pumpkin92356

boy thats right they cant tell you what to do when you are on break!

I think its like that everywhere you go. There's always a conflict between co-workers and this creates attitudes.

I think it becomes very easy to forget that some residents still have feelings for the opposite sex. You know that old saying "Snow on the rooftop doesnt mean there isnt a fire still in the furnace" but I would definitely make sure it was documented and the families were made aware and almost pay special attention to whats going on when they are together alone. They do have privacy rights you know. Worked at a facility once where two residents male and female fell in love and they were always trying to be with each other and when they were found to be attemping sexual acts the families decided they should get married and they did and lived the rest of their lives together happy and sharing their room together.:heartbeat:D pumpkin92356

How sick!!! An artificial nail found on a patients bottom!! I think that would have made me get sick and I usually have a strong stomach being a nurse and everything! That is just sick!!!

Wow! The rush to impress the state surveyors goes on at every facility I have ever worked at. I worked at a state facility when the DON employed there was caught up with pushing the pen on the paperwork. The state moved in on the facility and stayed there for a month picking every little lit ball from under the beds! They even wrote the place up for having the ice tea to warm! So it doesnt pay to lie to the state. They have been around and know who is telling the truth and who isnt. pumpkin92356:D

Recently my facility hired some new aides to work the floor and they had those artificial fingernails that you have put on at the salon. Well my boss told them that they needed to remove them because of infection issues and potential harm to the residents. They protested saying that it was their right to wear their fingernails long as they kept them at a decent length and that at their previous place of employment they were allowed to wear them. We have a couple of patients who have MS and are scared to death of those nails scratching them as they are unable to move themselves and would have to have the aides bath them etc. This issue to me is totally ridiculous because I know personally that if I was unable to move and a nurse approached me with "CLAWS"! I would certainly be ready to scream Help!!!! What kind of facility would ever let aides wear those stupid fingernails and lord if I ever have the misfortune to be a resident in such a place. Any feedback? Thanks Pumpkin92356

From what I have observed over the years concerning nurses and backstabbing each other etc. Nursing is a very hard job period. The pay can be the *****! and most of the time the staffing is short because of money issues with the facilities and management that doesnt get involved with these issues so they continue. A lot of nurses are tired of the working conditions and demands that are put on them by management and the public. The constant pressure of the job the stress this causes makes many nurses become territorial and unwilling to accept newcomers as equals because they feel the newcomer as somebody who they have to put up with along with their other job demands. There can also be a certain resentment towards other staff who are not as educated as they are and helping to relieve their stress they lash out against that particular staff member its a way of venting their personal frustrations with their job and its workload. Nurses are constantly faced with the daily legal issues of the job and making mistakes can cost them their license. So putting the blame on others might also be their way of protecting themselves from blame should a legal issue concerning patient care come up. (med errors etc.) Its a shame that it is this way. There are many wonderful nurses out there who are caring and love their jobs if only they could be left alone to do their job they way they in their heart know how to then maybe the backstabbing would cease.

Well this can be typical when you are short staffed. But my question is why wasn't your supervisor out there helping on the floor till you got some help? Most RN supervisors will get out there and help if asked in a pinch. I know I have seen my DON putting patients on bedpans and assisting with meals so her LVN could get the morning meds passed when aides had called off or were delayed in getting to work some mornings. And calling in the troops is needed sometimes when patient care is an issue. The safety and care of the residents should always be the first priority whether you are an aide or a DON. Don't you agree? Good Luck, Pumpkin92356:D

Has this resident been diagnosed as having some form of dementia or is he depressed. Is he physically abusive or just making verbal remarks towards staff. If he is only verbally abusive most facilities will tell you to have other staff assist him if he doesnt want you. He unfortunately has the right to tell you not to go near him if he so chooses. Document, document his behavior so you will have something to show the doctor and maybe some type of medication can help him with his rude and aggressive behavior. But all I can say in my experience as an aide for many years is Grin and move on as there are always some patients that arent going to like you and some other staff member will just have to attend to his needs in your place. And most of all don't take his behavior as personal towards you he is what appears to me to be trying to retake control over his life now that he is in a nursing home he probably feels that this is the only way in which he can draw attention to himself. I don't know if this will work but you could try and talk to him and ask him (when he seems to be in a good mood at the time) if there is something you could do for him that would help him and you take care of him. Let him feel that it is all up to him and he might feel that sense of control that he is trying to get back. Because he is in my opinion a classic case of "Resident demanding Control". Good Luck you are going to need it. If this resident feels like you are trying to rule him then this could be the root of the problem. Try a more passive approach letting him feel he is the boss. Pumpkin92356:D

I have just one question, Most facilities start measures to assist residents in having regular bowel movements within 2 to 3 days. You said your resident stated she hadn't had a bowel movement for seven days. My question is why wasnt something done before seven days? I hope I didn't misunderstand you? Does she say this even though it is reported that she has went sooner than 7 days? If it isn't charted then the state is going to assume that she hasn't went no matter what you or whoever says to the contrary. Far as I know you must have orders to digitally remove feces. It is extremely dangerous if you don't know what you are doing. Thanks pumpkin92356:D

I think one of the most ridiculous sites I have ever seen in a hospital setting is the wearing of bluetooth headsets by nurses and various other staff during working hours. Most of my residents have never heard of these devices and have thought that a nurse or other staff member was speaking to them or talking to themselves because the resident didnt realize that the stupid device that they are wearing on their heads is a phone. I myself on many occasions have wondered what in the world does anyone have to say that they must wear one of these stupid headsets for 24/7!!! I know I wouldn't want a nurse or other medical professional working on me and talking to their callers at the same time!!! any comments on this subject? I hope I"m not the only one who feels this way? Phones should be left in the car or at home during working hours period! Thanks Pumpkin92356

Thanks for all the input, I appreciate the help , I will try some of the suggestions I have read. I agree that the resident should be able to use the commode when he wants as I myself would not want to sit and wait for to relieve my self. But he has been evaluated and has no physical problems that the doctors can see that would make him need to go so frequently also the majority of the time he doesnt do anything. He is very mean and demanding. We don't have a standing lift at my job as of yet. Thanks again everyone! Pumpkin92356

I'm a CNA and this kinda sounds like a form of resident abuse? I would think that knowing that a resident is sitting in his own urine would be a dignity issue that could be reported not to mention willfull neglect? If that was my father there certainly would be hell to pay! I wonder if those CNAs realize that letting this resident sit like that is a form of abuse and they could lose their certifications. pumpkin92356

Well this is probably going to sound like a broken record but here it goes. At my facility we have a male resident who rings approximately 20 or more times a shift to get up and down on his bedside commode. The problem with this is transferring him back and forth from bed to commode and so forth. Many times due to his weak legs we have asked him if using a bedpan would be okay? The lift that we have is a full hoyer and isn't practical for this type of transfer. The Licensed staff demand that we transfer him back and forth as many times as he requests. Over a dozen girls have been injured in one way or another by this resident as he weighs over 200 pounds. He is sexually aggressive and rude and yells nurse! nurse! in between using his call lite. He has three different alarms on his bed because of non-compliance with using his lite to ask for assistance. He will not wait one minute for anything. The other residents do not like this guy because of the time he takes away from them. We have approached our nursing staff with the problems we have with his care and they say that we must continue to obey his requests. I feel that these nurses need to try their hand at this resident for a day and see if they can go home without a sore back and sprained arms. What can be done with this situation before this resident gets seriously hurt or we CNA's do? Our LVN is fed up too, she has went in the room and politely informed the resident that he needs to use his bedpan if he is to weak to bear weight on his legs because he is hurting the girls and he says "Who cares" I pay their wages" Any ideas out there??? Thanks Pumpkin92356

Where I work at you have DON, MDS, staff developer etc all on the day shift and we have one extra CNA total of 4 aides and LVN for 50 patients. What gripes me is that the swing shift does everything we do on day shift but we serve one extra meal that is lunch. The PM shift does just as many baths and during the dinner time one of them has to go to the main cafeteria because some of the residents about 5 prefer to dine independently and an aide has to be observing for choking assisting with serving food etc. This leaves 2 aides and one lVN to tackle the rest of the facility during dinner. We have 11 residents on bedalarms and 2 that yell out for the commode at least every hour. The staffing for pm shift needs at least one more aide like we have on dayshift.