is right for you. where i live, i can do almost everything an RN can do except IVs, and plan to get IV certified soon. i make good money, actually looking at getting my first new car. LPNs ARE nurses, don't let anyone try to tell you differently. remember, it takes all kind of people to make the world go round, and even more kinds of healthcare professionals to make a facility run sound!

yes, i agree LTC can be a bit "routine", but that's what we're there for... to provide consistant care and make each day better than the one before. i have worked in the same assisted living facility for the past 6 years, and just recently took over the nurses' role in January. maybe it's because i have no other experience than geriactrics so i'm a bit biased, but there is nowhere else i'd rather be. there is such a wealth of knowledge in the elderly, and working in assisted living i take care of people who have most of their facalties. there is a couple dementia pts that may talk to flowers or speak in jargon, but it makes my daily experience all the more well-rounded. some of my residents are in the early stages of whatever disease process brought them there, so as i am a visual learner, i get first hand experience of what we all read about in our text books. the facility is small (30 bed) and has a very home-like atmosphere. i enjoy getting to know the whole person-past & present, as well as thier families. i do understand where you're coming from though. if you want the ever-changing life of ICU, the routine care in homes might not be for you. we all have to find our niche, all i can say is go where you can give 110%.

I had worked for three years as a CNA and seven as a CMA in LTC/assisted living. I found it beneficial, especially with pharm. While attending school Mon-Fri I worked every weekend. Became tiring never having a day off, but it was nice having the evenings during the week to devote to studying. I applied to one school and got accepted on my second try.

nothing to worry about, we spent a lot of time practicing drawing them up, injecting the practice pads, and eventually each other (SC, IM, ID). then you get a lot of practice in clinical and flu shots when they come around. i'm sure you'll be fine

you shouldn't feel guilty for breaking, you can only study for so long before the words on the page become a blur. i was the same way though. i spent the first semester doing nothing but studying in the evenings, and i was miserable. you have to take time for yourself. i now study for a good hour or two and then put the books away. i've actually found that i retain the info better and still get A's on my tests. and i'm a lot happier, i can actually still have a life and make it in school.

the welfare of the residents comes first, you are their advocate. sadly enough, some people take the CNA classes just to make better money and could care less if their residents are taken care of or not. noone likes to be labeled as 'the harda**', but sometimes that's what it takes to get the job done. if the aides know there will be repurcussions if they don't do their work, then it is more likely to be done. make sure you know where the aides are assigned and if you have to, go behind them and check to make sure they are doing what they are suppossed to be doing. again, noone likes to have to babysit their staff, but the residents come first.

you guys are amazing! truly beautiful story. we had a valentines dinner one year for the couples at the ALF where i work. candlelight, flowers, and the look on their faces- priceless. i get so frustrated when i'm approached with the 'how can you take care of old people' question. maybe if they took the time to sit down and see what incredible people the elderly are; the amazing stories and the wealth of knowledge, then they could answer the question themselves. it's a shame the way our elderly are swept under the rug and forgotten. geriactrics is the only field i have worked in and i can't imagine doing anything else.

if 28 is too old, than i guess i'm guilty as well. i started my pre-reqs for nursing school when i was 27, now i'm 28 and about to graduate from LPN school in january and head off for the next year of school to get my RN. your never too old to learn!

i grew up in a house of medical professionals. mom was an RN, EMT, ACLS instructor and dad was a first responder. everyone always used to tell me that i would end up exactly like my mom, and it used to make me so angry. i had the typical adolescence, couldn't stand my parents and did everything i could to make them mad. the usual rebel that did exactly opposite of what my parents said. but time went on, i got a job as a dietary aide my senior year of high school, and found that i really enjoyed the elderly. the wealth of knowledge they had to offer if you only gave them the time. i graduated and took the CNA course the summer before i went to college so i could work just part-time during school and make better money than flipping burgers. i found that i really enjoyed it and before i knew it, i dropped out of school (i was studying music) and worked full time as an aide. i didn't tell my parents because i knew they would be mad. mom had made me promise that i wouldn't drop out of school to work as an aide because she knew what a physical and exhausting job it was. but the longer i worked as an aide, i began to realize that music wasn't what i wanted to do. i worked as aide for about three years and the strain of the job was beginnig to become evident in my back. i decided to get my CMA license and try to give my back a break a few days a week. well to stop the rambling, i have been working as an CMA for seven years, CNA for ten and decided it was time to further my education again. i plan to graduate from LPN school in January and it has been the best experience of my life. i couldn't imagine doing anything else. i guess i should of listened to all those people who told me from the beginning where my life was heading, it could of saved me a lot of time. but i guess the experience i have, and the fact that it hasn't sent me running in the opposite direction shows that i am headed in the right direction. my mom has become a source of inspiration for me, and when things get tough i just have to look at her and the difference she has made in so many lives.

i totally understand where you are coming from. i am in my second semester and we all had the "know-it-all" picked out by the second week of class (first semester). all i have to say is, carma always comes back to get you in the end. this know-it-all had been an insulin dependent diabetic for years. She pitched a fit when she had to practice insulin injections in the skills labs, so she blew it off and participated little in the practice. when it came time to check off with instructors she was one of the few to not pass the skill on the first time. another example, this same person was also a medication aide for several years and didn't think she needed all the practice time passing meds in our gerontology rotation this semester. once again, she didn't listen to the instructor and drew up medication before the instructor had time to check it beforehand, and she consequently did not pass there either. sadly enough, i feel sorry for her. she was not in class last week and come to find out will not be finishing the semester with us. i truly feel that it was her whole "i know everything" attitude that caused her her chance at licensure. in the end, the person who thinks they know everything often ends up at a loss. if they know it all, they have little room for expansion. after all, life is a learning experience, so take it with a grain of salt. Especially in healthcare, no matter how advanced in your education you are, you are actually only at the tip of the iceburg.

i'm sorry to hear about all your frustration. i guess i really have no room to vent here. i thought my rotations were bad because of the student/instructor ratio (a lot of paging and waiting), but sounds like i have it really good. we started clinicals 6 weeks in to our first semester. we had them thursday and friday all day for the 5 months the semester lasted. now that we have started second semester, we jumped back in on the third day of class. now we go wednesday and thursday all day. we get 6 weeks in each of the following: labor and delivery, peds, geriactrics, med/surg. i think we get the most clinical time of all the schools in Kansas. anyway, i'm new to the site so i'm just kinda looking around. hope things get better, just stick it out until graduation and then it will just be a thing of the past.