ChanceORiley27

I really appreciate this post. It was EXACTLY the information I needed. Thank you!

I agree - I'm an LPN currently and I've started the long process of obtained my BSN. I don't think BSN nurses are better than a ADN, but I do think that they should make more - if nothing else then to help compensate for the expense of a longer education. A BSN is not about earning more money is about choices. The power to have any nursing career available to you. No one will be able to tell me that my education is what is holding me back. I am very proud to be going for my BSN and I did recieve pressure from my friends and co-workers that are trying to obtain their ADN. They are correct - they will be RN's before I will, but I will not have to worry later on as to whether or not I will have to go back to school (unless I want my MSN). Not to mention that some RN programs in my area charge outrageous amount of money for there 2yr program. There is one in Indianapolis, IN that charges 40,000 for there 2yr RN program. IUPUI 4yr program only cost 25-30 grand. What's with that?

I've heard the VA pays pretty well too.

One of my co-workers recently got her RN from Ivy Tech Columbus and took a job at Clarian - I don't know which divison it was. But according to her they offered 26 and then two dollars for swing shift differential - but she took a job in a specialty (I want to say ICU, but that doesn't sound quite right)- I do know it wasn't straight Med Surg. I know that Clarian has 'nurse recruiters'. I called the LPN recruiter recently, though she didn't have anything available (no surprise there). But I'm sure that when you graduate, or very close to when you do you could call there RN recruiter (http://www.clarian.org/clarianjobs/nursing/pageSwitch.jsp) and ask what they start at. Could be you have to take the job no one wants, working nights and such - or have to work in surgery, ICU, ER or some specialty area. Also, once you have a semester of clinical done at an RN program Clarian has programs you can enroll in to spend time in different hospital areas to see which you like the best. It's on there website http://www.clarian.org/clarianjobs/nursing/nursingeducation.htm (towards the bottom).

1) Thank god someone else has a significant other who DOES NOT understand nursing bullcrap. I just want to knock him up side the head sometimes. 2)Um... maybe you need another job? 3)I really dislike 'melodramatic' patients who can't understand that you've done EVERYTHING you can for them, but you cannot personally make everyone do what that patient wants right that second. 4) I wonder if this is why my facility doesn't want to use agency. I hate when people leave orders for me, but I do them so the patient doesn't suffer. I could never leave work for someone else - espically once I knew the shift before had done so. The agency your facility used - kinda sucks...

There should be a limit to how much coverage you can provide. No one can be every where at once, and other managers should be helping cover if you've already covered and haven't had hardly any sleep. But, doing aide work gives nurses and insight as to how hard it is. Once you work nights and have to get up a resident yourself you cut your aides a little slack when once in a while they can only get up five out of the six residents they're assigned to.

I completely agree. If you are on-call you should be able to perform anything that might be necessary. I'm an LPN and several times I have done aide work when we are short. No, it's not easy as I was never an aide, but all nurses should be able to perform the jobs of those they supervise. And when I call the on-call person I expect them to come in if we are short no matter who called in.

I agree - we're busy and understaffed, but WOW... Please - run screaming in the other direction. Do not place yourself in a position to put you're livelihood in jeopardy. I know it's hard to leave the residents that you've come to know and love, but there are other residents out there that will benefit from your care. Find a different job.

Wow - I thought I had it bad... Holy crap. I think that there will always be shift dissent - to a certain degree -because we're all overworked and most humans need someone to blame at least once in a while. I work nights and sometimes the day shift drives me nuts. Quite frankly my shift passes 3/4 of the meds, does 3/4 of the tx's, and all the extra crap - testing accu check machines and the like - and yet they complain because THEY'RE busy. In all honesty - EVERYBODY is busy. Hell - at least I don't have management breathing down my neck. However, I think you need to find a new job. LTC jobs are one in million and usually pay about the same. We might always be short staffed and short supplied but at least you could find a place where other shifts do carry at least SOME of their weight. Heck - I'd drop dead in shock if someone asked me to order my own supplies. I work in Indianapolis, IN. I'm very curious where you're located that you have to order supplies. As for aides leaving people in gowns and not sorting trash from linen. Write them up. If after three or so write ups they still haven't been fired. Ask the DON what the hold up is - that sort of behavior is not okay. Sidenote - my rule of thumb is to quit if your so miserable you think about work constantly at home. Once my fiancee start commenting on how I complain about work constantly - it's time to go.

You know, the minute I went to my first nursing home (first clinical setting) I knew I wanted to be a geriatric nurse. What can I say - I like old people :wink2:. The things they've seen and the history they've lived through is amazing. But this is corporate America. I think there is a feeling of hopelessness and even fear in nursing homes. I like to believe my DON and her management staff care about our residents and that they go to bat for us during 'budget' time, but even if they really do the fact is that the bottom line is all that matters to the people who actually give out the money. That environment just breeds dissent. Everybody needs someone to blame. Management blames staff and staff blames management. I think that change must come from the actually staff. If nurses formed an organization to lobby for change, to fight large corporations who want to make money off poor old people who just want to live the rest of their live with a little dignity then maybe something would change. But - I think many people are scared that standing up for what's right would get them fired or 'black listed' from the industry.

I know EXACTLY how you feel - when I was new nurse my aides pushed me around. Forunately I usually worked with a very experienced aide who was able to help teach to walk the fine line between directed my aides and being a big old (ahem)... well you know. However, the fact is - you need them - but you are in charge. ALL responsibility is yours - you answer for everything that happens on your unit. You need to politely - and professionally take your aide to the side and explain that you'll help her if you have time, but you have to do your work to. Also, you should have an on-call supervisor - if you are short - call them. They might find someone to come in early, or might come in themselves. As a side note - go job shopping if you're overworked and stressed. I know all LTC places are understaffed, but each company is different in how they assign duties and such - it never hurts to shop around. I was very surprised at how much the work load differed from place to place.

I have been an nurse for only a year and a half - definitely what most people would consider a 'fresh' nurse. I have worked only in LTC. I agree that I would never 'yell' at my boss - it's unproffesional.I would also like to think that we all know the difference between venting and yelling. However, I have been most definitely yelled at by my CNA's several times so clearly this is not the case - some people just don't understand how to be professional and I haven't seen any one particular age group that was better or worse. I wasn't a very good supervisor when I started, but I did learn quickly that a nurse who will do a bedcheck herself gets more respect from her aides and has more respect for her aides - that work is hard as heck. Also, most often when a nurse tells her supervisor that they'd like to see them do there job - they mean it. I would think much higher of my supervisor if I saw them come in when we're short. In my first 6 months as an LPN I would take the keys to extra halls because my bosses made me feel like I had to so they wouldn't have to come in. I learned eventually that there is a limit to what one person can do. However, if you work in LTC you have to accept that the facilities will ALWAYS be short on staff. When I am so stressed, angry, and overworked at work that I absolutely HATE my job then I leave. And in some cases you might be doing a very disgruntled employee a favor my terminating their employment. There's also the possiblity that your facility is simply not supplying there staff with the bare minimums needed to succeed. Ever LTC nurse learns to work with what they've got - but there IS a limit... LTC is not for everyone and there has to be give and take between bosses and there staff.

Umm... you guys are seriously scaring me. I don't know what area of nursing you work in, but if you want money - you can get it. You'll have to work at a nursing home, but I've been in LTC for a year and a half and I'll be staying there until I get my RN. I work in Indianapolis and I would NEVER take a LTC job that didn't offer me 19-20/hr and that doesn't include a shift differential. As a brand new LPN at a LTC facility I got $18hr with a $3 night bonus at American Village. Heck, even at Lockefield Village (LTC/division of Wishard) you make 16-17 as an LPN (probably a dollar less if you don't have experience). And as an RN with 5 or so years of LPN experience - I expect 27-30 and I know nurses who get that - at hospitals. There is a seriously nursing shortage everywhere and if you hold out for the money - they will pay you. They don't really have a choice - especially in LTC. I only have one rule of thumb when taking a new job. Ask for an offer letter. It's just a letter that states what hourly wages they're offering you and can include the dollar amount of the shift differential if you ask them to. I have done this ever since an employer lied about the rate of my pay.

I graduated from Ivy Tech Lafayette, and have been an LPN for a year and a half. Myself, and most of my LPN co-workers, are going back for their RN's. However, my instructors at Ivy Tech were LPN when they first started and apparently they were told 25 years ago LPN would never last- 25 years later they had become RN's who trained LPN's. I don't think LPN's will ever be phased out. Yes, a lot of us do work in nursing homes -and that can get really old d/t short staffing. But, we will always have jobs, and I have to tell you that you learn a lot as an LPN. Yes, you learn more technical things as RN's at hospitals, but as a LTC care LPN I have learned to make ends meet with less staff, less supplies, less time, and still get all the paperwork done. It might not want to work in a nursing home my whole life, but I know now what I'm capable of because I had to learn to think on my feet, and that is a skill I wouldn't trade for anything. Trust me LPN's are going anywhere - especially with the baby boomers reaching the point where they need LTC anyway.