malem

I take care of a prvate duty patient that has a trach.He is an adult but he has sustained a brain injury and cannot communicate. His mother came into the room and felt his neck and told me that she could feel his sinuses "pulling" down into his lungs and he would need benadryl. He had no symptoms at the time. She was in a tizzy about it. Can you really feel someone's sinuse draining through their skin? I was never taught this in nursing school, but I am a new grad and I am sure they didn't cover 100% of everything.

I asked the administration about why they were doing away with the housekeeping staff and giving all of that work to the aides. She said that is was more "home like" and that our own homes did not have a housekeeping staff. If I had 30 people living in my home, and 1/2 of them were incontinent, I would DEFINITELY have a housekeeper. We had to clean toilets and empty garbages and WASH THE FLOORS. The care of the residents was greatly reduced. But we only had 2 aides for 30 residents. It DID LOOK NICE. Much more homey. But it is NOT the same type of home that you would live in if you were living on your own. It CAN'T be.

I worked in one of the first places to change over in my area. They got rid of the housekeepers as well. It was a nightmare for the cna's and the turnover was really high after that. To answer your question "NO ONE is toileting" They are taking out the garbage and cooking and the residents sit in urine.

I am not sure what they are spraying. I work as a cna for an agency and they send us into nursing homes. They tell us to keep all of our personal belongings off the floor, bed, etc. and even in plastic bags if we can. I have NEVER seen one but this is a precaution because other cnas, that work nights, have been bitten. And these are in gorgeous retirement facilities!! I have been asked to help completely strip the rooms of all washable materials, clothes, sheets, etc because the exterminator was coming to spray. All fabric items were going to be washed. We are absolutely NOT allowed to talk about it in the facility. They do not want anyone to know. We have to wait until we leave and then call the agency in private if we see them.

Southwestern Ohio has them in the hospitals. Patients bring them in with them. It is not an epidemic yet and we usually know which room/patient has them. Nursing homes are spraying for them quite a lot now too. They come in with the new residents when they bring in clothes, pillows, furniture, from home. UHG!!!!

I am a nursing student but I am a tech /PCA in a hospital. The other posters are correct about " real world" nursing. I kept trying to do things the way I was taught in the tech program in school. It made my co workers so angry when I kept my alzheimers patients covered while I bathed them. They stripped people down and poured water over them like a cow at a county fair, because it was faster and the patient could not complain. I just kept doing what I believed in and kept my mouth shut. I was really, really helpful to them and eventually it worked out. They went from being hateful to just teasing me all the time. It is VERY difficult to be the new one on the floor and to want to do things the way you were taught. I would just keep doing it but not point out to others where they are wrong. If they bug you about it just say that you are more comfortable doing it your way.

I completely understand that these boards are here as a safe places for nurses to vent and I completely support that. But I need to hear from nurses that have found there niche in LTC and have stayed there for any length of time. I need to hear from the nurses that enjoy it. I am a 50 year old mother of 3 that is just starting a 2 year RN program next week. I have worked for years in nursing homes as an aide and I loved it. BUT.... every place I ever worked, worked us to death. I worked night shift , alone or with one other aide and one nurse. I worked short every weekend and ended up with 30 full load patients to care for on my own, three baths in the morning, 8 people to get up alone. It is not possible to give that many patients any type of quality care. I have worked in big and small facilities, profit and non-profit and they were all the same if you are an aide. Too many patients, low pay, no ability to make anything better. Heartbreaking and stressfull... I have worked with some great nurses though!!!! They were so helpful to the aides and pitched right in. They always helped the aides if we were short and spent their free time with the residents. Some were the opposite though. I am still interested in LTC, but not as an aide any longer. I would like to hear from nurses that choose to stay in LTC. I know the patient ratio is way too high for nurses and administration listens way too little. I have seen all of that . But I am wondering, for those of you that feel called to work with the elderly in LTC, how do you cope? How do you stay? Knowing what you know...Seeing what you see? I know that they require nurses to overlook a lot, take a lot of shortcuts, etc. I need to know your tips, hints. I see a lot of nurses that quit LTC in the frist few months because of the stress and the sadness and the shortcuts. So if you stay in LTC please let me know how. Thanks

I have worked as a tech in a hospital, a CNA in LTC and a unit coodinator in a hospital so I have seen it from a few different sides. As the unit coordinator I sat at the desk and answered call lights. I always said "Can I help you?" meaning "can I listen to your need and direct you to the appropriate person." We were NEVER allowed to leave the desk and go help then ourselves although I would have becasue I was also a tech in the same hospital on other nights. I ALWAYS tried to get them to tell me exactly what they needed so I could call either the nurse or the aide. If the aide could do the job I called them first, since there are lots of things ONLY the RN can do. But MANY times the aide had 5 or 6 people stacked up waiting to go the the bathroom. Then I would check to see if the nurse was free. Many times the patient would NOT tell me what they needed they just insisted they needed their nurse. I then tried to prompt them, as in " Your nurse is busy, can I send in your aide?" But some patients insist that they see the nurse, even for ice. There were times when so many call lights were going off and admissions were coming in and Dr.s were placing orders, thru me, that I needed 6 hands. The desk can get super busy and I only realized that after I became a tech and a unit clerk.

I would go in private to the supervisor of your floor. If you have more than one, pick the one that you feel you can trust the most and that is the most level headed. Tell her that you aren't making any accusations but that you smell an "alcohol type smell" on that particular nurse. Mention to her that if you can smell it maybe the patients and families can smell it too. It may not be alcohol, just an odor that smells like that. The supervisor can investigate and hopefully leave you out of this. When I have had a problem like this with a co-worker I always give them the benefit of the doubt when I report it , but I do report it, without making accusations or drawing conclusions.

What area of the country are you in? I agree that gossip is everywhere and I have worked in some horrible places. But I have also worked in some places where it wasn't that bad. The difficult part is that you won't know what it is like until you get in there. Can you look into other types of places where there isn't the opportunity for people to sit around and gossip. I worked at a hospital where there were NO nurses stations. It was a new place,just built, and everything was done at the bedside. Every room had a small " nurses station" with a computer. There was a front desk for the unit secretary but that was it. There was no place to sit because they wanted you to keep moving. I never noticed much gossip there. There was just no place to sit and talk. I also worked at a LTC that was split up into "houses". The staff in each house was very small, sometimes only a nurse and a CNA and there was no opportunity for interaction between the houses. You stayed in your unit except for your own lunch break. The residents ate in their own "house" too. There was almost NO gossip there. We were so busy and it was more like a home type atmosphere. So there are places where it is not as bad.

I am an STNA in Ohio which is a State Tested Nurse's Aide. I work for a non medical home companion agency. I give showers, meals, check her blood sugar, take vitals and assist with anything the client needs and cannot do alone. They have a nurse come in once a week for everything else.

At the hospital I work in Nurses wear navy pants and white tops. Techs wear all navy. Housekeeping wears tan and maroon and RT wears green. I like it because it helps patients and families know who does what.

I work nights as a PCA in a hospital and I NEVER have a free moment. Everyone is hooked up to an IV pole and they are all on meds that make them have to go to the bathroom constantly. With that plus baths, turns, vitals, drinks, snacks, call lights, warm blankets, etc, I am busy all night. The patients never seem to sleep for very long and when they finally fall asleep someone wakes them up (lol) and they need something else. You will not be bored.

I am a PCA and I can totally sympathize with you. I am 50 years old and I have been a PCA for the past five years and I am just as frustrated by those that always seem to be sitting down at the nurses station. During a 12 hour shift I rarely get to sit down, even for a second. It is very nice when nurses will pitch in when I am super busy and take patients to the bathroom, pull them up in bed, etc. But I have also seen aides give a lot of attitude to nurses ( and vice versa). I think it helps to give a specific time that you need the task done by. " Ms. PCA, could you please take patient #1 to the bathroom before 11 a.m so that I can -------do whatever-----. I'll check back with you about 5 of 11. Thanks." I have seen this work with PCA's that are always trying to get out of their job.

Thanks, I got it. That is good to know. I can't PM you because I do not have 15 posts yet. I live about 1/2 hour from the school but my kids are teenagers so I do not use childcare. Where are you coming from?