Leelee2

I think it is crazy that animal shelters have more regulations that LTC. In Wisconsin the statutes say "facility must provide "adequate" staffing to meet the safety needs of the residents. What exactly is adequate? One licensed nurse to 50 residents is not adequate in my opinion. LTC has a bad reputation over the years in many areas...

The supervisor sounds like a real winner....if she is a smoker, why couldn't she take the 5 minutes to smoke this resident?? If you are not a smoker, and have health issues which being around smoke irritates...then you should be exempt from smoking the residents. I never understood why this is a nursing responsibility in the first place. They are plenty of smokers in laundry, kitchen, housekeeping, administration that could spend 5 minutes smoking these residents also.

I've been hearing that the LPN program would be obsolete back in the late 1980's. LPN jobs are still available, though mostly in LTC, home health, and clinic settings. If i had to do it all over again though...I would go for 2 year RN program!! Lots more opportunity, and LTC facilities are getting worse and worse to work for, imho.

Great example of real life situation!! Pain is what the patient says it is period.

Wow. That is falsification of records. Do you have a Risk manager in the facility? At the least, I would contact the Nurse Manager and report this. Unacceptable and dangerous.

If facilities would learn to retain staff by treating them like cherished employees, they wouldn't need to worry so much about the net loss from continuing to train new nurses, over and over and over again. Seems simple enough to me.

Arnie, It is time to leave your current position. You HATE it, you feel defeated, you are not enjoying it at all. It is possible after years that you may make a small difference, if that is a good enough possibility for you than by all means stay...If not, it is time to move on. Life is way too short here on this earth, to be that unhappy. That level of stress is not healthy or sustainable.

16 hour shifts in LTC, very little job training....RUN to med-surg!!

I think something like lab or xray tech sound like it may be a good fit for you!! Best of luck in whatever you decide to do.

Ahhh, only 4 hours later, and I get a call for an interview tomorrow morning. In a completely different field, non nursing. Feeling that this occurance is probably a Blessing in disguise!!

Work In LTC setting...only nurse for over 40 residents. THEY are my priority. Family member interrupts me while I am in process of med pass and drawing up insulin....I don't jump to her non emergency issue. Reports me. NO previous write ups. But as I say...I am happily moving forward. But will miss the residents that I truely cared for greatly :redpinkhe

Well the more to the story is this....VERY small town. VERY low census. Regardless, I am happy to be moving on. I do want to deliver healthcare but not in the environment that puts more emphasis on kissing up to guilt ridden family members...than on actual care of the residents it serves.

After being told I am a great nurse, with excellent assessment skills and documentation....with zero resident complaints against me...and they said I was great with the residents...I was fired. For what?? Lack of customer service skills!! Really?? Yes because census is low we must kiss up to all the family members that complain on a daily basis....Yikes, this is Not what I signed up for. Moving forward and moving on. "The customer is always right" saying is great in retail or maybe in a fine dining place. In healthcare...sorry...but the "customer" may not always be "right"

OP good for you for standing your ground! The teamleader needs to be spoken to regarding her inadequate communication skills. In nursing (and working in general) communication needs to be clear. She should have called you and Asked if you felt ready to be on your own, not just assumed you would be fine with working the floor during your orientation. It's her leadership that needs the improvement here.

Hospital setting is more challenging, more interesting. Different kind of stress. Scheduling is usually less flexible than NH. I would check into benefit value (as above poster mentions) and also check into the shift differentials and the monetary amount for each shift. The opportunity sounds great! If you don't need that extra cash that you'd be loosing out on, I'd say go for it. I'd also check with hospital as far as low census policy, does LPN get called off more frequently than RN's. When I took a med/surg position, low census did become an issue for me.

Ouch, the unions look like they are about to collapse under the new gov. Walker...looks like you are about to loose collective bargaining rights. Talk about taking away state employees workplace rights!!

Most policies state call bells should be answered in five minutes or less. The average wait time I have seen is 5 to 10 minutes, depending on time of day. After supper always seemed to be an incredibly busy time. If you are unhappy with the results, then you should contact the DON of the facility. If still unhappy after speaking with DON, wait a few days see if there is any improvements, if not, contact facility administrator.

i left several years ago, they cut me a check for all of my vacation time.

Hi Nightengale, I just want to say that I am sorry that you are going through this. :heartbeat I am thinking of you and praying for a good outcome in this "investigation" I am sorry that you are being punished for speaking truth. It's really kind sick how many evil players are in this profession...

Have you looked into other job types?? Not sure if Texas has special funding for say Autism programs? Or would you consider doing childcare in your home? As a nurse/mother this may be an option for some extra income, and you have more control over the home environment? I know it isn't totally nursing...but it may be an option.

Staying on low dose ADHD meds works for me too. Has never been an issue in hiring/testing process.

Keep in mind that some patients temp's run low to begin with, so the temp may only be slightly elevated. The RUQ pain was probably the liver being irritated by the graves disease being active. From all the other symptoms mentioned, it sounds like a thyroid storm. With the thyroid levels being that off, she should have been treated with anti-thyroid medication.

With your personal experiences, and a love for nursing and learning...I was thinking that teaching may be a perfect fit for you.

Vicks. A small amount under your nose. I always carry this in my nursing bag!

In times like these it pays to remember that you can (eventually) get another job. Your license is not as easy to replace if suspended. This place sounds like an absolute nightmare in LTC.