Rescue me from myself - please

cornbread · Aug 25, 2007

I am the ADON for the facility I work for and you are out of your mind. No,just picking alittle. There are alot of days I wonder why I took this position and then there are days it's not so bad. If you have a good crew of floor nurses and cnas, it makes life alot better. I was a floor nurse before I took this position and I have worked @this facility for 8 years. I never understood how important the floor nurses were untill I became ADON.They are the backbone of the nursing department. I've been ADON for almost 2 years and I'm only half crazy, but fading fast.

GO FOR IT.

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · Aug 25, 2007

I second that emotion!

I'll be the first to admit I have many days when I wish my professional responsibilities began and ended with punching a time clock. Sometimes, it really stinks on ice when one (or more) of my staff members isn't doing their job and I get the blame, but never the credit when things are running smoothly! But you know, there's something to be said about being able to control your stress level, rather than having it imposed on you by those further up the food chain, and yes, I enjoy leading and training and nurturing and all that. I also love my comfy office where I can put up my grandbabies' pictures and the funky little presents residents bring me, counsel residents and staff, and cry when we lose a much-loved member of the "family".

Yes, there are times when all I want is a job where the most important thing to remember is "Do ya want fries with that?" But then I think of my residents who trust me (literally) with their lives, my care coordinator who started out as a floor aide and has blossomed into a conscientious and competent assistant with my help, and my staff who work their hearts out day after day for low pay and crappy benefits, but love what they do at least partly because I love what I do.