sadnursemg

All I can say is Wow! and Not all nursing homes are like this...I believe you made the correct decision.

Finding the right environment is very important. The organizations culture and climate can be assessed by you when you go in for an interview. Notice. How are you greeted? How does it smell? How does it look? Show up at least 15-20 minutes prior to interview so that you can sit in the lobby and just observe the environment. Does the staff seem stressed out? Do you see any teamwork? When you are in the interview it is ok to ask questions like How do you show your staff they are valued members of the healthcare team? or How would you descibe the culture of your organization? Most importantly be observant. If the staff seem detached, unhappy, or overwhelmed...this may not be a good fit. On the other hand if you are greeted warmly by the receptionist and staff and you see happy residents this is a bit of a hint that it may be worth a look. Good luck!

It really depends on how much experience you have. There are mandatory inservices typically for the first week, the next week you will be placed with a preceptor that will provide feedback about your performance to the nurse educator. Based on that feedback we tailor the orientation over the next 4-6 weeks. Even if a nurse has experience I will give them the full amount of time for orientation. i typically meet with the orientee weekly to see what their needs are so remember to speak up if you need to know something. You are entitled to a complete orientation but to be fair let those orienting you know how comfortable and or uncomfortable you are with anything...Good Luck!

wow! Hired as a supervisor as a new RN. This is one of the reasons that I am sad within my profession. Unfortunately you need much more training to be in that setting. I have been a supervisor and unit manager in LTC....I am sorry you are in this situation...

I was recently hired to a LTC facility because they were seeking someone with their Master's...so it looks like it just depends on the facility....and the pay is fantastic...I make more now than I did in management....just depends on the company..

Hello there it sounds to me as if you have found your nitch! I am happy for you. I have my Masters but haven't taught in about two years so I'm a bit rusty. I too was overwhelmed on the floor and didn't have enough time to provide quality care. Some of the facilities didn't seem to even seen to care that we cant perform two roles at the same time...ex: supervisor and staff nurse. it is sad. I am looking to connect with others in staff development so that I can ensure I am providing quality education to the staff. I start orientation in two weeks. I'm a bit nervous.

I think this shows her work ethic. Would you want her to take care of you or your family. I would advise letting the manager know but remain anonymous. I'm sure you don't need the drama.

Also in homecare...please remember that you can not take orders from the patient. You can get into a lot of trouble doing that.

I wont mention the name of the homecare company that i work for but I will simply say this. Be sure that your manager can't change your orders. My boss changes our orders on a regular basis. I finally told her about a week ago that what she was doing was not legal. she deleted the name of the physician that i spoke to and the date and time that i spoke to them. It was a total power trip. So the orders went to another physician in the practice. what a mess. So with that said. Homecare orders are the same as hospital orders but they should be related to the 485. In a hospital you would simply get a dc order right. In home care the dc order should say something like all goals met plan to dc on....date. Coumadin orders should also have the reason for the test included in the order. for example s/p hip replacement...you would benefit from having a point nurse that you can bounce things off of in the field. My guess is that like most companies they are cutting back on orientation. My orientation consisted of being handed a small computer and I was told to 'go play with it' that was it. I had no idea what i was doing for the first three months. i kept getting called into the office because i missed this step...or that step...it was a total lack of orientation to the device. be sure you get a proper orientation. Good luck!

I completely understand how you feel. I have been a nurse for 23 years. After the first two years I realized i was unhappy and I though to myself...oh I just need to change specialties... so off i went to the CCU. After 10 years of that I realized i was still unhappy so I tried homecare and then management. I have come to one conclusion. I absolutely hate being a nurse. It does not matter what i am doing. in administration I have to fire people...not fun. I have found that some nurses really get off on micromanaging and belittling others. This is a bad economy and we all need our jobs i found that I had no power to turn things around for employees once upper management had made up their minds. So I left management and am currently back in home care. BTW Whoever designed oasis should be shot! It is the most cumbersome way to document that I have ever seen. Obviously not designed by a nurse but we are sentenced to use it! I HATE homecare physicians. The beauty of homecare is that you get to work alone but these doctors are crazy! Specialists are notorious for giving orders through the paitients! not calling back timely! and if you actually give a damn about your patient and call them back you may end up reported to your boss or threatened because the for profits in homecare will do anything for a referral. i do mean anything. I got into nursing for patient care not this nightmare. I have friends in all areas from NP to floor nursing and it generally sucks everywhere. My friend that's an NP recommended I not move in that direction. when I asked why she said the docs she works with jump all over her if she makes a mistake and of course when they make mistakes its considered no big deal. I have my masters and did not like the education scene at all. whenever there was a dangerous student...i was told to pass them anyway because they can pass the boards. I argued that the student was not safe clinically. I was told that this would come later....REALLLY....REALLY....this was their senior semester so essentially we were dumping students that were not really clinically ready into the system. I believe that the number one contributing factor to this was the fact that there were a lot of older burned out instructors in this program. They simply could not keep up with the students. It was our fault that this was happening. That's not fair to the students at all....so for me it is official. I hate nursing. I am currently in the process of trying to figure out something else. More than anything I'm tire of being bullied by families, physicians and other nurses, not having a lunch break and having patients thrown at me after my official work hours. It's just not worth it anymore.