RANT ON: I am so sick of the BS in LTC!

[nursinger]

I'll probably get slammed, but if only nursing could be real nursing without all of the from Joint Commission. It gets harder and harder every day to be a real nurse. This kills me...Restorative program? Come on, you're talking people 70, 80 and 90 plus years old, how much restoring can you possibly do??? Leave the old folk alone and stop expecting nurses to perform miracles. I just wonder what planet these people come from and I really think some of this nonsense is created just so some people can have a job. RANT OFF.

[diane227, LPN, RN]

You could not pay me triple what I get paid now to work LTC.... No way no how.

[montinurse, BSN]

I see your point to an extent. But honestly, I see PT/OT/even ST as extra attention my residents can get. What about the little lady who is slowly declining, very slowly. Does she just lay there in bed? I would rather have her doing something twice a day to keep her exercised, mind and body. If I only have 2 aids to 30 patients and one of me, who's going to do it?

I respect the therapy dept... Most have their Master's degree, and use that knowledge to give my patients the individualized care they desperately need. They're there, USE them for what they're there for! If you're not getting what you think your patient needs, communicate with them. Most of the time for me, it's a lack of communication and not knowing what they're doing that leads to animosity between nursing and therapy departments.

I do agree about it feeling like it's all about money. We can thank our administrators and "corporate" for that. It's true and they don't try to hide it.

I am a real nurse and what I feel for my people is real compassion and respect for our elderly. If I can make a small difference in their day, and show them that SOMEONE respects them, then I've done my job. It's small acts of kindness that make the difference.

[ItsTheDude]

When we have someone on restorative care all we do is check off a couple very vague things on a piece of paper once a shift and the nurse signs off on it, and the facility gets more money.

hilarious

check, check, cha ching ($$$)

[makes needs known]

What about all the extra paperwork? We have had the the amount of paperwork slowly triple in the last 2years. And no increase in staff. And they are still presenting us with more paperwork. The nurse is spending more time completing paperwork than she is passing medications and doing treatments. That is not nursing. If you think this sounds bad, it is.

[nd deb]

What I am seeing is that the Pt isn't done enough and the resident's just get weaker. It just pevees me off because once their medicaid runs out then they don't get worked with at all and they decline in their mobility making it harder to move them and as a result they start to get skin breakdown ect... The sad thing it is all about the money... I often wonder too that many times if they are wanting the resident to decline in mobility so that they aren't able to leave the facility thus.. an income for the facility...

[Nascar nurse, ASN, RN]

My father is not on medicare as my sisters and I felt this was not acceptable for a man who devoted his life for his children, we therefore opted to pool our money and pay out of pocket

"It just pevees me off because once their medicaid runs out"

Don't mean to be picky, but there seems to be some misunderstanding in terminology.

Medicare is for those receiving disability or over the age of 65. Every American who has paid into "the system" is offered Medicare. It has nothing to do with your income level. There is nothing "unacceptable" about receiving medicare dollars to pay for your health care needs. All working Americans have paid into this system and are entitled to the benefits. Medicare benefits are very limited in long term care and it runs out quickly.

Medicaid on the other hand is for "poor" people. You have to meet limited income criteria to receive medicaid $$. Generally, once you have met the criteria to receive medicaid it does not run out unless your income level suddenly increases.

[nd deb]

oops.. typed in the wrong word... meant to say medicare. In the facility I work at if they are in the hospital for 3 days or more and then are admitted to the facility or come back from hospital discharge that they are on medicare for a certain length of time.