RN of 12 years passing meds in nursing home? S L O W..

[veolai37]

Hello everyone,

I am writing because I have been an RN for 12 years, have a bachelors in Family Life Education and will have my BSN by May/June 2011. The problem? I have no job and will be interviewing for a med passing nursing home RN. I have horror stories of passing meds to 60 geriatric patients in 8 hours and now that I have done supervision; I am slow and out of practice with hands on patient care. I honestly do not even know if I can pass meds to 30 patients in 8 hours, but I need a job and jobs in my state are so hard to come by. I do not want to take the job and then find out I cannot do it --as in I am too slow so they lay me off because I don't pass meds fast enough. Should I take the job if offered and risk being slow and having to leave or should I pass it up? Any one have stories on how they succeed at passing that many meds in so little time when your almost 40 and slower than you used to be?

[DaisyMountain]

You will get into the flow of things and figure out what could make things faster and safe. My first job was in a home and passing meds on around 30 people. It took me 4 hours my first few nights. I finally got into a flow and got the hang of who wanted what and how they took their pills compared to having to run out down the hall to get what juice they preferred and so on.

[justin daniel wilema]

They should certainly offer a training period where you 'shadow' another nurse. Make sure you actually do the med pass as often as you can under the training nurse's supervision before you get out of your training period. If you just watch your entire orientation, you'll get burned.

Make sure the nurse you're relieving gives you a very thorough report that includes how each patient takes their meds and any specifics for each patient, don't let her skim over or rush through any part of it. Ask alot of questions, that nurse can't go home until you're satisfied with the report she gives you.

Justin Daniel Wileman, LPN

[Fribblet]

I'm relatively young, and quite fast at the work I do now in the ER.

Put me in LTC and give me bunch of patients with a bunch of meds, and I'd be slow as all get out, too.

[Isabelle49]

My daughter worked in a LTC facility as a treatment/med nurse. She said the patients were all over the place like ants. She had to leave after a month.

[carolmaccas66, BSN, RN]

I did one shift giving meds to 65 patients one night. I DID get behind, and the n/shift RN was a bit miffed at having to wait for handover, but so what...tough. It's better to be thorough than make a mistake. I only did meds the whole night - there wasn't much time for anything else besides assessing a few wounds, PEGS, etc.

If all the meds are in blister packs, it shouldn't take too long. The problem I had was crushing them and trying to get dementias to take them - impossible! Some family members help out. Also you should have carers/CNAs that can help out a bit, ie: you check the med, crush it (whatever), and the CNA can give it. See if the CNAs can do PEG feeds too, or show them how to do it (if legal).

You will have to cut a few corners, as meds are the most important thing to get done. If you get behind, well you get behind. You will have to stay back to finish them. Just try to get into a routine - get to know the patients really quickly, ie: who is a diabetic and needs Insulin, who needs breathing treatments, etc. And check you have everything on your cart b4 heading off - that saves a lot of time.

No-one had re-stocked my cart (didn't know, first time at this place), and I had to keep running back to get stuff. I was hot and bothered, and sweaty by the time I finished that shift, and I never went back. Complained volubly about not being told there were 65 patients either!

ADD: also check if any patients need narcs or Ordine and plan who will check it with you, and tell them in advance. also make sure you have the reds (drug keys) with you all the time when doing meds - saves time.

[carolmaccas66, BSN, RN]

Another thought I just had which may help you:

Volunteer to go in and do a few days with a RN. Might be worthwhile to get you into the swing of things. It will also let you get to know the residents, and they are probably all long term so the meds don't change as much.

It would be worth it I think. I've done this for some jobs and it has helped enormously.

[Crissy Watkins RN]

I vote... take the job! You said you need it, and besides everyone is slow at first. I recently too took a job in a SNF one bigger than I have ever worked in before. And I was scared since I hadn't worked in a SNF for 13 years!! It all came back to me. It was like I never left that field. Yeah I had some really bad days. But it did come down to being organized and thinking ahead and also learning the patients. I Love it now. And you will too. Best Wishes:yeah: