ComeClarity

Of course nursing homes/SNF's are the main employers of LPNs in my area. And no, I don't have another job lined up, but life is too short to feel stressed out & unhappy, dreading work every day. I don't have kids so I could probably afford to even work part-time if I had to. I plan on getting back into school to get my RN asap, anyway. I don't believe that ALL LTC/SNF facilities are like this one, sorry. I became a nurse to provide good, safe patient care and I don't feel like I could ever really do that the way I want to at this facility. I'm not in this career for the $. Maybe long-term care isn't for me, I don't know at this point. I think it's best that I am honest with myself and what I want out of my career. My real goal is to become an OR nurse but of course, that could change.

I told them I did not want to work on the skilled/rehab side.. just.. no. I do not feel like I'm practicing safely on that unit AT ALL. I need something slower right now. ADON told me I could have 1 more week of orientation on the LTC side, but then, yesterday, I find out I'm working on my own on the LTC unit this weekend (after only really 2 days of orientation over there - I've been on the other unit the whole time of my floor orientation). I would probably be ok - if they give me the same group of residents all weekend but that's not a guarantee. I do like the LTC side better but hell, I'm not even certain that I'll be able to work over there - there's technically no LPN openings on the LTC unit but they said they may try to figure something out by getting rid of one of their PRNs or something (seems like this facility has more PRNs than staff nurses....). It seems like they are desperate to keep me despite me being a clueless new grad. I remember something one of my instructors said the last week of nursing school: If a facility is basically BEGGING you to work and seems very desperate to hire/keep you - be cautious, because it's probably NOT the best place to work! I think I'm just.. done with this place. Stick a fork in me.

Uh, this is not just a regular LTC unit.. there are a few long-term residents but most are short-term rehabbers or just released from the hospital & too sick to go home yet, still on IV abx or whatever. It kind of reminds me of a med-surg floor in a way. I guess they figure after a week we should have it down-pat..

So you're saying that I'm concerned for nothing? I became a nurse to take care of people - and I am not sure if I will be able to properly take care of these patients being a new nurse responsible for so many.

New grad LPN here, just got a new job in an LTC/SNF/rehab. I am working on the skilled/rehab unit. I'm a bit concerned because my week of orientation ends tomorrow and Wednesday, me and another new grad will be the only 2 nurses for about 45-50 patients. Each nurse on this unit, depending on census, gets between 20-30 patients.. which I know is par for the course for LTC facilities.. but many of these patients are a few days post-op or have serious health issues going on. I am so slow at passing meds.. and I understand that speed comes with time.. but for some of these patients, they need insulin and cardiac/anti-HTN meds and those just cannot be given late. I know you might say I need to research the MAR and find out which patients are the most critical but hell, most of them are on some sort of critical meds. Today, one patient's heart rate was near 130 because we were late getting her her meds. The good, experienced nurse I was with today could not even finish everything on time. I've just got a bad feeling about this. We were told when we were hired that they hired us because they wanted 3 nurses per shift instead of the 2 they have now.. which would break up the patient load into 15 pts per nurse (roughly).. but looking at the schedule, there's still the same 2 nurses per shift for the entire month.. except now I'm one of those 2. I almost feel like we were lied to? I'm going to talk to our ADON tomorrow and let her know how I feel about the situation. I am not sure I want to continue working at this place if I'm going to all of a sudden have 20-25+ patients to be responsible for. It's not safe for the patients OR for my hard-earned license. I HATE to be a quitter, that's not me.. but.. I just don't know. Thoughts?

I'm going to see how this week goes and then decide from there. I am not normally a quitter (if I was, I wouldn't have went back after the first day!). I just feel like it is a bad sign if my personality is already being openly critiqued by my unit manager. I'm friendly and I think I'm pretty easy to get along with - this past week has just been so stressful for me. I'm just going to do the best I can and learn as much as I can while I'm there and make the best out of the experience.

Thanks for your reply. Yeah, all this stuff is new to me so of course I am going to be more cautious or hesitant than a seasoned nurse..

I don't want to give out too many identifying details, but I'm a new grad LPN in my first nursing job and this was my first week of orientation on the floor. The unit manager made some comments to me, comparing me to another new orientee that I know quite well (we went to school together). We're polar opposite personalities - she is very loud/outgoing, and I am more quiet and reserved. The unit manager told me that I seemed very hesitant and my body language seemed like I was scared with patients - unlike the other orientee. She's barely been in the room with me at all when I've been dealing with patients. This week has been absolute hell for both of us - disorganized orientation, being paired with nurses who really don't want to train us and are very impatient with us, and just very overwhelmed with everything (subacute rehab unit in a nsg home). I've cried every day this week, I've been so stressed. The other new hire feels the same way, but she's better at poker-facing it than I am.. Even though I'm a little on the quiet side, I try to be friendly and speak with everyone, staff & pts alike, regardless of how stressed I'm feeling. Whenever I've gone into a pt's room to administer meds, I always greet them with a smile, ask them how they're doing, if they're in pain, if I can get them anything, etc. I dunno. I just felt that the comment was uncalled for, and quite unprofessional of someone in a management position. I guess she thought she was trying to help me out..? The more I think about it, the more it seems like passive-aggressive BS to me..

That's pretty unprofessional of them to say.

Even LPN jobs around the Central FL area are hard to snag right now (especially for new grads with no experience). Hospitals rarely hire us anymore, and even most of the nursing home positions I've seen are either wanting experienced LPNs or only offering per diem work. It's a bad time for -anyone- in any field to be job hunting.

I guess the only way to find out is to accept the job if they offer it to me and see how it goes. I forgot to ask them if they pay mileage - I would assume so, with gas prices being so outrageous. I also worry about putting so many more miles on my car, it's a '97 and I don't trust it for very much longer. I need a new one anyway though.

Thank you for your advice Caliotter. Since this company is known for hiring new grads, I'm sure they have some sort of decent orientation procedure. If I feel like I am not getting sufficient training/support, I'll be vocal about it and if it persists, I'll quit.

I'm not sure how supportive this company is to their nurses, I haven't interviewed with them yet. I understand about parents being concerned about a new, inexperienced nurse taking care of their child - I would be too. I am hoping they will start me out on less acute cases (such as a child with only a g-tube) and gradually introduce me to more acute children after more training. I have no qualms about being honest with the company and the parents about my skill level because my #1 concern is patient safety. I am hoping I'll get at least a few days of orientation from another nurse to each new case and not just thrown in on my own.

I think Valencia starts a bridge program 3 times a year now though. Not sure where you live, but you could always check out Lake-Sumter Community College in Leesburg too. That's really weird that Valencia is hard to get into and competitive, but SSC can't even fill their bridge program up? Also, the lowest GPA.. would that be your total GPA for ALL college classes you've ever taken, or just the GPA of your pre-req classes combined only?

I'm a newly-minted LPN with zero nursing experience besides my school clinicals. I have an interview with a peds HH agency on Monday that has hired a lot of new grad LPNs from my school. I'm a little familiar with them because we did peds clinical at their medical daycare and at some of their group homes. I will be doing shifts at individual patients' homes to start. I told the HR lady that I had no experience and she said "we'll work on that." Needless to say I'm still nervous! Especially knowing I'll be on my own. I was thoroughly honest with the lady - I am a bit familiar with administering meds and feedings through g-tubes as we did quite a bit of that during our peds clinicals, but I've never really had any experience working with trachs or vents, unfortunately. I'm really happy I have an interview and potentially a job lined up, I like working with children (although I don't think peds will end up being my specialty), I think it'd be less stressful and more flexible than working in a nursing home (basically my only other job prospect as an LPN in my area) which will be especially important when I go back to school to get my RN. Anyone have any advice for a nervous new nurse with no experience starting out in HH care? Pearls of wisdom? Thanks in advance.