1st job - Med Nurse

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I just passed the NCLEX last week and will be starting my first healthcare job next week.

I will be working in an area of a LTC facility, but in the acute medicare unit, just passing meds.

My shift is days 7-3, which works great for my family.

The DON told me that the woman I will be replacing has been there 3 years and is moving. She said she does not have a huge turnover, but the few that do leave are on my hall, and usually are going back to school.

So as a med nurse, I'll be curious to find out what else I have to do besides pass meds. No treatments, from what I understand.

The DON said there is a lot of documentation but it's doable.

Have any of you ever worked at a facility that has a nurse just doing medication? Any insight would be appreciated.

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That seems like it would be really repetitive and emotionally draining to not be challenged with any variety. Just passing meds would seem to get real old real quick. But what do I know? I'm a CNA.

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i just passed the nclex last week and will be starting my first healthcare job next week.

i will be working in an area of a ltc facility, but in the acute medicare unit, just passing meds.

wow, i worked in ltc and subacute care for 3 years and each nurses are responsible for certain number of patients, up to 20 patients in rehab and up to 30 patients in ltc. we are responsible for passing meds, doing treatments, assessing patients and call physician if there is any change in condition, noting physician orders and charting. we usually have a treatment nurse who does nothing but wound assessment and treatments so during morning shift, nurses do not have to do any treatments. i love to have a job like yours, doing nothing but passing meds. :bowingpur:bowingpur

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Right, apparently this facility is the only one in the area that does it like this.

The retention sounds good and when I was there Friday everyone looked relaxed. They have many nurses who have been there for years, and at 11 a.m, nobody looked very stressed out!

Of course, they all know their jobs.

I did my preceptorship at a similar facility, and the LPN had to care for all the patients on the floor - which could be from 15-25 patients. She had all the meds, all treatments and on top of that - had to sit in the dining room with them during meals.

The facility paid a little better but had high turnover and the nurses I worked with stated to me that they hated their jobs. Alot of paperwork, too. So I didn't even apply there.

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i just passed the nclex last week and will be starting my first healthcare job next week.

congratulations on passing nclex-rn!!!!

:clphnds::clphnds::clphnds::dncgbby::dncgbby::dncgbby::nmbrn::nmbrn::nmbrn:

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Specializes in A myriad of specialties.

First off---congrats on getting the RN!:yeah: Sounds like a dream job---so watch out.(I really DON'T want to rain on your parade). I took a "treatment nurse only" (for the whole facility) job several years ago but soon, due to a drop in patient census, was reassigned to charge nurse position AND STILL HAD TO DO MY OWN TREATMENTS. My new shift became 12-hr shifts that wound up being more like 13hrs.

This may NOT happen to you--and I hope it doesn't. But just so you're prepared, ask the DON what happens if there is a change in census.

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Actually I'm an LPN.

But proud of it!

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Congratulations!

I have been doing meds for 35 residents, and today I am down to 2.5 hours per pass. The first day was a 6 hour pass.

FIRST: Run, do not walk to Amazon and buy the book Mosby's Surefire Documentation. This book may save your butt.

SECOND: Remember to give every patient their five rights of medication! Try to last at least three days before you pre pour and do more that one patient at a time.

THREE: Do it like they taught you in school, BP before some, recheck pain after one half hour, stay while the patient takes the drug.

FOUR: Do not hate yourself after two weeks when you find yourself skipping 1 thru 3.

FIVE: REMEMBER you are a nurse first, a patient advocate second and a employee third.

Good luck!

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I just had an interview at a LTC facility recently and was told that all I was to do was to pass meds. However, when I thought about it, for these 30 pts, I still have to monitor them before/after I give the meds and check placements on tube feeds to make sure that it is not on the lungs. I declined that job offer because I value my license and the 30 pt thing was too much for me. On the other hand, good luck in your future at this place as you may be a great fit!:nurse:

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Well, I'll see how it goes. There aren't 30 patients on this sub-acute unit, though. There are about 20, or twenty-something.

Unless you work in private duty with one patient, you will be passing meds to many patients. Checking pulse/bp is standard procedure for some meds and that won't change, either.

Correct me if I'm wrong but no nurse will be able to stay with a patient for the thirty minutes to an hour it might take for a PO medicine to cause a reaction, anyway, and you will be monitoring them the same way you monitor all patients, with all your senses. You will have to depend on the patient to use their call light and/or tell another employee if there is a problem.

I still have to monitor them before/after I give the meds and check placements on tube feeds to make sure that it is not on the lungs.
LadylikeRn, since this is a subacute unit and patients have been discharged from a hospital but aren't well enough to go home, and they are often recovering from hip fractures and the like, and need PT, it seems unlikely to me that many of them, if any of them, would have NG tubes for meds.

Peg tubes, sure. But you are checking for residual, not whether or not the tube is in their lungs, so perhaps you could clarify that statement.

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Well, I'll see how it goes. There aren't 30 patients on this sub-acute unit, though. There are about 20, or twenty-something.

Unless you work in private duty with one patient, you will be passing meds to many patients. Checking pulse/bp is standard procedure for some meds and that won't change, either.

Correct me if I'm wrong but no nurse will be able to stay with a patient for the thirty minutes to an hour it might take for a PO medicine to cause a reaction, anyway, and you will be monitoring them the same way you monitor all patients, with all your senses. You will have to depend on the patient to use their call light and/or tell another employee if there is a problem.

LadylikeRn, since this is a subacute unit and patients have been discharged from a hospital but aren't well enough to go home, and they are often recovering from hip fractures and the like, and need PT, it seems unlikely to me that many of them, if any of them, would have NG tubes for meds.

Peg tubes, sure. But you are checking for residual, not whether or not the tube is in their lungs, so perhaps you could clarify that statement.

Don't take what I said about me not being a good fit personally. I just know for myself that I would like more monitoring of a patient, as a nurse is only able to assess. If something were to go wrong, ultimatley my license is on the line. Furthermore, yes you do check residual and pH for tube feedings and yes it can cause aspiration. I guess I was taught that nursing was not just about passing meds, it is about protecting patients and your license.

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Specializes in LTC, Psych, Hospice.

:yeah:congrats on passing your nclex and welcome to nursing!:yeah:

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