NewbieLPN2011

Im an STNA going to school for my LPN and last week a combative schizophrenic was admitted into our LTC facility. His first night there he tried to beat the crapt out of us. It took eight people and two shots of adavan to finally calm him down 2 hours after the incident began. Every night I walked into work scared of what this guy was going to do to us. Administration seemed to not care at all. They pretty much had the mentallity that we approached him wrong and that it was the staff's fault we were getting spit on,kicked,punched,charged at etc etc etc. Then I found out this afternoon from my friend that worked last night that he got sent out to the psych ward (where the doctor said he belonged in the first place) because he punched the DON in the face. I laughed so hard. I knew it would take him beating up on someone in administration before they would move him. I really think that it is sad that it took a week of the staff getting beat up and scared to death but the DON gets hit once and BOOM he's off to a psych facility for evaluation and medication adjustment!!

I can totally relate to the last one. My first two weeks on the floor as an aide, everytime I slept I dreamt about residents and heard alarms and call lights all the time in my dreams. I felt like I was working 24/7.

:banghead:I also work the night shift and rounds are not rushed. Its the last hour and half that is HORRIBLY RUSHED and MANY MANY corners are cut because each hall has 4 get ups all of which are 2 assists and one aide assigned to a hall. They do as much as they can by themselves then run to try and find another aide, who by the way also needs help, to get these people out of bed. Not to mention call lights going off and NO FREE HANDS. EVERY SINGLE PERSON IS BUSY but makes time to answer the light, which in turn means they have to make time somewhere else, which means residents do not get quality AM care. Everyone thinks night shift does nothing and 4 get ups per hall with one aide is nothing. I did the math. Thats 22 min per resident. Thats if everything is going RIGHT and there is no call lights. That does not factor in time trying to track down another aide to come help you transfer all of these residents in turn means they also need help transfering their residents. Its a very very vicious cycle and if families saw what goes on between 4:30 and 6 in the morning, I DONT think they woudl be very happy at all. But this place gets away with it because noone is there at that time of morning. I don't know. Maybe this stuff goes on at every facility. This is the first one I have worked at. And believe me I have no intentions of staying there. I don't believe it is ever ok to cut corners, but when management, who have no idea what its really like on the floor, want you to perform miracles, something has to give somewhere, and unfortunately where I work, its care of the residents.

Our previous shift is there for about a minute when we arrive. Usually all we hear is "so and so is fine or so and so was combative" then they are gone. I have started my own little notebook as to help me remember certain things about certain residents. Its helping I just feel like I'm so SLOW!

I work in a LTC facility.

Hello, I am new to this forum so let me introduce myself. I just finished my CNA training a week ago and just finished my first 4 days on the floor working the night shift,this past weekend. I have never felt more discouraged and stupid than I have these past 4 days. I have had a different trainer everday which makes it even more frustrating. They all think I have learned everything else from another trainer. I don't mind the rounds or answering call lights, its the get ups that are stressing me out. I don't know these peoples routines and get left alone with them while my traniner goes to get another person up. I try to keep telling myself that "I am new, this will get better", but I have already walked out of there feeling completely incompetent and slow. I think the aides that train seem to forget they were once new and this wasn't second nature to them. I try to go in with a fresh outlook, then the morning comes and I'm back to feeling like a complete idiot. Sorry to whine, I just needed an outlet before I explode. I really hope and pray the next few weeks get better.

I understand that. Its the ones that are not against a wall and they turn them away from themselves and are usually by themselves when checking these residents. Just watching it made me nervous.

I have spent the past 8 years working in a factory when I finally decided I wanted to get into nursing. We are required to get our STNA (that what ohio calls us) before nursing school. So here I am, new and inexperienced. I just finished up the training last fridayl I work 3rd and last night was my first night on the floor. I was so NERVOUS. I watched my trainer do her normal routine and helped out where I could and asked ALOT of questions. The biggest thing that has me really nervous is turning people. Of course none of the beds have bedrails and some are not up against a wall. This probably sounds so dumb, but i have this big fear of accidently rolling someone out of bed. My trainer told me that I'm not the first to feel that way. I hope the routines will become more natural to me as time goes by. I keep telling myself, "It was only your first day"!