I would like some advice from other nurses. I work in LTC and have 30 to 32 patients daily. The patients are on a lot of meds and it takes the whole 12 hour shift to do the medications. There are also a lot of treatments, and all but 3 patients have treatments. I can not do it in the 12 hours. Before I am done giving 9 am meds, I'm taking lunch blood sugars. I finish the AM and turn around back around the hall to do 11 and noon meds. I do not get a break at all until after 1 pm and start at 7 a.m. -- and that is if I get a break at all. I tell every supervisor that comes on the floor that it is too much. The last 3 nurses assigned to this hall have quit and the one before that died of a brain anurism and heart attack. I can't get charting done at all and administration keeps yelling at me and all the other nurses on that floor that we don't get it done because we are insufficient. I was on a different hall, but had the ignorance to stand up for myself once and this is my punishment. I spoke to the administrator and was straight up told it wasn't going to change. Tuesday I was eating lunch in the staff lounge when a pt's wife came in and had a fit because his tube feed was empty.
I am at my wit's end.
What would any of you do in my situation? I am talking specifically about what to leave undone and how to cover my ass.
I used to work long term care until I completely burned out. My last shift I was literally crying while passing meds because I was just so overworked and tired. I remember the rounding Dr. asking the nursing supervisor, “what’s wrong with her?” She said , “I don’t know but I’m going home.” I called them the next day and told them I quit. They tried to talk me out of it but I couldn’t envision doing it for one more day. I worked in the hospital afterward and was so relieved that I wasn’t just running a pill mill and had a chance to do a real assessment. I’m under the impression that they think nurses should be like robots in LTC. Never stop moving, work overtime and double shifts when other nurses are burned out and call off, and then when the hardware breaks down they just hire a new bot. Sad, hopefully something changes because the quality of care in these places is bare minimum with a staff of burned out bedraggled nurses trying to hang in there by a flimsy thread. There are some that do this work, enjoy it, and even thrive but for the rest of us I say get out while you can. There are so many other good opportunities out there.
I would like some advice from other nurses. I work in LTC and have 30 to 32 patients daily. The patients are on a lot of meds and it takes the whole 12 hour shift to do the medications. There are also a lot of treatments, and all but 3 patients have treatments. I can not do it in the 12 hours. Before I am done giving 9 am meds, I'm taking lunch blood sugars. I finish the AM and turn around back around the hall to do 11 and noon meds. I do not get a break at all until after 1 pm and start at 7 a.m. -- and that is if I get a break at all. I tell every supervisor that comes on the floor that it is too much. The last 3 nurses assigned to this hall have quit and the one before that died of a brain anurism and heart attack. I can't get charting done at all and administration keeps yelling at me and all the other nurses on that floor that we don't get it done because we are insufficient. I was on a different hall, but had the ignorance to stand up for myself once and this is my punishment. I spoke to the administrator and was straight up told it wasn't going to change. Tuesday I was eating lunch in the staff lounge when a pt's wife came in and had a fit because his tube feed was empty.
I am at my wit's end.
What would any of you do in my situation? I am talking specifically about what to leave undone and how to cover my ***.
I know it’s been a long time since this was posted but would love to hear a follow up on how things are going.
The administrator already stated it would not change. Sounds like a hostile and unappreciative working environment. This just spells poor administration. Being yelled at for not wanting to take short cuts is a red flag. If the people are shady, I would not go back. It only takes one day of that for something to go wrong. They're all nice to you when you start and then the tables turn.
ambr46
220 Posts
I used to work long term care until I completely burned out. My last shift I was literally crying while passing meds because I was just so overworked and tired. I remember the rounding Dr. asking the nursing supervisor, “what’s wrong with her?” She said , “I don’t know but I’m going home.” I called them the next day and told them I quit. They tried to talk me out of it but I couldn’t envision doing it for one more day. I worked in the hospital afterward and was so relieved that I wasn’t just running a pill mill and had a chance to do a real assessment. I’m under the impression that they think nurses should be like robots in LTC. Never stop moving, work overtime and double shifts when other nurses are burned out and call off, and then when the hardware breaks down they just hire a new bot. Sad, hopefully something changes because the quality of care in these places is bare minimum with a staff of burned out bedraggled nurses trying to hang in there by a flimsy thread. There are some that do this work, enjoy it, and even thrive but for the rest of us I say get out while you can. There are so many other good opportunities out there.
Good luck to you!