constructiongal

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE LTC. I have since I was a CNA at 16 in TN. Once I received my RN I thought I had to work acute care, but as the Lord would have it no would hired me. I started work as a charge nurse and loved it. I was able to teach CNAs, CMTs, famliy and even resident. The geriatric population feeds my soul. I have looked into geriatric case management, but not available in my rural area. I am currently a SDC/IC nurse in a LTC facility and know beyond a shadow that I want to specialize in gerontology. I love showing other how to interact with this population and what precautions are needed. We get nurses and aids that don't realize how valuable they are to their residents and the quality care they can provide and I get to help them see and experience that. LTC is a calling as any other nursing specialty is, and I wish it was not undervalued so many times. I could go on and on, but let me end with this...for all you wonderful LTC nurses and aids I am sending a HUGE HUG, BIG SMILE and ENORMOUS THANK YOU!!!!

Hi to all case managers. I am very interested into getting into the field, but I am unsure what exactly will get me interviewed at least. I am an ADN graduating from BSN in May 2014 with 3 years experience as follows: 2 years LTC 1 year SDC I have not stopped learning, I went to leadership academy in LTC, CNA/CMT instructor, CPR instructor. Every description wants acute care. A large portion of our population is reaching and LTC has changed, with more acute cases becoming the norm. Before I begin, please know I do not want to come across as bragging, or complaining. I truly believe every nurse fights a battle for their residents/clients everyday and loves it. I can say that in LTC I have handled 44 residents, 4 aides, 1 CMT, 1 RA, 1 feadaide, been on call for 22 resident in RCF all at the same time. I have seen increasing amount of acute care cases, a wide variety of issues, done more blood draws, U/As, IVs, and cath inserts than many of my med-surg friends in a day. Talked with multiple physicians and other clinicians, changing my approach for each personality to be my resident's voice for reassessments and further treatments, Perform massive amounts of teaching about what resident's new meds are and how important PT is, ensure they understand why their home needs to be changed because of their health changes, ensuring adequate documentation that truly address their insurance reimbursement and built amazing relationships. I have learned new ways to teach younger generations information. This is what we do as nurses; this is our love, so how do I get a job to truly recognize that in a LTC work history? Thank you to all for their time and consideration. Jen

I personally suggest a good quality digital recorder. I record my readings of the saunder's comprehensive review and my lectures. I then load these onto my laptop, change them to mp3 files and play them back at double speed on windows media player. I also download the chapter audio reviews from the evolve website for my textbooks. These I also play a double speed. This requires you to wear head phones, so you are not distracted, you will get use to it. It allows me to go through lectures and info in ahlf the amount of time and my mind doesn't wander like it does at normal speed. I also do something completely different. I take my nursing textbooks apart and seperate them into different colored 3-rings binders according to how they will be cover in class. I will also include all class notes for that section. This makes the inforamtion for each section more portable and allows me to study anywhere. Oh a good digital recorder is one from olympus, mine is from Best buy.

I have never been one not to work, so this is a foriegn concept. However my husband and I have both noticed that every week it gets a little bit harder to hold my emotions in check so I can focus. Fortunately we have been living carefully on my husband's job. I was also able to qualify for various grants and scholarships therefore greatly reducung the level of debt, so finances aren't a HUGE problem. Also there are a fair amount of jobs available around here. I am applying to one hospital that I am the most interested in, they are recruiting, have a great benefit package made for students and a wonderful reputation. They also knew my mother personally, she was a physician and patient.

Well here's the senario. I graduate in May with my ADN. Yeah!! The road has been challenging, as most know. Sadly, my mother was diagnosed with Breast cancer and passed away during my first year. My husband and I chose to get married so she could be there for the ceremony. My husband also just had major surgery this past x-mas. I did not take any time off at all, because my mom biggest wish was to for me to graduate and I adored her and my husband has supported this completely. I feel blessed even through all this turmoil. However, I am really needing a break and was thinking about taking 8-10 weeks off before going to work. so I can breathe and grieve. What do you think?

Thank you for the comments thus far. I have to say I think my school has done a good job of helping us realize the level of stress we will see during our nursing careers. We had a class called nuring issues that dealth with learning how to manage job stress and staff interactions. Our teachers have been verry candid about stressful working with techs, doctors, fellow nurses and adminstration will be. Each instructor has strongly encouraged us to set our limits and stick to them. They stated this was an issue for them when they got out of school and they want us to succeed as nurses, not just survive. I also am more aware than others about how stressful interactions can be, with a father who was an LPN and a mother who became a physican. Once again I thank everyone thus far for their input and hope to recive more replies to my survey.

As a nursing student getting ready to graudate my school has us individually identify a need in nursing and develop an intervention. First I am gathering insight from you the experts and I will truly apprecitate all input. Many thanks. 1. How important is therapeutic communication to patient care? a. Scale 1 to 10 i. 1 not all important ii. 10 very important 2. What constitutes therapeutic communication to you? Select all that apply a. Talking while checking IVs and doing assessments? b. Telling them about their progress? c. Eye contact and getting on the client's level? d. Listening to client's personal concerns e. Other: please describe: 3. How often do you ensure therapeutic communication occurs with your clients? a. Every time in the room b. once per shift c. several times per shift d. rarely 4. When you are pushed for time, which intervention is the first to go? a. Safety b. Documentation c. Therapeutic communication d. Assessments e. Pain management 5. Do you believe therapeutic communication helps in the healing process? a. Yes b. No