BiBi777

@itsmejuli, I second that 100%!! :)

Uh-ohhhh, did someone forget to cover their sneeze or is the booger man just melting from the heat?

As long as you're HAPPY who cares what the "other people" think? CONGRATS!!!! :-)

If you like LTC, you're good.....

Sorry for all the formatting code, I don't know what's wrong

From the 4 different LTC facilties I've worked at over the past 6 years, there's only been ONE that had a good rating and didn't work their nurses as you describe. That was the State VA Nursing Home in Land O' Lakes, FL. The other 3 are just as you described (All in the Tampa Bay area) All I can tell you is that you do one of 3 things:) 1)Work off the clock, like I've seen WAYYYY to many nurses do. 2) Start circling what you don't get done & pass it on. (As one of my old NH's stated, "It's a 24 HR facility....BLECH!!! I understand that mentality, but when it's EVERYDAY b/c you're SO OVERWHELMED? 3) Lie about what you do/don't get done (NO, I'm NOT ADVOCATING THIS!!!!! It drove me NUTS when nurses I worked with did it!!!!!) You just have to get into a groove as quickly as possible and get as much done as humanly possible as you can. I broke it down once in an 8 hr shift, with 30 patients, we have 16 MINUTES to devote to each patient (That's EVERYTHING, from meds to charting to treatments......) AND that's WITHOUT a 30 min "lunch" break. If you factor in that little tidbit (a break...ha-ha), you get 15 mins w/ each pt. That is the ONE thing NO ONE ever told me about nursing......was how strapped you are in actually CARING for your people. However, just the fact that you CARE enough to CARE about the difficulties tells me that you're in the right place!!!Keep on praying, keep on trucking and I wish you the absolute BEST in your career!!!!!

NewRN- AMEN! I've met a few nurses who "Did it for the money" and they HATE their job, they hate their very lives...one of them is a HOSPICE nurse!!!!!! *SHUDDER* anybody wanna chew on that thought?? Hate job/hate life/ caring for end of life......S*C*A*R*Y!

Since you're only 22....why don't you join the military? Decent pay, bene's, job advancement, paid vacations, food/housing provided, paid training. Yes, you're a gov't worker...BUT, if you play your cards right, you could walk out after 4-8 years and get a job paying much MORE than the you're looking at. Just be careful about what job you pick. Plus being a veteran has it's own benefits :) Both of my daughters decided to join the navy, I was army and my DH was Coast Guard Reserve. Just my 2 pennies thrown in. I'll say a prayer for you in discerning your best path :)