ChristinaDCS

I am the DCS of an assisted living, and I do ALL of the admission stuff. From assessing for appropriateness to doing the actual orders. I will NOT admit anyone into my facility that I have not already visited with and spoken with the family. There should be a thorough nursing assessment before any admission. However, I am sure that isn't always the case with for-profit facilities.

It doesn't matter where you go in nursing, you are always going to be cleaning up the disgusting... If that isn't something that you are willing and able to do, then you probably shouldn't be in nursing... As a side note, when I was a CNA/CMA, I had much more respect and appreciation to nurses that were willing to assist with the day to day items that you list above. Yes, you will have paperwork, but patient care is every nurses first responsibility. I hope that if you are unwilling to participate in this care that you decide to stay away from this field.

I do not wear gloves to do vitals. You are only touching her arm... No reason to wear gloves there unless she is oozing some bodily fluid. A lot of patients probably find that wearing gloves while doing vitals is very offensive. This is not an invasive procedure...

I think when I posted this thread, I was definitely to the brink of complete exhaustion. The main problem was that on my third shift I had one staff member out last week with death in her family and one person who had been out for over a month with health issues. I had originally hired a temporary CNA to cover for the person who has been out with health issues, but she decided to abandon the job (and the residents for that matter). So, in essence I was down three staff members in one week. Fortunately, both of these staff members will be back within the next week, and the other staff are pitching in a little more to cover the shifts until we are fully staffed again. Unfortunately, we are a small 35 resident assisted living facility and we are required to have two nursing staff members in the building at all times. With the small facility, comes the inherit small staff pool. I am currently working on hiring some more PRN staff. The PRN staff that I have has been bumped up to part-time or full-time due to staffing needs or they have another job that we have to work around. Unfortunately, I cannot just leave the facility with no staffing available. The staff that I have on other shifts can be pretty selfish when it comes to their own shifts... Either way, the issue is resolved now... Thank you all for your advice. On the subject of agency staffing, I am not allowed to use it. Corporate company believes agency staffing to be like cancer to a business.

I have only been an LPN for 10 months now, and I was promoted to a management position about three months ago. I love my job very much, the people that work with and my residents are everything... However, there has been a real strain on my staffing recently where I have had to work third shift, go home to sleep for a couple of hours and then come back to do my own job... I am so tired... I am trying to hang in there because I know that it will get better, but I am struggling so much right now. Today, I received a call in for third shift (I was looking forward to maybe sleeping tonight) and I know that there is NO ONE else that can work it. As I left, I almost wanted to call it quits because I am getting so frustrated... I know that this is what I get paid for, making sure all the shifts are covered, and if I can't find someone else to work it, then it is my responsibility to do so. I was wondering if anyone could tell me that this will get better, that this is normal for someone in my position to feel this frustrated... Any advise?