ariella

:Melody: I haven't worked in any high tech field and I am ok where I am. This won't help but there are always people who end up in a career just for the money and their heart is not in it. I see this in some of the nurses where I work and in the CNAs. I decided I would try to be kind to my patients no matter what because I was hospitalized for several months as a child and some of the nurses were downright abusive. I remember one yelling at me because I dropped the thermometer out of my mouth(accidentally)and another who I still remember her name saying I made her sick because I asked for another piece of toast. I leave my work almost crying from leg aches but I pray every day that I never make a patient feel like I was made to feel as a little girl. QUOTE=minneRN]Someone, please give me some insight. I've been an rn for 7 years. I started out on a step-down cardiac unit. I loved heart patients. I did it for 5 years. I hated the beauracracy that went along with hospital nursing and that's why I left. I side tracked into case management for the last 2+ years and have decided that I want to go back to the step-down ccu and do what i've always dreamed of doing which is transition into the ccu/open heart unit. my problem is that i'm scared out of my mind! my experience with hospital nursing was not the best. nurses talk about you, say mean things, criticize everything you do or don't do, get angry at report time and I feel like i have to be perfect 100% of the time and nothing less is acceptable. i remember coming home some days and being a complete basket case because of something that happened at work some days. and then there is the good part, having a patient look at you and say, thank you for being here for me, sometimes it makes it all worth it. can you offer any words of advice....i want to go back to acute care, but i'm almost frozen out of fear....

:Melody:In my work place, there are many weasels but the queen is supposedly part of the social services department. She seems to think she is qualified in every area. She knows more than anyone else. It goes unnoticed that no one can work with her for very long and that few residents go out when she schedules day trips.She is unpleasant but somehow her air of confidence mixed with authoritarianism leaves her untouchable. Like all weasels she manages to avoid any repercussions. This person has no special training yet she is in meetings with the DON and the RNs. I am venting now because I am her latest victim. She is a viper and she makes the others pale in comparison. I go in tomorrow wondering what havoc she has created the past two days. It amazes me that these people keep their jobs forever and nicer people get pink slipped because of their lies. I could say more but we all know the type. It is too easy to dump on the overworked floor nurses and this weasel knows it.

I am well paid as an LPN but I work really really hard and have lots of responsibility. I do not expect to make an RN salary because I do rely on my supervisor, an RN when in doubt. I don't go running to her with every little thing but she is paid to be there for us. There are some signs that LPNs may be on the way out but I will deal with it when and if it happens. Right now, I Know I could not handle work and going back to school. I do not feel demeaned by not being considered qualified to do certain procedures. However, I am not in a facility where an RN has to recheck my work or give certain meds for me. Our RN supervisor does care plans and a lot of other paperwork whereas we, the LPN's work the med carts and do direct patient care. If LPNs are phased out, I will probably go to some other line of work. I love being a nurse but it is like the hardest job imaginable a lot of the time.

I work in a SNF. I am new to this site and I will be honest and say that there are lots of things I wish were different in nursing homes. However, it is true that unless you have walked the walk, it is too easy to as you say "have your blood boil." I worked home health before SNF and the most horrible neglect I have seen to date was in some of my patients who were "supposed" to be cared for by family members at home. I will not even approach any of it in writing here because it is still too upsetting. Now I will give my viewpoint as a nurse in a SNF. We have patients that come to us from home when the family finally faces that they aren't able to care for them properly. They come to us with heel ulcers and sacral ulcers and usually malnourished and dehydrated. Sometimes due to poor circulation to extremities, it takes months to years for the wounds to heal. This is with pressure mattresses, heel floating, nutrition supplements, etc. Many of our patients don't eat and drink adequate amounts and the family doesn't want extreme measures so they slowly waste away. The dehydration and frequent Uti's are common because many of the elderly in our facility no longer "get thirsty" and they retain urine. Some hold it in because they don't want to soil their brief so they get frequent infections for that reason. It would be great if we could get all our patients up to the bathroom every two hours but many are overweight and most are nonambulatory. We simply do not have the staff to do that. I will not lie and say we haven't had skin breakdown to start in the facility but I will say that there are usually many factors to be taken into consideration. As a student nurse, I had an elderly male patient assigned to me. He had cellulitis and both feet had horrible wounds. I remember being very upset because his nurse just looked at me and said "I wouldn't waste my time on his feet because they aren't going to heal. He will probably lose them." At the time, I thought it was cold and unfeeling but now I know she was just being truthful. I never give up though and I have had pts 80+ to get well and be able to return home. I was feeling really down afew days ago and thought no one appreciated us-like we are the bottom feeders of nursing. Our facility Dr. came in to review some pt charts and make rounds. He was there most of the afternoon and observed all that we do and encounter. He turned to me and said "I don't know how you nurses do this day after day." I know our facility would be better if we had more staff but we work hard and care about our patients more than any one realizes.

:Melody: I am thrilled to have stumbled on this site. I work in long term care-yeah, nursing home. Sometimes I feel like we are treated like the bottom rung of health care. We have a tremendous amount of meds to pass in a short time and it is commendable that we don't have more med errors. Today we had a med error discovered that affected 12 nurses. I felt most responsible because the med was given once a day and on my shift. Why did I not notice? Because the minute I walk thru the door I am hit from all sides with various duties. The worst of it is that I want to be a good nurse and become a better one but I stay too worn out to research anything. Today I had a situation where a patient had a critical lab-PT INR. I showed the lab to a senior coworker and then faxed the results to our Dr. I don't know why I did not call him then. About an hour later I called the Dr. and the pt was sent to ER. Everything turned out alright but it was just another time when I felt incredibly stupid. I think people in general regard nursing homes negatively. I hope the perspective changes because most of us in long term care are dedicated nurses.