redheadRN

At the faciltiy I work in, we have recently gotten a new in house physicain. He has done major cuts to some of our overmedicated residents. We have seen behaviors decrease from our residents, and our med nurses are happier too :chuckle . As an aside, did any one read the recent article in the AARP magazine about the pharmacist who consults for nursing home residents and has been making HUGE differences in their health. It's a great article if any one is interested.

I am an ADN nurse with 4 years experience in long term care and med - surg. Personally, I would not mind wearing a uniform as long as it is practical and comfortable. Also, the facility should launder it for me!:) This would be practical too since I hate the thought of bringing home any nasty things to my kids. I know certain specialties in my area ( OB and ICU ) have their own scrubs which they launder for staff and are shared. In the long term care facility where I work, the LPNs and RNs are supposed to wear whites. Some times I wish I could wear the different printed scrubs, some of them are really cute. Our residents like that we wear whites though, that way they can tell if we are licensed staff or not. The med surg floor I worked on was more lenient, you could wear any colored scrubs. It was confusing for the patients since the aides, techs and enviromental services also wear scrubs.

I work in LTC, and our new physician has prescribed a few residents Marinol, which is a concentrated pill form of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. We have found it highly effective for patients with chronic pain (mild to moderate), including one with hemophilic arthritis. Also an effective antiemetic. Point being, I guess what this nurse did is provide a street version of this medication. And yes, I know what we should promote legally as nurses, but we need to remember that we should advocate and help our clients first. Not make them feel guilty for receiving pain relief in one of the few means they have available. God bless this man and ALL his nurses.

Here in the U.S. I still have problems with ageism. I, too, am 26, and many older patients will wait until an older nurse comes in to ask any questions. So I usually will joke with them and say "Do you have any questions? I know I look young, but I 'm really very smart!" with a smile. Most of them will smile and feel more at ease. Good luck!

Hee Hee... Just giggling over the "nursey" way. Wow, I was naive to the way things "should be done". Agree totally with the Clinical Applications idea.

Sorry, didn't see you were from Georgia! :imbar Guess I don't know you, since I'm in NY.

I'm always glad to work with male nurses. Diversity makes life interesting ! Sometimes it's boring working with all women. I work in LTC, so I may have a slightly different perspective than some. One of my best friends is a male LPN. He really has very few problems working, except the previously mentioned heavy lifting. He is also always called if someone needs to be , um, escorted out of the building (a whole other story:uhoh3: ). The one thing that bothers him is that some of the elderly women will refuse care from a man. Our facility is closely linked with the Catholic church, and there are several nuns who live there. He tries to make them feel comfortable, but otherwise just trades with a female nurse for a different resident. Good luck !

Facilities like this exist in every state. This place should be investigated by the State you are in, and not be allowed to take in any more residents until things are fixed. However, not ALL facilities are like this. I work at a facility that has never told me how or what to chart, except to "be thorough and always document your interventions". It's true, LTC is notorious for unethical treatment of staff and residents. But, there are those of us that try to always do the right thing, no matter wher we work. Don't get me started on some of the unethical, illegal things I've seen on a Med/Surg floor :angryfire

Well I work in LTC and things always move slower for us! We still use Dakins for decubes(but there are MANY other, newer txs. we use also), we use saline for trach care, and have even been known to have our Stage 1s and Altered Skins treated with Desitin and Crisco. And if a resident needs a little, ahem, odor control for their peri area we still use Barbasol. As an aside, do any nurses who work L & D still use Sitz baths? My local hospital does (I had my daughter 7 months ago), but when I was in clinical a few years ago, the nurses at a larger hospital with a bigger OB unit didn't know what I was talking about!

WOW! I didn't realize this happened in ALFs. So who becomes responsible in the event of a medication error, since these people are not licensed. If an error occurs that results in injury, who is held ultimately responsible? (Please tell me it's not the nurse).

Depends on the shift usually. I work 3 - 11, have 48 residents (hello butterfly, do I know U?) and do all charting, meds, tx's, help CNAs, etc. We have usually a gtube or two, occasionally a IV, and trach care on a smaller unit of 32 residents.

I have worked with Alzheimer's clients for five years. Remember, residents are often combative out of fear. Try to take what they are fearful of (bathing, peri care, changing clothes, redirection) out of the equation and changing it into something the resident can understand. Don't rush ( I know, easier said than done in LTC). If the resident becomes extremely aggressive, make them safe and come back in fifteen minutes. Document what happens and make sure your Nurse Manager is aware of what is happening. Some behaviors only happen at certain times of day. PRN meds can be helpful, but often have rebound effect or become ineffective over time. Good luck and hang in there!

We just got a new MD at our facility, so things are changing. At present, we are giving a lot of Senna Tylenol Metoprolol Aspirin Depakote. By comparison, our facility really skimps on behavioral medications.:chuckle Of course, we use them, but not in my top 5. (Depakote the exception).

Hi there all! I'm new to this, but at our LTC facility we see alot of Alzheimer's residents with this symptom. It's called carphologia.