questions about Assisted Living

TiggerBelly · May 18, 2007

I'm considering Assisted Living instead of LTC to minimize my stress level while going to school. Does anyone work in assisted living that can tell me anything about it? Would you recommend it or not? Is it unusual to have 75-85 residents at a time? Is it any less stressful than LTC in you opinion? Please help, I'm clueless. Thanks.

I have been working in ALF for 5 months now. I am in nursing school and took the CNA class offered thru my college. I saw this as an oppurtunity to get my feet wet and to make sure that I wanted to make nursing a career for myself. At any rate some days I am on the floor as an RA (resident aide) and the other days I am a med tech. My job description as an RA include waking people for breakfast, assisting those who need help with getting dressed, showered etc, serving breakfast, cleaning up and re-setting for lunch, going around to my assigned rooms and cleaning them (wiping down counters/toilets in bathroom, making beds, collecting trash), doing laundry and along the way answering call bells for various reasons (bathroom help, someone needs a PRN pill etc). Then I gather people for lunch, serve lunch, assist residents who need help back to their rooms, re-set for dinner. As a med tech I pass meds and order any that may have run out, do vitals, blood sugars, B/Ps, fax doctors about issues with residents health etc. Now I have not yet worked in LTC so I can't compare the two, however I found that being in Assisted Living is not as "medically technical" than an LTC would be. I don't have to worry about catheters or things along those lines (I hope you know what I mean haha). Sorry this got so long but I felt the same way you do now. I had no idea what assisted living was until I started working there. I also have residents dealing with various stages of dementia, so that at times can be trying. At any rate good luck with whatever you decide. I hope this helped you a little. Anything else, just ask!

TPfan24 · May 18, 2007

Hello student, I have worked in assisted living for several years as an RN part time. The assisted residents generally are meds and treatment by nurse. Independent residents are more self sufficient and live there as if in their own apartment. The pace can be busy, emergencies can arise, residents get sent out to the hospital, falls occur. I have found the environment to be less stressful than other facilities I have worked in. If the staffing is adequate and you work with supportive LNA's, you are all set. I have been the only nurse many times on days with a census of 60 or more. It can be done. I do recommend this work setting while you are in school. Good luck.

prowlingMA · May 18, 2007

I did ALF for two years- one of those while going to MA school. The previous posts were very accurate. As a NA you are doing a lot of " house keeping" type duties along with dressing pt's , helping to toilet, showering....

In am Alzheimer's unit it is more " nursing home" like. You are doing more medical care for pt's , feeding pt's,catheter or peri cares, incontinent cares, ....

I really miss working in ALF now that I am a CMA, would have done it for ever if it payed worth a darn.

RNMom2010 · May 18, 2007

I work in an ALF that is strictly Alzheimer's and Dementia care. I have 8 residents max to care for which includes passing their meds, partially preparing their meals, assisting with ADL's and some general cleaning. I work second shift and I usually have at least 2 hrs of down time to do homework. It works out very nicely as a student, not to mention they are extremely flexible with my changing class schedules. The best thing is, we are pretty much independent workers. We have a supervisor on each shift, which is a CNA and a RN and LPN that work only day shifts and no weekends.