babs503

I'm a new direct care aide working PRN in an ALF and just received my schedule for May. I'm pretty unhappy with it because on the two weekends I work, I'm scheduled for double shifts (1st & 2nd shift) on both Saturday and Sunday. I'd like to get some feedback on how common a double shift two days in a row is? I'm not sure how I'm going to manage it! I know I'll be dead on my feet by the end of my weekend and mentally burned out as well. For those of you who have worked this kind of schedule, any tips on how to stay sane? I really want to talk to the nurse administrator to let her know that while I don't mind a double shift every once in awhile, I really don't want to work double shifts two days in a row (partly because I have arthritis and the physical demands on my body are too much), but feel like I can't at this point as I'm new to the job and was hired PRN. On the other hand, I doubt I'll last long at the ALF I'm at if this is going to be a regular thing. Thanks, Babs

I've been so frustrated for the past two days about my job new in a LTC. I just started training as a DCA (I'm going to take CNA classes this summer) one week ago Thursday, trained for four shifts total and then they started me on my own hall second shift. I've worked my own hall for the past two nights and am really stressed right now. While I'm getting everything I need to get done by the end of my shift, I have to move constantly and haven't even been able to take the two fifteen minute breaks I'm supposed to during my shift. I like the people I work with and the residents, but I feel like I really should have had more training before being put out there on my own and I should have been given more information about the residents I'm caring for. I feel like I'm working my butt off and still feel incompetent when I get off my shift. I'm particularly frustrated with myself because I have three residents on my hall who are total care and I have to ask for assistance in transferring them. It seems like the other DCA's/CNA's resent my requests for assistance. I've watched videos about proper posture and body mechanics (as I was never taught anything at work), but I just can't lift these three residents by myself. I also have one resident who is never happy with the way I do anything and I dread going into her room. I hope that my time management and routine comes more naturally to me in another couple of weeks. I've worked all three shifts, and the 3-11 is the toughest as far as I'm concerned. We have to walk residents as soon as we get in, then get them into dinner, change briefs after dinner, give showers to those who are scheduled for them, give snack, get everyone ready for bed (and it seems they all want to go to bed at the same time, so call bells are going crazy), wash, dry and fold towels, linens and resident laundry, clean and vaccuum the dining areas, fill out paperwork, then do rounds again half an hour before our shift ends. I have no time to sit down. Just had to vent...I feel like I've been thrown out there a little too soon and that my best isn't good enough Babs

Hi, I'm not a nurse yet (start my RN program in the fall), but I'm currently working as a DCA in a LTC and was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis at age 12, so I really feel for you. I also have congenitally fused vertebrae which just tops it all off. All I can say is that I have my good days and my bad days and have certainly battled with bouts of depression...it's rough at times. As far as medications, Humira has been a god-send for me as far as inflammation and pain go. Prednisone was wonderful before I went on Humira (I remember going on short cycles of it and waking up thinking, "Wow! This is what "normal" people feel like when they get up in the morning? No swelling or pain? This is fabulous!"), but it of course doesn't address the progression of the joint damage and I'm in the high-risk group for developing osteo (small, thin, white female). At this time I'm on Humira, Depakote (for anxiety/depression) and I was on a small dose of Seroquel, but haven't felt the need to take it for months now. Working with a doctor I really trust and being totally honest about my pain levels and depression were key to getting where I am now. Realizing and accepting that it's *okay* to feel depressed when you're in chronic pain was key for me as well. Having said all that, my family thinks I'm crazy for having left website design (sitting at a computer all day) to work in LTC and go back to school in hopes of becoming a RN . Babs