msmassey

Love long term care ! I have done nursing homes and assisted living....nursing homes = running your butt off mostly....but even the very worst day I have had in assisted living doesnt compare and often times is VERY MELLOW esp after the nursing home madhouse! I love my residents! I work 12hr pm shifts and my first med pass is my most sociable time with them. There are several who like to chat when I come around and I try to give them time for this and in doing so it usually is a very pleasant med pass!

I was right where you are straight outta nursing school. I worked at a nursing home 12 hr shifts and was completely and totally overwhelmed. I was supposed to be the med nurse and they had someone who did wound care and an RN was supposed to be on shift (days) to handle to MD orders/visits/phone and alot of the paperwork.....it ended up being us LPNs doing alot of that and more- 12 hrs turned into 14 hr shifts nearly everyday ! I left crying many times. I took another job within the same corperation but totally different facility and discovered with better management - my job there was SOOO much easier. They had a clearer and more fair division of work and the acuity level of the patients was much higher. That being said -my job was still hard and when we had admissions or had to send someone out to the ER or even just had a fall - it would put you behind....so it had its awful overwhelming moments too. Here is the thing - find someone on staff to mentor you informally. They can show you ways to prioritize care and save time. Also - remember - stuff happens - if someone gets thier meds late cause another resident is vomiting blood...what can you do? Apologize and move on. I work assisted living now-it is so much easier and less stress than both nursing homes I worked at! If you like LTC and Geriatrics try Assisted living.

THe highest paying jobs in Elizabethton/Johnson City nursing are Nursing homes or Assisted living - home health pays well too. Hospitals, Clinics and Dr offices pay the least pretty much in that order. Alot of nursing homes will hire new nurses LPNs and RNs. I think the going rate for RN's is about 25 bucks. Also CNA work is plentiful too! I am not sure of the rate there anywhere from 8 to 12 I believe. In home care (not thru a service) as a sitter ranges about 10 bucks per hour to 100 per day (for 24 hrs)