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I work at an ALF. I am 1 of 3 nurse managers, we have 60 beds, no skilled cared residents. We have 4 cna staff on 1st and 2nd shift and 2 cna staff at NoC's, they do all the cares and med passes. Our role is supervision, training and managing the nurse office , ( DR. orders, charting assessment, managing pharmacy meds. scheduling , being there for staff ,fielding phone calls, disaplining staff, etc..) We do not do complex treatments, tube feeders, no cath care, or any thing that requires skilled nursing. we would have to have a home health nurse come in for that. We rotate being oncall and have to fill in shifts if we can't cover one. We work mon-fri but someone is oncall at all times. On the week ends we take turns going in andcounting the narc drawers. our facility is private owned and mostly all private pay.

SOUTH EASTERN WIS: LTC - $17.00 to 20.00 PER HOUR CURENTLY WORKING CBRF AS NURSE MANAGER $20.00 PER HOUR 5 YEARS EXPERIENCE

Hi everyone, I have been so frustarted at work. I work at an Assisted Living as a PM nurse manager. It is a nice facility. We have on staff a RN and another LPN whom I will call WD. She is the reason I am so frustrated. She is very snippy and disrespectful to all staff, including the boss , sometimes residents and family, she only does what she wants to do , if I start something like POS's she won't help with them, Our boss asked us to cut down on hours so the new RN could be brought in , I did , she whined and won't. Sometimes she is so bad my boss sends her home, she is on salary so gets paid for going home early, When there is a issue that stems from her, our boss, talks to all of us like we are part of the problem.We are a on-call schedule, there was a call in for noc,s and I get a call from her , she is laughing and says I need to cover 3 rd shift because I start on-call at midnight. That night I had the flu and was really sick, she would not cover for me and I had to go in to work.When it is her time to be on-call and she has to cover the shift, she expects my boss to cover it with PRN staffing. My boss told me in December, I would go on salary and WD would have to cut back on hours, that has not happened, I have been there for about a year. I never feel like we are a team. I am also frustrated with my boss also because she lets this continue. I like the job because no weekends and no holidays, but at times I think I should move on which would put me back in LTC and weekends and holidays. I am so torn about what to do or how to handle the situation.Any suggsetions or comments would be appreaciated. Thanks

I loved the story everyone shared about their residents. My mother and my family suffered through Alzheimer's, she passed away 2 years ago. I worked the Special Care unit in a LTC facility, we had a lady that could tell you stories about going to the moon to find a cure for cancer to being there when Jesus was crucified. ( she voted against it) Mother Mary was always visiting her and any thing you did she did. One time we were discussing plastic surgery, she raised her hand and said " I had plastic surgery one time." I thought of course you did. Than she said" it did not last very long" I loved it on that unit. The disease is a nasty thing for people and families to go through. Sometimes laughter can get you through.

:yeah:Thanks Sue for your support of LPN's. I get tired of trying to justify why I am an LPN not a RN. We are nurses too.

I have had my LPN license for 5 years next month, I was seriously thinking about going back for my RN, after thinking about it for months I decided against it. I currently work in mamangement in assisted living, no weekends, no holidays,no med passes, I love it. I am 50 years old and just don't want to spend the next 3 or 4 years in school when I enjoy my job and family life.

I have been a nurse for 5 years in Feb. 4 years in Ltc, it is pretty much how you described, I t took me at least 4 to 6 months to feel confident in handling my unit and understanding my job. I f you like this kind of nursing hang in there, I find there is always a nurse that will answer questions and help as needed, you just have to find her. This past year I have been working in Assisted Living as nurse manager, No med passes, no medicare charting, managing staff and f/u on orders and charting etc, I don't miss the hetic shifts of LTC. As for training 5 days was done if you were lucky, as soon as there was a call in I was on my own. I always had a small notebook in my pocket for assessments and a small drug book,also made sure my cart was set up with everything I needed .I too pulled all my charts for charting and put them back when done.I also found the weekends where easier because no MD calls, and used them to help me get better orginized. Tube feedings and other skills take time to get comfortable with, some day you will make through a shift and think wow I am doing It .It is a very challenging job, Good luck,

I have been working in al for almost a year, this is after working in LTC previous, We have a RN on call and staffed with 2 LPN , I am the PM supervisor, I manage the nursing office, f/u with MD orders, Monthly POS, ISP's and answering questions from non licensed staff,assess residents after falls or other injuries, and change of conditions, manage medication ordering, admissions, supervision of staff,etc.. whatever comes my way I manage, we are also on call for a couple days a week, I work 4 days a week and no holidays or weekends, the cna staff do all med passes and and minor treatments, complex treatments are done by visiting nurses, We are limited by the things we can do because of the CBRF license, but I love it. I always wanted to do the managing side of nursing, I will probably stay here for a long time. I don't miss the stress of LTC nursing and our staff are awesome and facility is beautiful. ( It is a 60 bed unit)Nursing skills such as caths. etc aren't used but I have learn so much more.

i worked ltc for 4 years after graduating, what you describe was the same at the facilities i worked at. my unit also had 32 residents. it took me at least 4 to 5 months to adjust to my work routine, it is crazy and hetic, but it does work. i believe an unit with that many residents should be handled with 2 nurses or at least a med tech, but in reality that rarely happens. we were written up for o/t, but you have to finish your work there are some things you just can't push off to the next shift. i stayed and finished no matter what. some times that meant a 12 hour shift. i would never work off the clock i know nurses who did to avoid write ups. the facility i last worked at was a horrible place. i always felt my licence were at stake and the administration did not back you up or support you. i now work as a pm manager at an assisted living. a whole new ball game and so much nicer.. only down fall is being on- call.