ibmissy

I know this thread is pretty old...But currently we have been working short at our facility. I work 7pm-7am. From 11-5am we are always short nurses. We had only three nurses in the building last night..(And this is frequently happening more.) I had 65 patients last night. My supervisor had 65 patients. And the rehab unit has around 20 patients. This is in a LTC facility. Some nights we only have 2 aides for each unit too. Our facility minimum is 2 nurses in the building and 5 aides. There has to be at least one RN in the building. I am starting to get fed up. One morning I had only me and two aides on the floor...2 falls, and two med passes, because the lady from administration who came in to do med pass, took 30 minutes to hand out two meds. I finally asked her to do the careplans on the falls and contact the drs and I did her med pass.

I work baylor shift at a nursing home in the Torrington area. My hourly pay is about $22 an hr. But I work baylor weekends..so basically I work two twelve hour shifts and get paid for 40 hrs. I take home about $638 a week. I have picked up a couple extra 8 hr shifts and my work pays a $100 bonus for each shift picked up, so when I actually work 40 hrs..I take home about $1000. BTW, I graduated last December so I am still a new nurse.

I work 7pm-7am Baylor weekends at my work. Depending on the residents is what decides your nights. :) The ones with dementia tend to wander and sometimes fall which leaves about 3 hrs of paperwork to fill out. On a normal night I print out new orders for the MAR computer backup book, any physicians orders that need signatures gets printed and put in the chart. I do treatments, meds, PRN narcs, rounds, charting on different patients, write the unit alert list each night, restock the med room, pick up other shifts messes at the nurses stations, sometimes call drs and families, etc etc. I look forward to 5am med pass..I know a good chunk of time will pass quickly then. (Usually 45-90 minutes for me to pass meds to 32 patients, depending on which unit I am on.) I have 3 kids at home ages 4 yrs to 12 yrs and one on the way.(Am 35 wks pregnant.) The only day I have to worry about a babysitter is on Monday mornings when my other half works. The 4 yr old goes to day care on that day. You may see if you can work a baylor shift. Generally you work 24 hrs and get paid for 40. That is if you don't mind working weekends.

As a new graduate of an LPN program, I also agree the DON and ADON should have years of experience. As a new nurse it takes at least 6 months to even have a total clue of what one is doing. There is no need to rush your dreams. Would you rather someday get a management position after having years of experience under your belt and doing a great job, or right out of school, doing an okay job, and chancing losing your license. BTW Ever DON and ADON I have ever run into were RNs who had about 20 yrs experience.

Charlotte Hungerford used to hire LPNs 6 mos ago, but now only wants RNs. I am talking about St Raphaels and places like that down in the southern part of CT. St Vincents hired LPNs up until a few months ago too. That is where I did a lot of clinical. Supposely they gave all the LPNs who worked there the option to go to school to become an RN or they would have to be let go. (Thats what the nurses there told us anyway.)

Hey now! I resemble that comment. I just passed my NCLEX-PN boards...and I just started a job at a LTC facility. On a side note. There are hospitals that will hire LPNs. I just happened to find that most that do are in SW CT. Where I live, in NW CT, our hospital was hiring LPNs up until about 6 mos ago. I am not sure if them switching strictly to RNs, make them think that more RNs will magically appear at their door or what. They are currently looking for about 13 of them at the hospital here. I think it's a mistake and eventually they will realize that. As for working as an LPN at a LTC. I am not sure how long you have been an LPN. I will say LTC is good for keeping you experienced with med pass, dressings, paperwork, and pt care. In a hospital setting you will still get elderly people and some with dementia. Also you could try out hemodialysis...http://www.gambro.com/ is a place about 5 people I went to nursing school ended up. They train you in TN for a week and then start you around $23 an hr. I have also seen openings for public schools that WILL hire LPNs. You never really specified what route you wanted to go. :)

Thanks for all the advice...BTW got my results today for the nclex. I passed. :balloons:

I passed!! :) I started bawling when I got off the phone..(I used the 900#)

Its upsetting when other CNA's do not do their work right. I worked with a girl who made up and documented her own vital signs, didn't give out drinks to those on I&Os, and left people soaked for hours. When I became a CNA, I read on a site an essay that made me strive to be better than the CNA's who slacked. Here it is if you want to read it. In the years that I have been a CNA, I have caught myself on several occassions using the phrase, "I'm only a CNA". I remember once, I answered the phone at work and spoke to a doctor who was insisting I check a patient's chart for him, to which I responded, "I'm only a CNA." My supervisor heard me say those words and later took me aside. She told me I should never think of my job as lowly or petty, and she made me start to think about the worth of being a nursing assistant. While I didn't utter those words to that doctor to demean myself, I later realized that the words themselves served to nullify the importance of the job we do and I've never repeated them. I've lost count of how many times someone has asked me what I do for a living, only to turn up their nose at my reply. I'm sure I'm not alone--several of the members of our CNA Forum have mentioned the same feelings...being ashamed of being ashamed of our jobs. Granted, the work isn't always pretty, and it's not the most glamorous occupation in the eyes of the world. But, to the people we care for every day, our job is an admirable and much appreciated one. The next time you find yourselves in the position of being tempted to utter those words, "I'm only a CNA", stop and realize you are so much more to so many people. You have the opportunity every day to impact people's lives in a positive and much needed way. When you stop and think of it, we, as CNA's, get paid for more than simply washing people and making beds and all of the other tasks that go along with the job. We have chosen a profession that demands caring from us. We daily attend the school of patience and compassion. People may think that because becoming a CNA does not require years of school that it is a job that just anyone could do. This is not true! It takes a certain type of person to do the work of a nursing assistant. I am proud to be a CNA! Yes, I may be "only a CNA" in the eyes of some people, but to others I am much more. I am the one, in many people's lives, who provides them with their basic human needs. What others may take for granted, washing, dressing, bathing, eating-- some people are unable to perform these tasks for themselves anymore, and they depend on me. I am the one who goes to great lengths to maintain their privacy and dignity while helping them do things that only a few years ago they were doing on their own. I am the one they rage at, venting their frustration, anger, confusion and fear. I am the one who performs care, even though doing so will certainly put me in a position of being physically and verbally abused at the hands of those I care for. I am the one who rides out the storms of my Alzheimer's patients right alongside of them. I am the one who searches high and low throughout the building for a misplaced item that one of my patients is desperately looking for. I am the one who hears "I want to go home" from the lips of my patients sometimes several times a night, and comforts them the best way I know how. I am the one offering hugs and smiles in a dark and lonely world, where many times, the staff becomes the only family a patient has. I become their source of love, acceptance and friendship. I am the one who tries to quell loneliness and depression in the people I care for, sometimes resorting to singing, sometimes just acting silly to coax a smile. I am the one who makes them know that someone still cares about them. I am the one who listens when no one else listens. I listen as my patients repeat stories from their past over and over again, and offer my words of amazement or encouragement over their accomplishments and memories. I am the one who validates them as a person, who ensures they know they still have great worth as a human being, even though they may be physically or mentally ill and their lives have changed, I always try to offer hope where it is needed. I am the one who comforts and holds the hand of my patient as they slowly slip away. I am the one who has been there by their side, when noone else was, so they were not alone when they left this world. I am the one who offered a prayer and words of peace, while gently stroking their head and reassuring them it was "ok to let go". All of these things and more, that is what we are, not just myself but nursing assistants everywhere. Hold your head high and realize, there is no greater calling than to provide compassion and love to those in need. ------------------ Written by Rachel Giarrizzo, CNA http://www.nursingassistantcentral.com

I will..Tomorrow is my first day and I am scared..More so now, because of the snow and sleet that will make getting up the hill to work almost impossible..:) Not to mention they don't know I am pregnant yet, but they will figure that out tomorrow. Took nclex today..Not sure how I did. It shut off at 85 questions...Will find that out in two days.

Not sure how I am feeling about it. I am scared actually. I am not one to have test anxiety, but today I froze. I had a question on peripheral neuropathy and I don't even remember what that is... Ok, so for the CT boards...You will get between a minimum of 85 questions and a maximum of 205. When you get the correct number of questions right..OR wrong, the program will shut down on the computer. They say if the computer shuts off at 85 it doesn't necessarily mean you passed...it could be a fail. Also our teachers had told us, the questions start off easy, then get harder..So how come the first questions for me were harder and then seemed to get a bit easier?? Also..I did not get ONE math problem. We had our wipeboard to figure out math, and I didn't need to use it since I didn't get any math. The computer program shut down at 85. It took me 1 hr to take the test. I am scared to death...I start a new job tomorrow. If I fail the nclex, I will have to be a CNA until I pass. This new job I used to be a CNA at..It would be so embarassing to go there for 2 days as a nurse, then discover I failed the nclex and have to be a CNA for 91 days.(Before I can retest) Not to mention, I am 24 weeks preggers. :| The suspense is killing me. Another girl from class also went and took the test around the same time as me. She also had it shut off at 85.

Considering tuition was $18K I would say the pin really should have been included. Hahahaha.

Heh..I bought my graduation present 9 mos before graduation...a 2000 Mustang. Paid it in cash... After my first paycheck I will buy myself more graduation presents..Not sure what yet..:) Probably maternity scrubs since I am 22 weeks pregnant. :rotfl:

I graduated Dec 19th as an LPN. We had the ceremony at a ballroom in the marriot. They had a few guest speakers and then announced winners of different awards..(Directors, clinical excellence, etc.) We then were called up one by one to get pinned and to grab a ceramic lantern. We stood up with our lanterns and a teacher came and lit them for us, and we read a nurses pledge, then sat back down. Later we were called up one by one to get our diplomas from the campus director and get a rose from one of our teachers. The ceremony was actually nice. The pins we had to pay for ourselves. I couldn't afford the $30 silver one my school was selling. I tried a nursing uniform shop and they did not have any LPN pins..so I went to joanne fabrics, found some nursing buttons and a bag of pins and hotglued a Caduceus button on the pin for $4. Hahaha. When I saw how nice the pins were the school sold, I was a bit upset though..I regret not buying one.

Originally I was looking into hospital jobs. I was hoping to work on the med surg floor or something, but I noticed most hospitals will not hire LPN's anymore. Especially inexperienced ones. The hospitals that do hire LPN's are about 50 miles away... The facility I will be working in, does have a rehab floor. I will definitely get experience with post-surgical pts there. I also plan on enrolling for college and bridging to RN eventually.