autumnleaf

with the way the economy is I worry about giving up a job. I thought being a nurse was a secure job but now a days it is not the case.

yes we are not union. I dont know about state labor laws but I wish they would pass a law for nurse to patient ratio

Most of this is a vent but please tell me I am not the only person strugling with this. I have been at a long term/rehabilitation center for almost a year now. on my wing we have 60 patients and 2 nurse's we average 4-6 CNA"S I have pt's from broken hips, dementia, hospice, assisted living. I am responsible for passing meds twice my 3-11 shift, watching CNA's skin assesments, wound care, dsg. changes, Lab work, ordering medication, taking orders off, answering the phones, making doctor appointments, contacting the doctor when new labs come in, dealing with visitors, family, working around PT/OT , feeding when I have time and answering call bells. In the last month my facility has cut out breaks we are only allowed a 30 min lunch. which did not effect me because I never have time to take a lunch. no cell phones , no double time if you work extra, no holidays off if your set schedual falls on a holiday you work it. and good luck on getting any Personal time off even if you have it banked up. they said we are short staffed so we have to cut back. also the CNA's can not take a lunch break if the nurse is passing medicine so they have to take them when the supper trays are up which means we have to help pass trays and feed or it will not get done then the patients complain about cold food. this was the time I normaly took orders off. we were suppose to get another nurse but they said we are not making money so that will not happen any time soon. trust me I have thought about leaving but no one is really hiring and I feel like it is the same no matter where you go. when will the government take a stand and realize it is the patients that suffer from this care. I go to work with the aittude of if I dont do it who will? I've been asking for time off for 3 months and have yet to get even one extra day off I know im burned out but have no idea what to do about it.

I have mostly worked in long term care because it pays more but be prepared to work more. If you find a place that has a good orientation program like at least 2 weeks then a new grad should do ok. I would not go somewhere that only gives you a couple days. Trust me it takes 2 weeks to learn the patients and the paperwork.

It took me a good month of having the same patients to pick up speed I have 30 patients and it takes me 2 hours to do my first med pass and about 2 hours to do my 2nd. and let me tell you where im at that is pretty good time. I have seen nurses there still passing pills at 11:00 It helps to not look at the time this will cause you to get stressed and try to rush which causes med errors.

losing a narcotic is very serious and if that facility does not take it so then to me that is a red flag that they have a problem! I would not want to be anywhere near that place.

I hate vomit I will almost run out of the room if I think a patient is about to do it

We have a sever dialysis patient at our long term care facility. He is new. He is on a fluid restriction of 1600 a day which he gets with his meals and fluids he gets with his medication. He will demand water I have educated the CNA's that I manage to not give him water. I also would not allow a cup in his room because if one is in there he will go to the sink and fill it up. I know I could not take a cup of water out of his hand if he should do that but is it neglect to not give him a cup of ice. all of our other patients get a cup of ice 3 times a day. I am not concerned about the ice melting and him drinking that but I am concerned about him using the cup and we really would have no record of how much water he has drank. but is it neglect? I worry that if something did happen then my license is on the line . they would say you knew he was on a fluid restriction yet you allowed a cup to be in the room knowing he would use it. What would you all do in this situation. the nurses where I work are divided on this.

I loved my LPN course. I went to a great school that put you into every situation they could. It was a lot of studying and a lot of work things were fast pace. I complained about failing test but I did graduate with honors . Yes we give tons of meds. honestly in most facilities they expect the LPN to do the same as the RN

I think maternity is one of the most popular floors on the hospital. Our hospital does have LPN on the floor but they have been there for a long time. I think they hire RN's because they can if they ever had a problem filling the position they would hire a LPN

Good Luck I am in the same boat in Virginia I have been laid off since may I have been to plenty of interviews but no job as of yet.

Here in rual virginia you make between 15.00 to 18.00 starting out

My biggest mistake in my first year was not speaking up. I should say screaming up. Often it is hard to be heard . I had a doctor that just was not taking me serious about a patient. She barely looked at him when I said he was acting like he was having a stroke. The next day same thing I finnaly had to get another doctor and right away he took notice. I learned real quick from then on to not be timid and speak up. Dont be afraid to ask questions and dont be afraid to ask for more time to be trained. If a facility can get off giving you only a couple days of traning they will but if you ask for more they will give it. This will help with jitters.