nanae_snow

there's too many things wrong with ltc... i wish they would do something with staffing ratios... 'cuz it sure is hell to work with 40+ people demanding pain pills and meds and falls and wound care and all the charting.. just thinking of it gives me SOB (and I just got of work too..uuggghhh)

Thank you all for your responses. No doubt when I will come across to this situation again, I won't freeze up anymore. Being new and this is my first job ever as an adult, I am scared to death that I may not be able to jump in on emergent situations/ incidents. LTC is a scary world, but I have no choice and I don't want to run away anymore.

i havent been sleeping at all.. I am very worried about the gentleman who fell... I am worried that what if nobody wrote an IR (although it also won't make sense if they didnt)... therefore nobody would've called for the md.. I am thinking of worst-case scenarios in my mind. I am really scared.

I started working again on ltc, but first day on the job on my own I made a horrible horrible mistake. As I write this I am trembling and crying and I feel so sick towards myself that I am nauseous and wanna throw up. What happened was someone was found on the floor by a cna. i had someone's meds and insulin on my hands, I set those on the table because I was gonna help the cna, but then I also thought if i let go of the meds, what if someone comes along and eats up the meds or stick themselves with the insulin. another cna came up so I told her to help the other cna lift the patient up. I went to give the meds. Then i don't know what i did anymore. I think someone started asking me their pain meds or something. My intention was to go give the med then go back to the fall patient to assess, but somehow I forgot. So when I got home I was thinking about my day when it occured to me that I did not go back to the fall pt and assess and do an IR . He was not my pt though, but since i was the one who was there first i think i am supposed to make the IR. Or i could just be a witness. I don't know. But I feel really really bad that I didnt do anything. I am so sick of myself, I deserve to die. I feel that I'm a horrible nurse, even though this is only my 6th day as one, assess and write an IR is a basic thing to do with a fall, and i know that, i know why it is so important, and i know the complications if a fall is not followed through...so i am asking myself where the hell was my mind. I wanna talk to someone but I don't know who to talk to, I am scared to death. I don't know if the nurse who had the pt made an IR...i am praying so hard that she did. I really think I shouldnt be a nurse. This is such a horrible horrible mistake.

lol! they wanted me to do 46 patients..me alone.. for $25/hr it's embarassing that I lasted 3 days, and I said I'd rather go hungry and broke...so I ran I'm a new grad btw, and they wanted me to take charge after 5days orientation. No way I am going back there.

just to update, I walked in there yesterday and gave them the letter, and manager asked me, "why so soon?" I thought I was going to faint. But they told me if I change my mind I can always come back. Manager didnt mention anything about me being no-call/no-show. I thought I was going to get a talk of some sort so I was nervous, but there was none. So I came out there feeling weird but relieved. so does that mean I got out of the facility in OK terms? or can they still bite my butt for getting out of there so soon?

Thanks all. I had no idea that nursing is like this, after you get out of school...

This isnt how I imagined my nursing career would start...or end...

Well the thing is, upon hiring, they told me that I would have to work on dayshift because I'm new grad, then when they handed me the schedule they were already put me up for PMs. That's why the nurse I was with was already warning me from day one. I should have known better, I had red flags going up during the interview but I didnt listen to my gut instincts. Now I cant ignore it anymore. I wrote my letter already and am planning to go talk to the adon and explain myself today. It's ok right? even when I didnt show up yesterday?

I just found this website through google, so I just joined up. I have a problem. The thing is, I am a new grad, and I've only been orienting for three days on the alzheimer's locked unit LTC. They want me to take over the PM shift next week already. I feel very very overwhelmed. I have lots of things I don't know, and I have zero confidence right now. Plus, 46 residents is just to much on my plate, and if I stay and accept the assignment I will be putting myself and the residents in grave danger. I will be alone on the PM shift with just a couple of CNAs. I can't even understand the paperworks and how to handle certain situations, and with no prior nursing experience, it puts me in a very difficult situation. When the DON was interviewing me, she said they would never give me the med cart and just say goodluck, but that's what happened on my third day. The nurse who was orienting me on the first two days was nice, but when I was given the schedule for the next two weeks, and I found out that I was working PMs, she pulled me aside and told me that I should think twice about accepting the assignment because PM shift is really tough. Yesterday I was supposed to go on orientation again, but I didnt call and didnt show up anymore. I just dont wanna go back there. I am scared, I cannot do what is expected of me and I refuse to accept the assignment because I may lose my license, or worse, have someone get killed. But I am concerned now because I didnt call and I didnt show up yesterday, I don't plan on going back today, and it says on the handbook that we're supposed to give 30-dy notice, but I really want out now. Since I am still orienting, it's not working out, it's ok to quit right and just tell the manager that I'd rather the facility give the rest of my orientation time to someone who would be more willing to stay there? sorry for the long post.