SO am I the only one who loves LTC?

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Yeah, parts of it bite, but I really love my old ones, and the younger ones who are stuck with us, the demented ones, the incontinent ones, the cranky ones, the MRs who love everyone, the quiet LOLs who string beads -

I help make people happier. I can't fix them but I can heal some hurts.

You go.

Specializes in neuro/ortho med surge 4.

I worked LTC for 5 months after graduating. I felt I needed to have the " hospital experience" and have made it to the one year mark. I love the elderly patients. I always ask for the elderly patients if I can get them. I just love them to death. I most likely will end back up in LTC as I do love my old peeps. I find them to be more appreciative and tolerant of things. It is so easy to get attached to them. When one of my residents in LTC passed I would cry a river.

Of course some of them are challenging but then again the young patients are challenging in a whole different way.

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I like working woth the elderly. However, it is the administration that makes the jom horrible. They put so much work on the floor nurses and do not care if they get breaks. I recently worked for Lutercrest a personal care home. I was told that I would be the unit manager. The residents where a joy. But I was expected to manage the unit give out the medications and document. While I ran around like a fool the Adminstrator worked out, left any time she wanted. Then to find out the job was temporary. This is what LTC has come to. You are lied to on interveiwed, overworked and abused. If one could just care for the residents the job would be doable.

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I mostly love my population of patients, and I don't hate management. I do get tired when it seems like every week there is some new and all important rule to be followed . Repetitive redundant paperwork also bums me out.

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Specializes in neuro/ortho med surge 4.
I like working woth the elderly. However, it is the administration that makes the jom horrible. They put so much work on the floor nurses and do not care if they get breaks. I recently worked for Lutercrest a personal care home. I was told that I would be the unit manager. The residents where a joy. But I was expected to manage the unit give out the medications and document. While I ran around like a fool the Adminstrator worked out, left any time she wanted. Then to find out the job was temporary. This is what LTC has come to. You are lied to on interveiwed, overworked and abused. If one could just care for the residents the job would be doable.

Hospital work is no different. Way too much documentation and other BS. I have done the hospital for a year and can count the number of lunches I have got on one hand. I love bedside care nursing but it seems there is very little time for that these days

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It's all complying with regulations and being able to document the freaking obvious. But actually, once you get that part down and stop being cranky about the fact that the sun rises ;), it's okay.

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Specializes in med-surg 5 years geriatrics 12 years.

I love my elders too. Right now I'm back in med/surg but make it known that I will always be glad to take the older, confused, fragile ones. I miss LTC just no job in a decent one open at the moment.

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I had my clinicals in a hospital m/s, and in all honesty I didn't like it one bit. Yes it's high-tech and all that, but it's not something I'd like to do for prolonged time. Every day I went there like for a servitude. I'm a laid-back person and it felt too tense... neverending tension.

LTC where I work now feels "just right", I love having the same pts day after day so I can learn them and their needs, I love the relaxed atmosphere, a friendly chatter with a pt now and then. Yes, I have to run a lot, but somehow it doesn't feel like a sucking-life-out-of-you work. I actually catch myself looking to go to work now and then (which I never thought would be possible before). And when they call me in for extra shift, I never feel upset I lost my day off. I think I found where I belong.

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Specializes in lots of different areas.

True about finally learning the paperwork (and how to do it fast).. It makes life easier to know what in the heck is expected of you and get it done throughout your shift than to be on the naughty list for not having your paperwork done!

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I love LTC! I swear it's like having 75 grandparents! ;)

People always say how depressing it is, but I guess it's just a matter of perspective. They see it as watching people get sick and die; I see it as helping people to live their lives the best they can in the time they have left and having a little fun along the way.

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I am a new grad. When I first started school, it was my intention to work LTC because I like the elderly and want people to be comfortable and happy as possible in that stage of their lives. I got side tracked by the excitement of ER and really thought I wanted to work at a large hospital. I've only had one interview and I was so nervous, worried about saying exactly the right things. Then I went to an interview at LTC. When I walked in, I was welcomed by Staff and Residents. I felt totally comfortable at the interview and able to just be myself. I then remembered my original goal and how much I enjoyed my LT clinicals. I really think that this will be my path. Thank you for all the positive posts. It really has influenced my decision.:yeah:

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Specializes in Hem/Onc, LTC, AL, Homecare, Mgmt, Psych.

I totally agree about working in LTC is like having a hundred (high maintenance) grandparents, they are where the wisdom is. A generation whose work ethic we might never see again, don't you think?

From all the elderly I have taken care of over the years I have gleaned a wealth of information it's made me a better nurse, better mom and a better wife. Just a few tidbits:

-adding vinegar to the water poaches eggs perfectly (holds the whites together better)

- not to sweat the small stuff

- not to take my freedom or ability to make day to day decisions for granted (or take for granted that I can take myself to the bathroom)

- Life is hard but you need to stick it out and communicate. I worked with a couple that was married for 76 years!

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Specializes in geriatrics,wound care,hospice.

It's the only nursing I have ever done, and I'm so grateful I found my niche so early!. I started as an aide 12/26/1979,3-11 shift. Graduated from LPN school 7/1981,to return to my facility as a NURSE!. Now,31 yrs. later,50 yrs.old with wealth of knowledge and greater capacity for relationships with the elders and co-works,I know every day I make a difference in someones' life. It is unfortunate that so many nurses are burned up by this kind of work-but many are enriched by it, and come to work every day ready to draw on experience, think outside the box,share a laugh,ease a fear, cheer a triumph,shed a tear,and carry on. I love my (life)work.

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