Should I find a new job asap?

Published

Specializes in Skilled Rehab.

At first I liked the job until I saw some major red flags (or what I thought to be red flags and I ignored them thinking what do I know I'm a new RN & maybe all LTC places were this way). A major incident happened yesterday when I came in for my shift & I was getting report from the day nurse & a patient's wife came to tell us that her husband was breathing funny. The nurse told her we would come & take a look at him, so this nurse tells me I don't know what that woman wants from me I've been back there all day checking his vitals & he's fine. I go into the room with her & immediately notice he's in trouble & I told her he needs to go out now because this isn't his usual behavior. He was mouth breathing, gasping for air, not talking at all & just out of it, I even saw his eyes rolling upward (which she says she didn't notice). The nurse said ok but I don't know what to tell the md because his vitals are fine. She call the md to get they approval to be sent to the hospital, now during her conversation with him she told the md perla (which she didn't check) and that he had strong pulses (she didn't check them at all, I did & I couldn't find one in his left arm and the right was very faint) she also told him his hand grasp was strong (he couldn't grasp your hand at all, his left hand was lifeless & the pads of his fingers were a funny blue discoloration) Later that night his family came to get his belongings, he had passed at the hospital. I heard a few people saying it was from an abdominal aortic aneurysm. I've never felt so bad in my life because this woman tried to tell the day nurses that this wasn't normal behavior for her husband & he suffered for several hours before I came in & made them do something about it.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.

Wow. I agree. It it one lazy nurse or is that the "culture" of the facility?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in LTC, Memory loss, PDN.

how do you feel a new job would make things better for you?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Skilled Rehab.

This is the culture of the facility, things happen & either get swept under the rug or covered up. Systoly a new job at a place where their not so corrupt and sneaky would make things easier if I didn't have to worry on a daily basis that someones laziness doesn't fall on my lap & make it look like I neglected the patient.... But then again I'm a new RN & I came here wondering if this type of thing happens in a lot of LTC homes.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in LTC, Memory loss, PDN.
This is the culture of the facility, things happen & either get swept under the rug or covered up. Systoly a new job at a place where their not so corrupt and sneaky would make things easier if I didn't have to worry on a daily basis that someones laziness doesn't fall on my lap & make it look like I neglected the patient.... But then again I'm a new RN & I came here wondering if this type of thing happens in a lot of LTC homes.

I'd say yes it does, however, your situation sounds extreme and if that is the facility's MO,

I'd be looking for a new job for sure

even if you don't inherit anything from the previous shift, who'd wanna be associated

with this kind of place

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Real shady. Long term care isn't like this everywhere. Some long term care nurses are some of the best at assessment you have ever seen.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

It doesn't happen in a lot of places....never in any place I've ever worked would we have tolerated that. Maybe because I work in Massachusetts and we have the strictest DPH there is. Or maybe because we're hard working Yankees and take pride in what we do.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Should you look for a new job? I don't know. I have been looking for a "new job" and haven't been able to find another full time job. The only thing available in my area is part time and prn. So I stay where I am because I need full time hours. It seems that all of the nursing homes in my area are about the same(Dumps). I got yelled at by my DON for sending a resident to the ER. The ER report stated that the patient had a heart attack.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

You're the patients advocate, talk to the administrators, make a difference, step up. It's a horrible thing what happened but we are nurses, we are here to change lives for the better. Get that nurse reprimanded, report what you see. This is the real world, not the nclex hospital.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ER.

Run for your License, I have been in the LTC/Rehab world for three years now and I am currently a nursing student and, speaking just from my personal experiences, I will never work in a rehab. Maybe reporting the nurse in a hospital wouldnt be a problem but in a nursing home, well good luck with that. These places are corporate run and ALL ABOUT THE MONEY, thats it, a head in a bed. Nurses are rewarded for keeping patients in-house at all costs. They dont care about your license, and if you think this is bad just wait. The day will come when a marketer brings in a patient without a payor and your administrator, under the direction of corporate, will tell you, we need to get this patient out fast make something up, call the doctor, we are not getting paid for this admission and they gota go. If you refuse they will find someone who will and you may be out of a job at that point. Even the doctor's are in on it so there is no way to prove fraud. Again I am speaking from my experiences.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in LTC, Agency, HHC.

At the time of that nurses assessment, she could have seen everything she reported to the MD at that time. How do you know she didn't assess him? We all know how quickly things can change.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Should you look for a new job? I don't know. I have been looking for a "new job" and haven't been able to find another full time job. The only thing available in my area is part time and prn. So I stay where I am because I need full time hours. It seems that all of the nursing homes in my area are about the same(Dumps). I got yelled at by my DON for sending a resident to the ER. The ER report stated that the patient had a heart attack.

Wow our management does the same. I guess its better for the census if the patient codes and then dies. (sarcastic) I am tired of the people in the office having blinders on. I have been in ltc to long I guess and I am just about burnt out. I thought going to get my RN from LPN would change things and it has not.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion