KSinMT

Hi, I've worked in LTC for the past 15 years in 3 different facilities. The most recent facility I work in, the DON claims it is a state regulation that she cannot work the floor if census is above a certain number. I have never heard of any such regulation, and I know it is not a company policy because this particular facility was recently bought out by a different company. I suspect this "regulation" was made up by the former DON and is being carried on. Has anyone ever heard of this before? I would think in a crisis or emergency situation it would be the DON's responsibility to cover the floor if needed but she will not due to this supposed "regulation". We have a new administrator and I'd like to ask him about it but I don't want to be "that person" and cause any trouble!

It's not that, it's just a nicer response than "none of your business" and I'd rather not get into a debate with co-workers about the vaccine. I prefer to stay neutral at work.

I haven't read through all the comments, but just wanted to answer the question. Me personally I chose to NOT get the vaccine. I have not had Covid, even after working in a Covid unit for weeks. I have heard several people grumbling about how they can't believe everyone isn't getting the vaccine. I would say at least a third of the staff in my facility chose not to, including one of the owners. I personally have not gotten any backlash because I've only discussed it with maybe 2 other people and as far as I'm concerned it's none of anyone's business who got vaccinated or who didn't. I haven't had anyone ask me, and if they did I would tell them I'm not comfortable answering that question.

No to full PPE, regular surgical masks yes. I'm on the fence about weekly testing, but lean toward no. Maybe in hot spots.

Why can't people be accountable for themselves and their own choices? If Trump jumped off a bridge, then others did the same thing, is it his fault those people made their own choice to also jump off a bridge? Everyone knows people should not be taking any prescription drug without discussing it with their MD, and without a valid prescription which is exactly what Trump did. If people visit their physicians and the physician decides to write them a prescription for hydroxychloroquine and they have ADR's I fail to see how that is Trump's fault.

You cannot fairly state these are all facts and I'm sorry, but I find it very disheartening to see a nurse spreading this kind of fear and misinformation. The fact is statistically most people who get this virus DO recover and with the prevalence of all the conditions you have listed there is no way many of the people who have already recovered don't have some of the underlying illnesses for which you state chances of survival are "slim to none". This is a public forum so I worry people who are already scared and uninformed will come here to read what nurses are saying, see something like this and panic even more than they already are. Many areas in the US have very few cases and deaths, so not everyone is going to have the same experience you are with this virus. I am one of those people who lives in an area that just isn't seeing that level of destruction. I don't want to downplay this or say it isn't serious, because it most certainly is for some, but you are only seeing and acknowledging the worst in this post, and not taking in to account the thousands of people that aren't patients in your hospital who have already recovered or who will recover.

I work in an LTC and if any of our employees answer "yes" to the question on their screening forms about household members having symptoms they are not allowed to work. They would have to quarantine for 14 days or could come back if the household member was tested and it came back negative.

We are not accepting any new admissions right now at my LTC/rehab facility. Only readmissions (residents returning from the hospital). We currently have no covid19 cases.

As a manager in an LTC I just want to give my experience with the struggle right now to get PPE. Our main supplier is giving us literally NOTHING. Everything is on back order. We have over 50 open orders right now for gowns and masks from different manufacturers waiting to be filled. They have only allotted places so much, but we don't even get what we are allotted because of everything being on back order. This all started back in January when everything was put on allocation. We have placed orders through different suppliers only to have them cancelled or they are pending on back order, or what we received was questionable quality. We keep getting told "it will be in next week", but next week comes and goes and the expected shipping date constantly changes. We contacted our local state Healthcare association and put in a request for PPE (government). We got a whopping 50 surgical masks, 25 gowns, and one box of gloves. With a recent Norovirus outbreak in the midst of Covid19 and almost 20 residents on precautions, that amount doesn't even last a day when used appropriately. There will likely come a time very soon when our currently supply is nearly exhausted and we are going to have to start improvising some way. The CDC and state agencies know this is a real issue and we have been told we will not be cited for not having adequate PPE as long as all efforts to obtain have been exhausted. I couldn't imagine having our staff quit or refuse to provide cares to our residents, because what happens then and who will take care of these people? On the other hand I understand the risk of working with inadequate PPE and I personally don't want to do it either, but what do you do when there is none? It isn't right to abandon these people who depend on us for care and it isn't their fault. What do we do? This is truly a nightmare for our healthcare industry and nobody is choosing this.

Nurse manager at an LTC here. We have discussed having staff wear masks at all times, but supply is uncertain so I'm not sure we will take that step at this time. We have a decent stockpile of surgical masks and some N95's but we don't want to burn through it. We currently do not have any positive cases, but we are putting certain residents on precautions. We are screening staff very carefully, and anyone who has any respiratory symptoms and/or fever, has traveled or has potentially been exposed cannot work for 14 days. We have been working short but it is what it is, I would rather our residents stay safe and keep this out of our facility at all costs. We have recently had a few employees be tested before being allowed to come back to work, so they can come back before the 14 days. I am very surprised your facility is forcing people to work if they could be sick. That seems very irresponsible.

Well, I decided to fork over 30 bucks for one of those professional reference checking services so we'll see what they say!

I agree with all the others! Contact an attorney immediately. That UA would never hold up in a court of law because the chain of custody was broken. There are certain steps that need to be taken when collecting/testing a UA sample because of this kind of thing, and your sample should have been sealed with your initials and a control # on the seal that matched the form. Go to a reputable lab and have a hair analysis done ASAP. And if you are truly innocent, stand your ground and do not let the BON bully you into enrolling into a diversion program. It sounds like losing that job was a blessing in disguise, you do not want to work somewhere like that anyways Good luck!

That is terrible! So what is a person supposed to do, not work at all? So you can't work any job, even if it doesn't require licensure? I was able to work at any non-nursing job that didn't require a nursing licensce without supervision while in the program in my state. I think you guys should somehow appeal that to your state board of nursing.

I am sorry, I know the feeling RNKellie and I know there are many others who are struggling with finding a job, it was almost 2 years before I was able to get the job I have now, and during that time I had to do low paying, non-nursing jobs through temp agencies, and there were so many time I thought I would never work in nursing again. I know it is so discouraging and depressing to be turned down time and time again but you just have to keep trying and you will find that one place that will be understanding and willing to give you a 2nd chance. It was the last place I wanted to work but I do appreciate the fact that I have a job, and will always be grateful to them for giving me a chance but the work is really getting to me mentally and physically, to the point I leave in tears after having to put in 16 hours of horrible working conditions. My counselor is working with me on stress management and relapse prevention and really thinks I need to get out of there because I know he is worried it might drive me to want to use again. I never really thought I'd have a problem getting a different job once I was done with the monitoring program and no longer had to disclose that part of my past.

Hello, this is my first post here, hope everyone is doing well. I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem or how they handled this type of situation. Six years ago I worked at a hospital and was caught diverting a prescription. Bascially, I resigned in lieu of termination. They pretty much gave me no choice by saying I could stay employed there and transfer to a different area but they would turn me over to law enforcement and take legal action for their own protection unless I resigned. I of course resigned to avoid legal charges. They did report me to the BON which I understand is mandatory. Before the board even received the complaint I enrolled myself in the NAP monitoring program. So when I went in front of the board, I was already enrolled in the non-disciplinary track of the NAP program, and the board decided I could remain in it for 3 years with no official disciplinary action taken against my license as long as I successfully completed the program, which I did with not a single positive UA, I actively participated in my outpatient counseling and have been clean for 6 years now :) I was fortunate enough to get hired at a LTCF while in the NAP program and have been there for 5 years with glowing reviews but it is a very difficult, stressful job, the working conditions are horrendous for the most part and I am ready to move on and find something new where I can see myself retiring from. The problem I am running into is I have had two job interviews in the past 3 months, both of which I was pretty much told the job was all but mine until it came time for the reference checks. I suspect the hospital I diverted from is disclosing this information. ON my applications I always say I left due to a medical illness that is now resolved (which is true..addiction is an illness and I am in recovery). There is absolutely nothing on my license, no actions, it is perfectly clean, the BON told me I never have to disclose the incident to future employers, it will never be brought up again unless I get another complaint in the future. When I left the hospital I met with the VP and the manager or HR and they assured me this information would never be disclosed during a reference but I can't help but wonder because as soon as I get to that point and they check my references, I am not being offered these jobs. Unfortunately I never got anything in writing, this was just a verbal understanding. Any advice on how to handle this would be appreciated. I have been thinking of contacting HR at the hospital. I have been thinking about just leaving the hospital off my resume/applications but I don't know if thats a good idea (what if they found out I worked there and then it would look like I'm dishonest/hiding something, plus I want employers to see that I have that experience. Something is holding me back here and I am getting very discouraged.