m5nurse

So I graduated in December 2007 and received my Rn license in Feb 2008. What a joyous time...til I realized there were no jobs! Then I found out that I was expecting twins in the middle of job searching. So I've been a stay at home mom/ job hunter! So I recently got hired, finally as an RN at an LTC and I was so thrilled I didn't know what to do with myself! Then reality hit...orientation 4 days...training 5 days then on the floor on pm's by myself....30 patients and 3 c.n.a's. Ummm excuse me? Repeat that again? I agreed to what now? I couldn't sleep....I tossed and turned thinking about the harm I could cause as a new nurse without proper training. My license is worth a lot....and I want to be a good nurse, in a good comfortable setting....but I need the money and have kids to care for. It was a hard decision but I resigned after only 7 days of work....crazy huh since "beggars can't be choosers" but....there are so many things to be careful with in LTC. Meds, lots of them, 30 patients, being interupted in the middle of med pass can cause serious med errors and there were always interruptions. You have to do damn near everything.....like ordering meds for patients from an outside pharmacy and if you forgot all hell would break loose. Rounders, weeklies, ordering supplies, stock meds, charting on 30 patients, plus directing cna's, dealing with stressed out family members who are in pain from the decline of their family member. They facility ran out of gloves...huh? Is that not something you need an abundance of in a medical facility? The CNA's walked around chit chatting half the time and the nurses copy and pasted there charting on patients...meaning they never took the time to assess their patients. Another thing disturbing was the amount of nursing negligence that I saw...nurses giving parenteral medications with no gloves, not giving the correct amount of medications and not assessing their patients! It was a wake up call to say the least, and i'm not saying that all ltcs are like this. But there were some awesome hard working nurses that put on a smile and did their job the best that they could...God bless them.:redpinkhe Oh and the other thing about ltcs...highly regulated by the state because they have a lot of medicare pts....what does that mean....the state is always there inspecting the facility. The funny thing is that the state comes all the time yet manages not to see all the eroneous mistakes! ***! It was a really hard decision and I cried about it, I'm still having a hard time with it. Part of me says that I have standards and safety is a big concern. The other part of me wishes I could have stuck around, sucked it up....for my kids future. UUHHH! But really good critical thinking skills are needed in LTC, don't think you're just passing meds...I think a solid background of acute care is needed too be an LTC nurse because of the level of independence that is given to you. Plus you are also filling a surpervisory roll. So I'm sad that I gave up this opportunity but really...should a new nurse be put in a situation of taking care of 30 pts? Good Luck to you all who are looking for a job...i'm back on that saddle again!