Split Assignment?

[chellelynn25]

I work LTC in a facility with 92 residents. Tonight there were 3 LPNS for those 92 residents and no RN in house. Our faclity has 2 wings, North and South. Tonite I had the privilege of working the "split" assignment. Which meant I had 15 residents on North and 14 residents on South to pass meds to, to do txs, skilled notes, q day charting, weekly skin assesments and top of all that a resident on North fell while I was passing meds on south. So in the middle of my south med pass and to stop go to other side of the buliding, assess her, get her off the floor and start neuro checks plus call her family and the MD. Both of my med passes were completly out of compliance. And to add to the chaos there were only 4 CNAs in the whole building! I felt totally unsafe tonite. I was nothing but frazzeled from the beginning of my shift to the end. I don't feel like this is a safe way to work. We are so undestaffed at this point in time that the other night they had nurses working as CNAs. I personally have worked 60+ hrs this week alone. myself and other nurses are tired, the cnas are worked to death and it seems like administration really does not care. They think that offering you a 25$ gas card in incentive enough to put you license on the line. It doesn't matter if you say yes to them 10 xs in a row to work extra the first time you tell them no, you are treated like garbage and sadly I'm not over exagerrating. Has anyone else ever worked in conditions like these. I really do not feel safe and feel that my license might be in jeporady. Trying to take care of ppl on both sides of a building is crazy in my opinion.

[CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN]

ugh...I quit a place like that. I like to be able to at least see my assigned rooms.

[GOMER42]

I feel sorry for the residents in places like this because there is NO WAY they are getting the care they need. As hard as you may try, it is impossible to fulfill all your duties as they should be done.

Group up with other nurses and talk to administration together. If nothing changes, get out.

[systoly]

It sounds like tough times. I'm not certain if you're talking about 3-11 or 11-7 shift, but since you've worked so many hours, you're probably working both shifts. Are the other nurses flexible? Can you experiment with the assignments?

You could have one Tx and assesment nurse for both wings, while the other two nurses do medpass for each wing respectively, for instance. There are many ways to rearrange responsibilities. Right now you're tired and you probably don't have the time or the energy to look for a new job, so unless jobs are plentyful in your area, discuss the situation with your coworkers and, or management. I know the feeling of being patronized when asked to work extra shifts, only to be treated with indifference after the shift or worse when declinig the extra shift. Only you know what you can safely handle. Only you know any strain this might put on significant others. Don't we as nurses get treated disrespectfully by family members, even other healthcare workers? So nothing new here, right? Don't let a little tantrum by management deter you from saying no.

[jschut, BSN, RN]

I currently work at a place just like that. Can't wait till December and graduation.

Worst part is... the company is great! But the "new" management has run our company and what it stands for into the ground.....

Good luck!

[sasha2lady]

Yes. Yes and yes. We have 80 beds. 1 rest home hall, 1 rehab hall, 1 totally skilled hall/long term (mine) and another skilled/longterm/ rehab hall. 3 nurses and 6 aides if we are lucky. No RNs on 2nd or 3rd. We get all the admissions on 2nd shift....last night we got 3 admits all at the same time and it was changeover night! We split the rehab hall. We each take our halls and then we have 3 rooms on the rehab hall..the rest home cart has 6 of the rehab hall because of their other hall not being "skilled" yet it has the most falls of any hall. Word is now that they want us to split the rest home and rehab hall.....which would give us all more of a load. We have already gotten a notebook full of extra paperwork and assessments that are SUPPOSED to be done by the DON...plus now they want us to UPDATE care plans which I didnt think we LPNs could do.....go figure.

[PinkaRN]

They tried that with me one time (patients on two different floors) No way is that safe. In no way did they care about myself or my license. I never heard of such a thing, where I worked prior to that was nothing like that we would call and the pool nurse would come. They said that happens all the time. No way did I want my license in a place like that. NO WAY NO HOW

[Disco_Superfly]

Sad, sad, sad. This should never happen but it does. I personally would get out as fast as I could. Eventually there will be no one that will work for them and they will have no choice but to change their tactics. Sounds like administration needs an 'attitude adjustment'. So sorry to hear that you have to deal with that kind of mess.