GeminiNurse29

Did it for 3 months. God bless LTC nurses and cnas and staff. I loved the patient population but not the politics of running that facility. They had major issues and still do.

I have an ASD baby who’s nonverbal. It’s a huge spectrum. Didn’t read all the replies but please talk to her therapy team (is she getting speech, OT, ABA?). And interact with her! Treat her like a normal kid.

Depends on acuity. Like are the patients ambulatory? Long term and stable? Tube feeds or no? What kind of meds? Aggression? And who’s training you? What about if you need orders or have to send someone out? Ask lots and lots of questions.

So this weekend we were short staffed in urgent care. I do phone triage along with two other nurses. There’s usually a charge on days and one on evenings that does nurse visits (throat swabs, flu shots, IVs if needed). Im lowest seniority and haven’t been trained on the floor. (Change in management right after I started, I’m only e/o weekend part time). The night charge called in (we’ve lost 3 in the past month). I come for my shift and get told I or my coworker may have to work charge. Neither of us have been trained on the floor. Long story short, both managers claimed they weren’t the on-call and so the day charge nurse felt bad and stayed the rest of the night. Now would you consider it putting patient safety at risk if I or my coworker had ended up working as charge nurse? Not to mention our licenses! I have no idea where most the supplies are and haven’t shadowed a charge nurse during a shift before.

I feel like seniority is common. Where I used to work, inpatient psych, the senior nurses got to pick vacation and time off requests first yearly. Sucks about the day-night rotation. That’s why I worked straight nocs, I didn’t want to do ams a couple weeks then pms. There was management on nocs but not nearly as much as days and of course, less staff.

Very first job was a M-F 9-5 wellness RN position in a long term care facility on the memory care unit. Had no idea what I was in for as state came 2 weeks after I started. Lasted 89 days. The place has so many citations currently and will probably be closed down. ? I did home health after that which was interesting but pay was poor. And did mental health/psych with geriatric and forensics patients. I liked it a lot but got burnt out on nights and with young children at home. Currently I do triage for a local urgent care. I don’t mind it bc I get a variety of patient calls. Might transition into case management or go back to psych in the near future.

Clarify with the facility before you accept any position. Ask what their rotation is if any. I worked nights as a psych nurse. Do you have any kids? Young ones? Or spouse? Believe me, it’ll suck. I had two toddlers and was preggo and had my baby all while working nights. Our facility was 8 hours, with Friday nights and Saturday nights being considered the weekend. It would be a 3 on, 2 off, 7 on, 2 (weekend) off. Repeat. They also offer 10 hour shifts 4 days a week, or a 7 on and 7 off. Every other weekend was required, as it typically is for inpatient facilities. Many days, you’ll feel like all you do is eat, sleep, go to work, repeat. Good luck

He was a valet hired hired by a contractor for the hospital and was fired. Nothing is being done. When I worked psych with forensics patients (who were there bc they committed a crime of some sort) and on the geriatric ward, what could be done was a seclusion and use of restraints. Sometimes they’d get sent to maximum units. For the geriatric ward, it was viewed as they’re old, demented, etc. Nothing we could do about it. On the other units, one could press charges. But what did it matter if the patient was in there long term anyway? Nurses weren’t even granted protected status like how the techs and police/EMS are. And don’t even get me started on the verbal abuse from patients (I do triage) and some doctors as well.

Don’t take things personally. I worked in a forensic psych facility and those patients would do anything to push buttons once they figured out which ones worked. I do triage for urgent care now and the people experience I learned from psych helps immensely. I still have crazy, mean, rude patients except now they’re just on the phone. And some doctors will be rude and mean and chew you out too. Just know your stuff, admit when you’re wrong, and stand your ground. I worked nights and docs hated being called for orders. Well too bad, as I told my techs, they get paid more than all of us combined to be on call that night. Also, you can’t save them all. A lot of people go into nursing thinking they’re martyrs. News flash: you can’t and won’t save them all.

Is there anything in a contract about doing an exit survey? If not, screw it. You’re no longer an employee so you aren’t obligated to do anything for them. However, you should’ve give a 2 weeks notice (and since you were on orientation, they might have told you to leave then and there anyway). Good luck!

Here in my state, the state run facilities are desperate for Patient care techs who have to be CNAs that they will pay for your training and offer a sign on bonus. Of course, you have to pass the test to keep your job. Maybe there is something similar in your area?

Report it and call security. And the police. File a report!

Just my two cents: Some nursing schools require you to have CNA experience or at least care giving experience. I was not a CNA before going to nursing school (though I did work as a caregiver) but from what I’ve seen and heard, CNAs do very physical hands on work. Lots of patient lifting, twisting, and turning. And even though you may be the RN, you’ll still have to do it once in awhile depending where you work. I currently do triaging for urgent care. That’s a desk job and I’m on the phones pretty much the whole time. I got the position because I had experience triaging for a clinic that served the under and uninsured. I got that job because I’m fluent in one of the languages of the patient population they serve. Before that, I did mental health and home health. So there’s a lot of variety in nursing. Each of them all have their challenges.

Do you have a primary care doctor? Next time you go see them, pay attention to the name tag of the person taking your vitals and giving you shots. Most doctors' offices now employ MA's to do things like vitals, EKGs, immunizations, etc. You won't see MAs in the hospital or nursing homes. RNs can and do work in clinics as well as hospitals and other settings. We can provide patient education, for instance. If you call me because your kid is sick, I can follow triage guidelines and help determine whether you should bring them in, go to the ED, or call 911 or give them Tylenol. MAs and LPNs cannot do symptom based triaging (at least not where I'm at).

Last year, I worked Xmas eve, Xmas day, NYE, and NYD all on 8 hour nocs. My rotation was brutal. I was off thanksgiving Bc I was on maternity leave still. The year before, I got thanksgiving day off but not the weekend. Hopefully you get at least one of the holidays off next year.