PennStudent

Wow! Thanks everyone. I think the best bet for me, it sounds, is to go out there, stay in LTC or home health, and finish working on my degree. I was checking out some of the community colleges out there. But the time I leave PA, I will have all of my gen ed classes done and have spent over $12k on just those - and I attend an "inexpensive" state school! I've been looking around the Glendale area cos that's what I'm familiar with, but I'll check everything out when I go for a visit in February. Thanks everyone! I really appreciate your help!

Hi everyone! I'm currently an LPN in PA and looking to relocate to the Phoenix area to be closer to my family. I have over five years of experience in LTC and am debating a few options. I would like to finish my associate's degree and get my RN (and then finish my BSN online), but am not sure if it would be better to do that in PA or AZ. 1) What is the job climate and average wages for LPNs in Phoenix? 2) There are a ton of community colleges in AZ (we don't have those in my area) - are those good nursing schools? 3) Any other comments/opinions/insight would be appreciated! I'm specifically looking for west valley, but to be honest I'd live anywhere just to get started out there. Thank you!

We had one on hormones for like 2 weeks. It was basically because the family was worried about her behaviors and "hot flashes." Obviously it was ineffective as she had rapidly progressing dementia and was just peeling her clothes off inappropriately.

Dang. As a new grad in PA in LTC I started at $15/hr + $0.20 shift differential on evenings. Rotate every other wknd. I pay for my benefits and we have a 403(b). That doesn't sound too great on paper but the flip side is that I absolutely love my job and am working where I have wanted to work since I went to nursing school. :)

I cried on the way home for like the first 6 weeks. That's prob not what you want to hear. It does get easier. Eventually you learn to get into a rhythm with your duties and then you can start picking up new things. Just ask a lot of questions and listen to the more seasoned nurses. For me, it always helps to know the rationale behind whatever I'm doing, so ask about that, too. Just keep your priorities with your Residents first and go from there. Make nice with your CNA's since they are your eyes and ears most of the time and very often are they first to pick up on something "off" with a Resident. But remember that when it comes down to it, you're the one ultimately responsible. It gets better.

At our facility they do. And actually, they can/do make you stay the entire shift. Leaving would be "abandonment."

I think it really depends on the LTC. At my facility, the RN's are supervisors. So I as the LPN do the meds, treatments, charting, etc for my group of Residents. If I have a fall, the RN does her assessment to make sure there's no serious injury and then I do the incident report and turn it into her. If I have to send someone out I do all the paperwork but the RN usually calls the doc. Admissions are usually entered by the secretary, assessment done by me, and the RN double-checks everything. Issues that are called to docs go through the RN first. On eves and night there is one RN to supervise the whole facility so I try to solve as much as I can on my unit before calling the supervisor.

Ah, we have a cocktail likes that but ours is BARD gel - Benadryl, Ativan, Reglan, decadron. It comes in a syringe and you put like 0.25 mL on the inner aspects of their wrists and they rub it in. It's fabulous!

I just note the condition of the dressing and of the surrounding skin, and any sx infection or c/o discomfort on my one HD cath. For an AV fistula, I note presence of thrill/bruit.

You absolutely hit the nail on the head!

This is the first I've heard of this, and when I brought this up to my nurse manager (RN) she had no idea about it. We always take telephone orders from doctors, fax them to the pharmacy, and then get whatever we need. Does someone have a link or something to this? I'd like to bring this up with the RN's.

Report this immediately and then find another facility. There is absolutely no reason why anyone should be "rationed" incontinence products. Not only is this a dignity issue but she is at such risk for skin breakdown and infection.

One of the groups from my nursing class did their clinicals at an Eden facility. Their med passes are set up differently... meds are BID (or TID or whatever) and you just start whenever they wake up and go from there. It all sounds like a nice idea. I interviewed at that facility before I accepted my current position but I didn't think I could be so fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants.

With so many posts about less-than-ideal long term care facilities, I just wanted to say that I love mine. I just started a few weeks ago (so maybe my enthusiasm is related to that) as a GPN on days and once I started learning the schedules of my residents, I actually started feeling like I could get everything done in one day. My biggest hurdle still is getting the mountain of charting done at the end of the day, but that's getting easier, too. Management is very accomodating of schedules and I think very easy to work with, as long as you're willing to work. I feel appreciated and supported. My fellow nurses and aides seem to get along very well and make for a pleasant working environment. I just wanted people to know that there are great long term care facilities, that not all of them are the "horror stories" we seem to hear so much about. I take my NCLEX later this month, so I'll get the LPN rate, so I'll love my job even more then.

The meds in baggies is what they do in acute care around here. My facility (and I'm pretty sure all the others in this area) use the blister packs with 30 day (or 7 for Medicare) supplies. Each card has a sticker that is removed and placed on a form to be faxed to the pharmacy for re-order. We have pharmacy come in several days a week to deliver, but a nurse checks the meds in and whatever nurse is responsible for the cart puts the meds in their shift's drawer by resident name.