I'm not sure if this is the apropriate place for this thread so forgive me if it is not.
I am not a nurse (yet) but have taken a job at a local nursing home as a resident aide. My reason was to get some experience as I will be going to school for nursing soon. Today was my first day and I have some severe concerns. Please tell me if this is the norm, or are these red flags???
The home is owned by a company in England. They just took over and nearly all the staff has quit due to changes (cut in pay..hours..that sort). The English owner is here for 2 weeks and has ordered that the facility was spending way too much money in food and thus has made up a precise menu on portions..leaving no room for seconds. The people are quite used to be able to get their fill. I asked if the restrictions were Dr ordered..answer was no..which is how I learned about the "cut".
Security: When I first applied, I rang the bell. A resident allowed me in. No one was around for a good 5 mins.. I could have been anyone walking in. Furthermore, a resident can just walk out. And it is right off a main road. NO gates.
Hazards: Where do I begin? Bleach, cleaners..meds.. all within easy reach and plain sight of residents. Again TODAY WAS MY 1st day.. I have not been trained, I have NEVER done this stuff before. I was handed a diaper and told to go change a resident. Ok, how.... A baby is easy to move around, an adult?? OMG that was rough, but I managed. My concern is...since I havent been trained, what if I hurt one...move them the wrong way?? Which lead me to another resident. When I got him to roll over, he screamed in pain.. I panicked and asked what was wrong..he told me where it hurt and after some digging..learned he had fallen a few days back, no report was made..and the Admin had just found out about it and ordered some x-rays.. How do I know I didnt hurt him even more???
I applied as a resident aide..however, I did housekeeping most of the day..on top of watch residents, change diapers, and help feed them. Im not complaining but the staff is myself, the cook..and the Admin during the day...for 11 residents. It's a bit hard to "watch the floor" if I'm in the laundry room or mopping a residents room. Is this how it works?
My biggest problem is how easily anyone can walk in or out and all the safety hazards..or am I over reacting? If anything, I learned this today... should the day come where my parents need care.. it will be by me..not a nursing home.
this place is atrocious and needs to be shut down asap.
obviously the administrator/owner just wants to make a quick buck off these poor, unsuspecting souls and is taking full advantage of their vulnerability.
please, report them to the proper authorities/ombudsman now!!! these residents deserve soooooooo much better. plus you don't want to start out your career linked to a facility w/a bad reputation. this is heartbreaking and infuriating; and i can assure you that any decent nurse will have reported this by now.:angryfire
Is this assisted living or a board and care? I can't imagine a skilled nursing facility letting their residents wander around and have such a cavalier attitude towards meds, personal care and feeding. Not that this would be ok in assisted living or board and care either but...what you are saying is unbelievable. Especially that they let all this stuff be apparent to you without a care on your very first day! They must think you are too young or meek to say anything but please do!!!
It is an Assisted Living facility...did not realize there was a difference between that and a nursing home. They are elderly peeps in wheel chairs, walkers and one bed ridden w/oxy tank... may I ask what the difference is...? And could this be the reason the Fl abuse hotline wasnt too concerned about anything other than the gentleman at the road..?
I have not had the med course yet either. They are sending me Friday for that. However, I was given 2 pills today to give to the resident that had fallen. He has been in pain and the admin said she doenst want him hurting. I glanced at the med pak and noticed they were not his and immediately questioned it. She said it would be ok....
....happen to glance out the window to see one of our mentally handi-capped residents out at the road. I panicked and ran to the front room to dash out the door but was stopped cold by the admin. She asked what was wrong and I said "so & so is out at the road!" She laughed and said he was getting the mail and that I needed to stop stressing so much. Now this road is one people FLY down all the time.
You need to RUN, not walk, away from this hell-hole.
You are begging for serious trouble for yourself in this place.
Assisted living does not have the same requirements as a nursing home, but to restrict food because the owner wants to save money, to have you doing things that you were not trained to do, and leaving clients in soiled beds, is not okay to do.
If the hotline was not too concerned, then you need another approach, and the news media just loves to do stories on this, plus their is a dept to report child abuse, there is also one for elder abuse.
Call your mayor's office, etc. Thi splace needs to be shut down, and the owner barred from ever being able to run this type of facility again.
And I hope that he gets haunted by some of his former residents for thge rest of his life. Nightmares can be a good thing for some. And the part of it, I hope that he ends up in a facility like this. He deserves it.
Immigration also doesn't like things like this. Especially if he is a foreign national. You can also contact the US Embassy in the UK over his business practices, as well as the British Consulate in the US.
Please let us know if you need anymore help with this...........
Is this assisted living or a board and care? I can't imagine a skilled nursing facility letting their residents wander around and have such a cavalier attitude towards meds, personal care and feeding. Not that this would be ok in assisted living or board and care either but...what you are saying is unbelievable. Especially that they let all this stuff be apparent to you without a care on your very first day! They must think you are too young or meek to say anything but please do!!!
I agree with you. This is soooo outrageous. Its hard to even believe the worst of the worst could be this bad. First of all, it seems that the administrator is one of the few "staff" involved - passing meds to watching out the door, etc?? Also in my state, you have to be a B][/b]certified nurses aide to provide hands on care. You must have at least 16 hours of classroom time before your allowed to even touch a resident (infection control/confidentiality, etc) as a nurses aide in training. Not sure if this is a state or federal law? Until I read something about Florida ombudsman, I thought maybe this facility was outside of the USA!
Specializes in med/surg/tele/neuro/rehab/corrections.
I am a student in training at a skilled nursing facility. The doors are not locked but there are alarms on them. There is a locked Alzhimer's Unit. It's a great place to work. One CNA for every 9 residents. Three RN's that I know of were on duty today along with two LVN's at least. Also several office personnel and administrators, housekeeping and 13 students (me and my friends) Oh and the place is just not that big. It is just not run like your place is run. Personally I would not go back to that place and definitely I would not accept training from them! Then you might feel beholden to them. I would call up one of my local news channels and let them know everything I saw. If they wanted to get the real scoop on that place they would have someone go undercover with a hidden camera. When or if something like that happens you don't want to be anywhere around.
Yeah I wouldn't go back. You need to protect yourself. I wonder if you might be held responsible if you are an employee.
And that guy that fell.... did he break his hip? It's a thought.
It's good that you posted here. I never knew places like that existed. So sad. Now I can appreciate how good me and my fellow students have it.
I do not know about his hip..he always indicated his rib area as the source of pain. As for undercover cameras..? Well..here:
Aren't cell phones great? The quality is not all that good...and these were the only shots I could "sneak". There is one other picture, and though I used photoshop to black out the faces, I declined to post it. The cord, I nearly fell over (it stretches to a lamp at the foot of the bed..by the door)... under men's and women's sinks are cleaners... mold and mildew in tile... missing tiles.. and nearly all the vents look like they are about to fall on your head..
It's nearly 1am...and I just cannot get this thing out of my head to get some rest...
what about contacting the state's dept. of public health, or its' equivalent? i know in massachusetts, dph is the governing body for skilled nsg facilities & asst living facilities......and their regulations are very strict. worth looking into yes?
Immigration also doesn't like things like this. Especially if he is a foreign national. You can also contact the US Embassy in the UK over his business practices, as well as the British Consulate in the US.
OK.. I sent a post to a local news station..it read as follows:
"I worked here 2 days and had great concerns. I went to a nurses forum and all said it needed reporting. I did call the Florida Abuse Hotline, and they only seemed concerned about the gentleman I reported out by the road. I honestly do not know if the following is acceptable or not. Please read the link in its entirety. If you feel there is a problem here, I ask you to send someone...perhaps posing as one looking for a job...go there..see how easily you get in and just observe. Again I worked there 2 days, they took no information from me. I could have been anyone. Was never trained, and the sanitation , in my opinion, was horrid. In the link you will see a few pictures I took. They even had me washing different peoples fece soiled clothing together... that cannot be right. If I am over reacting, I apologize. But I would NEVER put anyone here.
Follow the advice of all the previous postings!!!!! Get OUT!! Report your concerns to the appropriate authorities in your state!! I feel really bad for the residents! I have worked in a couple of LTC facilities. One was excellent and the other one was a nightmare from hell with much of the same concerns that you have expressed in your posting. I felt like I was putting my license in jeopardy every time I walked in the door.
Top it all off, I had worked with the night shift nurse at another facility and knew that she had been fired for diverting drugs. Go fig, every patient in the facility "got pain meds every time they were due" on her shift. When I reported the pattern to the admin, they just looked at me like I was crazy and did nothing.
I left as soon as I secured another position....ASAP!!
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leslie :-D
11,191 Posts
i totally agree w/suzanne!
this place is atrocious and needs to be shut down asap.
obviously the administrator/owner just wants to make a quick buck off these poor, unsuspecting souls and is taking full advantage of their vulnerability.
please, report them to the proper authorities/ombudsman now!!! these residents deserve soooooooo much better. plus you don't want to start out your career linked to a facility w/a bad reputation. this is heartbreaking and infuriating; and i can assure you that any decent nurse will have reported this by now.:angryfire
keep us updated?
God bless.
leslie