NorthernRose

Laughs!! Yes that is indeed the difference! I have never been one to take being told I HAVE to do something without a bit of fuss (to put it mildly). The first weekend of the no mandation, a nurse called in, leaving day shift short. I volunteered to stay because the nurse on helps my shift out by covering. If management made it more about team work..and ALL nurses being part of that team, there would be less 'fuss' about staying over, helping out. Our 'plan' currently consists of a sign up sheet, and a list of all the nurses who work at the facility to be called. Whether they answer their phone is another story. No incentives that I'm aware of. Anything over 8 hours is OT anyways. I think the frosting on the cake, is that short staffing has been going on for well over 3 years. It isn't something we are just starting to deal with as floor nurses. Management keeps telling us, they are aware of the problem and it's being dealt with. They however work M-F, and take any time off they want. Yes, I know they have more responsibility in the running of the facility, but it seems like us floor grunts always get the bad end of the stick.

Just out of curiousity, what has you facility come up with for their "Nurse Coverage Plan"?

Metfan and kchochrane-Thanks for all the links! From the sounds of it you and I work for the same place! We (the LPN's) have asked repeatedly what the plan is come July 1st. There is no plan but to keep on mandating the LPN's for 4-8 hours of OT. We have been told, we can continue to be mandated because mandatory OT is allowable in our union contract. I had no idea that a union contract could supercede state law. With the holiday weekend coming up, Im sure this will all be put to the test. Management is telling us we are fully staffed, I don't see how a total of 5 nurses can be considered fully staffed for night shift. The weekends come, 2 nurses have it off, leaving 2 nurses to fill 4 positions (I know 2+2 makes 4 not 5, but the 5th is an RN Super. who gets every weekend off). I do not mind doing a reasonable amount of OT, if given a reasonable amount of notice. Calling me at 7am, when I'm reporting off, is not reasonable!! I have suggested to co-workers, just state, "I am no longer safe to care for the residents." Good luck all around in this!

I also was lucky enough to have a wonderful mentor. She had been my LPN when I was a CNA and took me under her wing while I was in nursing school. She would show me procedures and explained so many different things before I even made it through schoool! I'm now an 'old nurse' of three years! lol. Recently we had a new hire nurse , who I noticed the day (shift she was working) nurses were not treating right. This poor girl was new to the facility and the procedures/policies. She looked just terrified that what ever she did she would be raked over the coals for. (Trust me, I've seen this one day nurse ride every new nurse that walks onto our unit.) I would make sure during narc count I would joke with:jester: and encourage her to stick it out. I still see the horror in her eyes (and the change in demeanor) when she has to work with certain people. Its so sad to think that this wonderful person who is trying so hard is running into walls. Every chance I get I remind the older ones...shes new and we were all new at one time also. I also remind our unit manager, she's new and she's trying so very hard. And to me that's a big plus...that shes TRYING! and she shows she cares about her residents. :heartbeat Every few days I get 'lucky' enough to have to stay overtime and work with her, and that is our little joke "I'm so lucky." lol So many times I think we expect the new ones to hit the floor running and know all that the oldersters do, and that is just not possible. It all takes time. My other thought is, if we keep scaring off the new ones, we will NEVER have any decent staffing. So to the new ones...keep on keepin on!! And to the oldsters who wanna be cranky and miserable...just remember what its like to be new!

I'm an LPN, and my daughter (22) is currently taking the RN course. I did not encourage or discourage her from this choice. But, now that she has made it, I support and help her all I can. I feel she will be a wonderful nurse. She has always been interested in health care in some form. She's been a CNA, and enjoyed it. I think that if its what they choose to do....then thats what they should do. Happy New Years all! Rose

How about when your brother who is an RN in a cardiac intensive care unit says to you....oh you work the other end of the nursing spectrum from what i do. you'll never know what its like to call a code or do what i do. I swear to gods..mine said that to me. I'm an LPN in LTC. My reply to him was.. and you have how many patients? He said 2. I said..well I have 40! I have to be up on every aspect of care, not just cardiac. I love what i do, i enjoy my people i take care of. So he will never know what its like to have an "oldster" tell you about life years ago. As an LPN LTC you become a part of their daily lives. Its wonderful to walk into a room and hear...hey where have you been? I've missed seeing you. It's an honor to hold the handof the dying, to cry beside the family because this gentle soul is a part of who/what you do and are. Yes, I might not work ICU, but I AM important to the residents I care for. I dont need to know just cardiac, I need to know stroke, diabetis, rehab, alzhiemers, etc. I feel sorry for him in his arrogance that he doesnt do what i do. We learn from our past,and boy am i in a learning enviroment. You just need to take the time to ask questions and listen. Rose

I work night shift in a county run LTC facility, I try to turn off all the unwatched room TV's, the extra lights, the drippy faucets. If a faucet is drippy I make sure a maintenance slip is filled out for it to be fixed. Lights on in rooms/areas that arent being used - I turn off or set to automatic. (That light in the broom closet does NOT need to be on!!!) We have recycling, so everything that can go that direction--goes there. I even take the plastic soda bottles in the waste cans and toss them in to be recycled, even though each soda bottle has a 5-cent deposit. Better then having them in the trash/land fill. I also know that it being a county facility, that waste is being paid for by tax payers money. I work too hard for that money to just toss it to the landfills. I'm the same way at home....my kids call me the "Light Nazi." If they aren't in a room for 2 minutes I turn the light off. My husband went threw and put in all energy saver bulbs. I would love to be able to get the facility to switch to them...but the whole idea of spending a dime to save a dollar is just beyond the higher powers way of thinking. At home, we recycle, its a county mandate to reduce refuse. I'm at time amazed at how many bags of cans, plastics and glass gets set by the curb for the county boys to take for recycling. I think OMG all this used to be just garbage!! My saying is "Saving the planet...one light at a time!" Rose Good luck to you!! Any more ideas would be appreciated!

It might be the wax they are using on the floors. I've worn various types of shoes over the years, and mine will squeak if they soles are wet and they've just waxed the floors. I know it can be extremely annoying!!! Especially at night when one is trying to be on the quiet side. Good luck : )

I work in a county run LTC in UPstate NY. Been an LPN on the floor for a year, (I was a CNA for the previous 13 years at the same facility) am currently making 15.23$ an hour plus 40cents/hr differential. 5.00$ each day of a weekendor holiday. OT is time and a half for any thing over 8 hour shift, or 80 hours for 2 week pay period. Sometimes, its about other benefits not just the hourly pay rate. New hires get 8 hrs/mo sick time, 8 hrs/mo. vacation time, 8 hrs for each holiday (12 a year), 24 hrs/yr personal time it increases to 10 hours after 5 years. I curently get 12 hrs/mo vacation. Next year I will get 16 hrs/mo vacation for over 15 years service. Many of the other medical facilites pay much less. If I had gone to one of the local hospitals I would have made less as an LPN than as a CNA. I usually have 40 residents to pass meds, do treatments, etc. each night. Also get 250$ a year clothing allowance. For the most part, I work with a great unch of ppl, there are a few sour apples, but thats everywhere.

I was just 'counseled' for this by my supervisor. We can punch in 5 min. before and up to 2 min. after the start of shift. Nurses are to be punched out by 15-20 min. after end of shift. Apparently, I don't seem to be getting out on time-not that I have to wait for the next shift to come in and figure out who's is taking the keys, count the narcs, and be quiet long enough for me to give report on 40 residents. The are also things that need to be run past the unit manager, ie-dc'ing QID FBS's on resident who recieves no coverage, changing tube feed times, etc. Things that just can't go in the comm. book. Everything is last minute for my shift it seems, and I do tend to runout of time. Any time over the alotted 20 minutes has to be cleared threw the DON, I'm sure she would love a call at 5:30am, saying I need 5 more minutes to finish up, considering I don't know at 5:30 how far behind Im going to be at 7!! ('m usually done by 25 after.) This is all in a crack down on OT. Yes, there are ppl that can get it done in time, and there are also those that get done then stand around for 10 min, shooting the breeze. DON wants count done, and minimal shift report. The 'threat' is we wont be paid for anything after the 20 min. If I'm on the clock and working, I expect to be paid. I do believe there are labor laws about this issue. Thanks for letting me rant! Rose

I got part way threw the book and left it. I found it to be very repetitive. If I'm capable of reading, I capable of getting an idea the first time its said. Don't need to tell me the same idea 8 times in the same chapter, and then re-peat it several more times in the following chapter! Personally, I wasn't impressed.

The entrance exam to the NY BOCES program is general knowledge. Reading, reading comprehension, general math with some easy algebra type questions. There are no nursing related questions on it. So leave learning the nursing and brush up on your reading and math skills. I finished the course last June (HFM) , finally got around to taking my boards in January and passed! Good Luck!!

LTC facilities have off hours? 24/7 where I work. 176 beds...on night shift our minimum staffing can go as low as 9 CNA's, 3 LPN's and 1 RN. All the staff that don't have Dr.s notes limiting work hours are working 12 hour shifts to cover 3-11 which doesn't seem to be able to stay staffed. (last count was like 15 open positions). I get down right infuriated when I hear day shift complain that nights isn't doing enough, I have 2 CNA's for 42 residents, most of which are total care. I understand they have showers and baths and everyone goes to dining room for lunch, but they also have much better staffing (8 res. to 1CNA) Yes, we do have down time at night-between rounds, but no way am I allowing any one to be washed for the day during that time (1a-3a). My aides run full throttle from 5a to end of shift, and to stand there and listen to the next shift want to know why more (ie-AM cares) wasn't done, just cranks me up! I've said...my girls have already worked 12 hours, what more would you like? We get called down by the super. if days is going to be short staffed...do extra AM cares....a thank you would be nice!!! arrrghh!! sorry this turned into a rant!!! I know we all are doing what we can to get every one taken care of with the best care : ) and that is really what matters most.!

Sleep? What's that?! I try to make it to bed by 9:30, usually get a couple hours good sleep, then I'm up and down about every hour/hour and a half. hard to sleep with 2 grandbabies under 3 years old terrorizing the house!! My husband works nights also, I have noticed if I can get him out of the bed...I can sleep!! While I was in school, there were days I would get 1-2 hours sleep a day. It's better now, I get maybe 4-5 hours but broken up. I've found the time I want to sleep is usually just before I have to get ready to head to work : ( Go figure!! I do feel like I'm always in nap mode and that this has slowed my metabolism. Any one else feel the same?

Itch Itch Scratch Scratch!! schoona i never had lice while in school either, but my daughters who both had hair to their waists got them...what a lovely time that was! I know it's not a proven preventitive....but after the first time of the nit pic threw their hair I started rinsing their hair with diluted white vineagar. Never had a problem after that!! (I also use vineagar sprayed on bandana's in the summer to keep black flies away while I'm gardening-works great!!) Seems like lice is such a common thing now days....the school nurse told me it was really no big deal when I called her just slightly flipping out. Maybe its that attitude, maybe its the cost of treating, maybe its the work involved in treating the whole house that has made it 'no big deal'. But when I was a kid....ya didn't wanna be the one with cooties!! Itch Itch Scratch Scratch!! As far as scabies go....facility I work at had a major outbreak...and guess who did manage to get those...and bring them home to share with the whole family.!! Husband was livid! It was almost the end of my working there. (10+ years and never brought any thing home!! except a pen or two :) ) At that time I was working as a CNA (LTC) and there is just no way that I can think of to not have skin to skin contact (arm under the shoulders for turning, etc.) Itch Scratch :)