Six months in - LPN @ 90-bed LTC. Is it me?

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So I guess I need to vent a little bit.

I graduated from the LPN program in May 2014, and got my first nursing job at a Retirement home in July 2014. Pretty good turnaround, and I was ecstatic since I hadn't even received a callback from the other 50~ jobs I'd applied to in that span.

So now I'm 6 months in and most days this week I've fantasized about going into a corner and crying. Granted, I've caught the flu from my residents, but I'm not sure that's the whole issue.

My job involves providing meds and nursing care to all 90 residents in 8-hour shifts. There is one charge nurse in the building at a time (me) along with a handful of care workers. That's it. Most of my residents are fairly independent or a 1-person assist, but there's a good chunk of them that are total care and require feeding. So it's more of a retirement slash LTC home without the pay to go with it.

Now - it's flu season. So far I'm the only nurse to get sick, and I'm the newest, so I've been trying my best to work my scheduled shifts but I ended up having to call in sick Wednesday (fever + cough + bad time), to the great annoyance of my supervisor as she ended up having to cover for me on her week off. I only have about 3 possible people that could cover me at a time - for the most part we have 2 day nurses, 2 evening nurses, and 2 night nurses and half of them aren't familiar with the other shifts. I went in to work today, but I'm still coughing a lot with an elevated temp so I got someone to cover my shift tomorrow so I can try to get some rest and recover.

I don't know - is it me? My boyfriend keeps trying to reassure me that I'm in a highly stressful environment and that taking care of 90 residents per shift is unreasonable. I'm exhausted. I don't sleep very well - I dream about going to work half the time. I'm just so frustrated because I don't feel confident in my skills and I'm pretty much independently working and trying to do my best. I just feel like a total failure because I'm still making mistakes or poor judgement calls - like going to work today at all while I'm still sick and risking spreading it to my residents. And yet when I tried to make a different call I was given a hard time by management about getting someone to cover me.

It just feels like the odds aren't stacked in my favor at all. Maybe I need a new job?

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
Maybe I need a new job?
You need a new job. Period.

I was kept very busy when I worked the midnight shift caring for 68 residents at a LTC facility, and I could not imagine dealing with 90 of them.

As much as you might be tempted to walk away from this job without anything lined up, be mindful that it's typically easier to find a job when you already have a job. Good luck to you.

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Specializes in hospice.

Get out of there as soon as you have a new job. 90 residents is totally unreasonable.

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Specializes in Clinical Documentation Specialist, LTC.

I agree. Secure another job and get the heck out of Dodge. 90 residents for one nurse is not only unreasonable and impossible to provide proper care for, it is downright dangerous. Heck, I have almost 20 years experience as a LPN and even 30 residents was too much for me when I worked the floor in LTC.

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Thank you for the reassurance that I'm not just shirking responsibility or something. It's super overwhelming as a new grad. I'm keeping my head above water so far but it's wearing on me and my anxiety levels are through the roof lately.

I'm hoping this spring will see a lot of jobs I can hopefully get interviewed for, because I should be well prepared for crazy time management at this point. Maybe anything after this will come easily to me?? (fingers crossed)

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Specializes in critical care, ER,ICU, CVSURG, CCU.

it would be super over whelming to me with 42.5yrs experience, I would not do it....

seek another job.....best wishes

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