1st Job in Nursing Questions

[nurse.t]

I have several questions as a new LPN in my first job.

1. Is it common out there to be hired as a nurse then once you are trained they schedule you as an aide instead? I have only been at this job for 3 months and it seems to be a regular thing where I am working at. We were taught in school that you could be putting your nursing license in jeopardy because you are held responsible for your highest level of education. Is this common?

2. We use med carts (not computerized) to do med passes and if a patient doesn't have a medication we are supposed to search the cart to see if anyone else takes it and use that. The ADON said there is no reason not to give a medication and if you can't find it in the cart or the Emergency Drug Kit to initial that you gave it anyway and call the pharmacy (not on premises) to have it dropped shipped. Illegal as hell but nobody seems to have a problem doing this but me. Is this the norm?

3. On night shift there are no maintenance, dietary, or housekeeping personnel. Is it normal for them to ask you to do these jobs also? They schedule two new nurses at the same time so we don't know when we should object and what is the norm for the "real world" It doesn't seem right to be unable to provide patient care because I am trying to fix the fax machine or repair a TV for a resident.

4. Is there a limit on how many patients a LPN can manage? I am at a nursing home and they have two new LPNs with 32 patients each. It seems like all I have time to do is med passes and no one-on-one care.

Needless to say I quit this job after 3 months but am now second guessing a nursing career.... I feel like I got in over my head but am wondering if it is just a really bad facility. Thanks in advance for any support out there.

[mjvarno]

Hello,

It sounds like you were working for a really bad facility. Please dont make a decision about your career on your experiences on one job. There are plenty of good facilities out there that you would probably be happy with. Also, kudos to you for taking a stand and questioning when you knew they were asking you to do something illegal. Never put your license in jeopardy for someone else.

Good luck