Vonique

Update: Thanks everyone for all your comments and suggestions. Things have worked out well. I never had to call the DON as my dad has been getting his showers every week, as scheduled. It turns out I didn't have to worry after all (but who doesn't worry about their elderly parents, right?). What made me jump the gun in assuming this would turn out to be an issue is the excuse from the cna "I forgot", and it was a red flag to me so I got on hyper alert. Just as I would be if one of my cna's where I work said that. And as many of you mentioned, residents will sometimes forget or inaccurately report things, and he is almost 88 years old! So I had to take that into consideration. And besides, LTC has been my career just about my whole life and I know only too well what the staff are going through so I tend to want to give a wide berth. But it's good to get professional opinions when I'm on the "other side" for once. Thanks again to all!

I know its a bad idea to resist arrest but this situation is so outrageous and you can see/hear/feel this poor nurse's fear and even terror. I was feeling it just watching this video. I don't blame her for screaming and resisting. I would have done the same thing and I'm still upset for her. I feel her resisting arrest was justified because the arrest was so unjustified!

Well my sister is dealing with it cause she lives in the same state as the nursing home (15 minute car ride), but she is hesitant like me to complain. Cause so far he has had pretty good care. My sister is going to contact the ombudsman but we don't want to get anyone in trouble. Just get information. Where I work we require the residents to be showered at least twice a week and when we get inspected they look closely at the shower books. So, I doubt there's a law, but maybe just a "standard" of care. But I live six states away.

I have always thought being a DON is a hell job and would never even consider putting myself through that in a million years. I see what the DONs at my facility go through and they never last more than a couple of years. One time we went through four in six months. Good luck! Hope you find something really great!

Is there a rule/law/guidance/statute that dictates how many showers a week a resident should get? At my nursing home we have to give 2 showers a week to each one but my Dad is in a nursing home in another state and he practically has to beg to get one every other week. Today, again, he did not get his shower. The CNA told him she "forgot'. I told him he should report it to the nurse but he doesn't want to complain and cause trouble. I'm hesitating to call the home cause I don't want to make any accusations until I know what the rules are. I know there must be some governing body that determines these things but I'm not sure what it is. Thanks for any feedback!

I don't see what the point is in insulting other nurses or specialties unless it is just to get a response (however negative) and also attention. At my LTC we do trachs, central lines, and other things seen in ICU and/or MedSurg, plus a million other things. LTC is NOT lame, just different and I love it!

I like that idea!

Yes yes yes! That's it!! I can stop wracking my brain now.....thank you!!!

I'm nostalgic for the old days . Remember when they had levels in long term care. Level 1, 2, or 3??

Are there any older nurses out there from the 70s and 80s who remember an old foot care treatment for diabetics, or anyone with really dry feet, that came in a green liquid? When I first started out as a nurse I worked in a nursing home and we use to soak feet in it. It was really moisturizing and great for dryness. I haven't seen it around for a while and wonder if it is still being made or not. It was such a great product. If it is not sold any more, are there any good substitutes?

I'm so sorry CapeCodMermaid. I really didn't know what I was talking about and I apologize. I only read one post of yours and jumped to conclusions, which were wrong. But after my post I began reading more and I realize now you are definitely not part of the problem and I'm so glad that you have found a job where there seems to be some sanity. My gripe is with those administrators and DONs who will actually argue that 5 aides for 60 residents, and quite needy ones at that, is adequate staffing, and I know they don't even believe their own nonsense but are just saying it to appease us and keep their high-paying jobs. But I know that is not you. I'm soooo sorry!!! Vonique

"I will agree that some LTCs need to increase staffing, but where do you propose the $$ will come from to pay for it?" How about sharing some of the PROFITS that these greedy nursing home owners make and some of these administrative personnel who make 3 x's what nurses make and 10 times what the aides make??? YOU are part of the problem, CapeCodMermaid, because you are in a position to do something about these atrocities but you sit back and judge everyone else!!!! Shame on you!!!

GHGoonette, interesting leadership styles you pointed out. I think I remember learning about those in college. I guess they would all work in certain situations as long as a basic healthy respect for the employees were maintained. What a difficult thing to be a leader. There is no one formula, really. Where I work now, unfortunately, the DON seems to be unaware of the unrest that is being created by these tactics. No one seems happy. Maybe that is why people seem so unfriendly. Wherever I've worked there is camaraderie, but not here. So depressing. I'm starting to regret leaving my old place where the work was nonstop because at least there people smiled and talked to you. I don't know. Longterm care just does not seem like a doable job anymore.

In some ways I think it might be harder to be a supervisor and occasionally have to take the cart because you never get a chance to get a routine, plus you are responsible for everything everyone does or doesn't do. I was a supervisor in a 200 bed facility and if I hadn't had the great staff I had, it could have been a terrible job. Good luck.

"Borrowing" meds from another resident is wrong so I can see why she was upset when the trainer did it, but at the same time, if you take the time to go through all the steps (circling with explanation, calling pharmacy, writing incident report, calling the doctor for one time hold order, etc.) you'd be there all day and night and never give out a single medication. Well, I'm exaggerating, of course, but that is the way it is where I work. There are at least five or six residents out of meds every time I work. I don't even have time to give out all the meds I have to give out much less carry out all the aforementioned steps when that happens. At one nursing home I worked, one nurse was responsible for reordering (on nights) and that really worked out the best. When everyone is responsible for pulling the little paper on the med card when it should be reordered, then no one is responsible and it is too easy to just skip it.

Totally agree with RealityCheck1. Why do we put up with it?????? Think about it. If every single nurse out there refused to do it, then what? "They" would wake up and smell the coffee and change things.

I'm so sorry that your first job out of nursing school had to be this one! It sounds like the job from HELL. It's amazing what is expected out of one human being and everyone acts like it's okay. Even though we all complain no one does anything about it (don't even know if anything can be done about it--very discouraging). I left a job just like that one a few weeks ago but the one I'm at now has its own set of problems. I guess wherever you go there are impossible situations to deal with. Longterm care can be very rewarding or I wouldn't have stayed in it this long. I would look around and see if you can find a better nursing home. A good way to do that would be to join an agency and they will send you out to various places. That's how I figured out where I wanted to work when I first started out without having to quit jobs all the time. Good luck and know that so many of us are in the same boat and are thinking of you! Vonique

You don't seem to find that kind of teamwork lately, it seems. I had an administrator once who would be seen after a snowstorm side by side with the janitors and maintenance folks shoveling snow and doing whatever needed to be done. And I myself have been criticized by other nurses for helping the CNAs (one of them felt I made her look bad because she didn't like to help them. She wouldn't lift an extra finger anyway..). But after all we are there for the residents aren't we? At my last job they worked me to death with no breaks or lunch and never getting out til 5 pm and not being able to keep any after work appointments. Nice as the administration was, I decided to go where the workload was more reasonable. So now here I am with a bit of a lighter load, but the morale is very low and everyone seems nasty and unfriendly! I'm beginning to feel there is no place for me. So discouraging. When I'm at work I think about being at home and when I'm home I worry about going back to work!!

I was a little amazed when the staffing coordinator, at my new employee orientation last month, came in after being introduced to us and immediately started scowling at us that she never accepts call ins, especially on the weekends, and that if someone is truly sick, that employee needs to first come in and get their temperature taken. This staffing person has pretty bad people skills and has a nasty disposition. Most people hate her and alot of talk revolves around the fact that the employees don't feel supported or cared about at all. It's a fairly new management and the DON is known as "tough." I don't have any particular problems with her as she has always been nice to me (but I am a fairly new employee so there's always time.....) but this new management seems to be "anti-employee". I keep hearing how much more supportive the last administration was from even the longtime employees of 10 years or more, who are hoping things change soon or they will find another job. Just wondering, in your experience, is it better to be tough as nails or more supportive of the staff? I understand that call ins need to be justified and dealt with efficiently or no one will come to work, but to treat hard workers this way doesn't seem right. Some of us live 45 minutes away and have already decided we are not going to drive all that way to get our temperature taken by a nonclinical staffing person to determine we are truly sick. Just wondering if this is a routine thing in longterm care that I haven't run into before and what people think of it? Thanks, Vonique

Agree. On the one hand, I understand she was concerned for the resident, and I love that about her, but in addition to jumping to the wrong conclusion, such actions cause dissension and resentment among staff, and just generally a mistrust that whatever one does will be interpreted negatively and immediately reported. It's already happened to me twice at the same place in less than four months!!! And NEVER in my previous 20 years of ltc work. :) It's like living in a police state. Bad practice.

Yes, exactly! I've had those "administrative nursing" jobs where you put in all the time with no extra pay, and the minute you need time off you get asked to prove what you've been doing that justifies it. Hello???? How about I worked 60 hours last week, 20 of which was without pay...... So, I'm back to regular floor duty and I've actually redeveloped a love for it! And I'm in an area where the pay is pretty decent (I can make a living supporting myself and three teenagers--and no debt!). When I'm done I go home and that's the end of it. Joy!!!

I am an RN and love working LTC on the med cart. Everyone thinks I'm strange. I don't know how many times I hear, "Well you are an RN, what are you doing in a nursing home??" And I can just about hear them thinking, "And why isn't she at the desk instead of the LPN?" Most all the nurses are LPNs, even the unit coordinator/charge nurse. I love the daily resident contact and mixing in and around the CNAs. I help them alot. They know they can come to me to help them toilet residents or even clean them up. I answer lights when necessary. But I also love passing the meds, which most nurses seem to hate. To me, it's more than just pushing a cart and shoving stuff down throats. It gives me a chance to really observe the resident and see what's going on on the floor. Even in just a few minutes, you can do a pretty good assessment. At the end of the day, I try to help out at the desk with orders, lab reports and etc. That gives me more of a chance to use my other skills, so it's a good mix. Unfortunately, I'm looked down on because I'm an RN working the floor rather than being a supervisor, unit coordinator, QA, DON or ADON. I've done some of those jobs, and believe me, it's no day at the beach, and no appreciation. There's no greater feeling than seeing the faces of the residents light up when they see you coming, so glad that you are there because they know you will take care of them.

Totally agree. But I think the reason they do it is because they want someone with non-nursing eyes to look around and see how the residents look. In other words, how does the place look to any old John or Mary walking around visiting relatives. So, the intention is good, but definitely the wrong approach. I don't think the administration understands the resentment they are causing among the licensed nurses. This, in addition to all the other problems there. It doesn't seem as though this facility really cares to bring up their ratings, as they appear to insist on dragging the place further and further down. They just don't seem to get it. Bad management.

Well, maybe you are right when it comes to the smaller nursing homes, but I'm sure the larger corporations still rake in substantial gains. I understand the DON and administrator should make more because they have more responsibility, but I just wish they were a little more supportive toward the staff. "I wonder why so many nurses complain about there working conditions but continue to stay ? " I'm sure they stay because if they had to make a choice between feeding their children and working in a rathole or having the kids go without they would choose the former any day. The nursing home where I work has a large turnover of nurses. Some stay as little as two days. I have only been there five months but already I've seen at least six or seven nurses come and go, mostly staying a couple of months. Once another position opens up somewhere else, they are gone..............

"And as for the posters who think the nursing homes are making a huge profit, think again" Oh, the poor nursing home owners! Let's help them dry their tears, boo hoo..... Yes they DO make huge profits! That is why they are in it. And the DONs and administrators and CEOs also make 5 times what we make! Yet, they want the staff nurses to sign in a million areas of documentation, that way, when there is an error or a doubt, the nurse gets it up the you know what! Even though it was not his/her fault since they were expected to do 5 hours of work in just 1. Sorry, but that's the way it is.