quit the job..did i do the right thing ...?

Specialties Geriatric

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i dont know how other places are ...but am telling u LTC is very very stressful job.. either u take up night shift or you go to alzheimers unit..but working AM shift and PM shift is like hell..it will wear you out ..may be other people have more potential than i have but thats my personal experience i sarted feeling like being in depression so i decided to quit right away....it actually depends on facility but my facility they were adding one paper every day...we would have meeting every week and they will say.." ok..from now licensed nurses have to fill up this paper "if we would say anything they would say "ok..we understand what ur concerns are but dont forget you are working for the company ,company is not working for you, if you dont like the policies ,go ahead and quit. " i couldnt quit because of job freeze in my area and financial issues .i stayed in that stressful environment for 7 months but i ended up not being able to work anymore(am so stressed and worn out , doctors advise).....there was no treatment nurse ,no supervisory nurse .one LN for 30 residents and work included ..passing meds (which would eat up half of your day) , charting, weekly summaries , daily notes (charting on computer , printing out and pasting in chart) doing BE 123 , call family , call doctor , do orders , do IPN ,for every fall , altercation , skin tear( even if a very small scratch ) sending them to hospital for every unwitnessed fall, do neurochecks. no time for breaks , attending all phone calls ( no body wants to pick up the phone ,u have to ) phone rings like in call center , ....and they would admit anybody ..no matter how serios they are ..putting your license at risk because you are not able to give that care to a serious because of no time ... one time they admitted a resident suffering from respiratory failure , i had to send him to the hospital only after 30 minutes of admission and he passed away in the hospital .......

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Specializes in Tele, ICU, ED, Nurse Instructor,.

I must admit this job does sound stressful. I have a friend that went through a similar situation and lost her unborn baby. She said after that she was unable take anymore and it was time to find a new job. You are putting your license in danger not them. If you stay there and take it, they will keep doing it as long you would allow. If something happen to a patient the company usually protect themselves. I tell any nurse to have malpractice nurse insurance to back yourself. Your post is very touching and by me reading it you are fed up. I can understand that also. I know a person cant take or handle but so much. Good luck.

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Specializes in Adolescent Psych, PICU.

I dont blame you and Im sorry you had to go through all that stress. I hope you can find something you enjoy.

This is one of the many reasons I work night shift. I dont think I would take a day or evening shift in nursing anywhere.

Im lucky that I easily stay up all night, always have been a night owl, I NEVER sleep at night. I love night shift.

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Specializes in OB, Peds, Med Surg and Geriatric Nsg.

I totally understand what you are feeling. I'm on LTC right now and there's no day that passes that I don't think about quitting. I'm doing 2nd shift and it feels like hell all the time. I have less than 28 residents to take care of, med pass to be done, answer phone calls, answer EXI alarms, accuchecks for 1600 and 2100, receive orders, make IDT's, help aides when partner is on break, do treatments, charting, carrying out orders, help out at the dining room, etc.. It's just too much. I am trying to stick out for 6 months so that I could bid on another job. Hopefully that would help. To the OP, good luck to you. Hopefully, you can find a job in this tough economy.

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Newgrad sounds like you worked in a LTC facility exactly like the one I quit at the end of April so believe me.. you are not alone. The only thing that was different is that the LPNs that worked the weekend shift 7 a.m-7 p.m., which was what I worked, did not have to handle admits. Admissions were only done during the weekdays. Charting was handwritten, not computerized. I lasted longer at this facility than the first one I tried. I didn't even finish orientation there because they wanted me to sign for meds I hadn't given. I might not have a lot of experience, but I do know right from wrong. :rolleyes:

In addition to pretty much everything else you described (omg can I identify with the "call center" phone that you had to answer even if you were at the END of a long hall. I once spent TEN minutes telling someone repeatedly I did not know how to give them directions to the facility from their location out of town! Sorry I am not a human map quest or GPS system lol!) we were expected to feed residents three meals a day. I didn't mind helping feed, but once you consider that by the time you feed residents who can barely swallow.. at least an hour of your med pass time was consumed (literally) at EACH meal. I had a 9 a.m., 1 p.m., and 5 p.m. med pass. Being a new nurse of course I was slower.

Then you had the residents that constantly got up out of the chairs setting off alarms. No type of restraint was allowed so it was constant falls. On one occasionan I was passing meds with one hand and trying to keep someone in a wheelchair with the other so she wouldn't once again crack her head open (she had already had THREE falls in ONE week). To top it off those with wanderguards constantly roamed the building setting off the alarms at the END of each hall, which required you to stop med pass, go to nurses station and get a small box, walk down the hall and point it at the alarm to shut it off. This went on ALL day.

Adding the icing to the cake were the constant call-ins. There you were coming to the end of a 12 hour shift with no relief. It never ceased to amaze me how the SAME person that had called in the previous THREE WEEKENDS in a row would be scheduled as relief over and over SHEEEEESH!

I hung in for about 3 1/2 months until new management came in and began to nitpick my documentation. With the inadequate orientation I received I am surprised I had any of it right, but nothing had been said up to this point. I finally resigned and frankly I have NO intention of working in LTC anymore. If this is the only job I can get as an LPN then I will work outside of nursing until I finish my RN, which I am starting classes for shortly. I totally understand the pressure you were under. I only worked two 12 hours shifts a week and it was the most stressful situation I have ever experienced. For clarification let me state that for the most part it was NOT the residents... it was the amount of work expected of one person. I wish I was that good, but I am not. (Lots of the others weren't either... they simply gave 9's, 1's, and 5's all at the same time and skipped the eyedrops and breathing tx etc. thinking it wasn't noticed. ;))

So for the time being I am unemployed. I guess I am better off than some of the folks since I have a great spouse with a good job. Did I do the right thing by tossing in the towel? I guess some would say, "No, stick it out". However, I feel that my sanity and stress level are worth more than ANY job. While I don't wear rose colored glasses and I understand there is some stress associated with ANY job....I became a nurse to make a POSITIVE difference in someone's life. When it gets to the point you are so anxious you dream about the job the night before going in and hate pulling in the parking lot even for TWO days a week, it is time to go.

Good luck to you in the future and hopefully we will both find something that will allow us to keep at least a small vestige of our sanity lol. Have a great day!

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The answer to your question...Yes, you did the right thing. We had similar experience working at LTC. And I tell you, I will never work at LTC again. Saving your license and your sanity is worth much more than deteriorating your mind & body. Peace.

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Specializes in PACU, CARDIAC ICU, TRAUMA, SICU, LTC.

LTC is difficult, whether you are a new grad or a dinosaur (like me). I thank God the job market was wide open when I started working ('79); if I had to start my nursing career working in LTC, I would, most probably, have packed it in. I have numerous evenings in LTC that are much worse than the days and years I spent working in critical care/PACU.

I hope you will be able to find a nursing position (in an acute care hospital) that provides support via staff development. Nursing internships are great, but hard to come by. New grads need nurturing, just like I did when I was in your position. IMO, you made the right decision by getting out. You gave it your best!!

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I was only a CNA in LTC but I hated it. I worked in three different facilities and they all were bad. There was never any time to do the job the way that I thought it should be done. I was always having to take shortcuts that should not have been just to save the company money. I am currently going to be going to school in June and and hopefully will be able to get out of the health care profession.

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The answer to your question...Yes, you did the right thing. We had similar experience working at LTC. And I tell you, I will never work at LTC again. Saving your license and your sanity is worth much more than deteriorating your mind & body. Peace.

just curious, what type of nursing do you work in now? How does it compare to LTC?

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yes, you did do the right thing. it doesn't sound like a good facility, based on what info you have provided.

anytime management says "and if you don't like it, quit..." it sends my radar right up. sounds like bullying, intimidation, and not enough staff at that home. next interviews you do go on, i'd advise you to ask about pt/nurse ratio's, if they provide a med-tech, and how much turn-over they have with nursing staff, also ask about how they did on their previous state survey. these questions are questions any good nurse should be asking, and if don or hr does not hire you because of them, probably not going to be a good place to work anyways. good luck to you, and remember that not all facilities are created equal!! i've worked in ltc facility with 20 patients (no med tech) but we had an rn supervisor that did not have a patient load, and she would always help out the floor lpn's in urgent/emerg. situations...that worked out pretty well. facility was also very detail orientated, followed state rules to a tee (not just when state is coming in) and treated residents well. i've heard many nurses say that clinic nursing is much less stressful than ltc, not sure if that is really the case cuz i've never worked in clinic setting. good luck to you, you did the right thing. you took care of yourself!! something better will come along!!

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Specializes in hospice, corrections.
yes, you did do the right thing. it doesn't sound like a good facility, based on what info you have provided.

anytime management says "and if you don't like it, quit..." it sends my radar right up. sounds like bullying, intimidation, and not enough staff at that home. next interviews you do go on, i'd advise you to ask about pt/nurse ratio's, if they provide a med-tech, and how much turn-over they have with nursing staff, also ask about how they did on their previous state survey.

this is a huge question. but specify what the nurse/patient ratio is on each shift. a lot of the time they will give you a staffing ratio of day shift that includes admin, cooks, laundry and probably maintenance. we had one ltc facility bring our nursing class lunch and to answer any questions we may have about ltc. it turned out to be a recruiting session and boy did they try to side-step the staffing question.

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This is a huge question. But specify what the nurse/patient ratio is on each shift. A lot of the time they will give you a staffing ratio of day shift that includes admin, cooks, laundry and probably maintenance. We had one LTC facility bring our nursing class lunch and to answer any questions we may have about LTC. It turned out to be a recruiting session and boy did they try to side-step the staffing question.

Good Point!!

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