Start first job saturday. Tips??

Vespertina · Jan 20, 2017

Perfectly normal... I've worked with agencies, and have been assigned to LTC facilities in the past half-year after working mostly in school and home settings. You're lucky you get a person with you, as my orientation experience has been nothing but "show up 2 hours before your first shift" and then I was set free on my own to figure things out for myself, with no background LTC experience. That sure was rough but I survived, and apparently did a good enough job to keep getting requested back. I've gotten good at filling in the blanks and thinking on my feet over time. I've worked primarily PMs and NOCs so my experience may vary from yours, but yes 30 clients per shift in LTC sounds about right. I know it's intimidating at first, but what you're mostly doing is med pass at least a couple times per shift, perhaps also combined with glucose checks and insulins depending on the shift your facility has those scheduled. There's usually a treatment nurse to handle some of the other stuff, like wound care. The CNAs will be your eyes and ears, and will do a significant part of the bedside work for you, like collecting vitals, t&r, answering call lights, etc. Just make sure your CNAs do indeed do their work, and remind them to get vitals in a timely manner if necessary! Teamwork and communication is essential, as well as organizing your time. But try not to fret too much, as it's really not nearly as scary as it sounds. They're not going to expect you to memorize the care plans of all 30 clients the first night, either... What's essential the first day is making sure the meds for everyone get passed, the treatment gets taken care of, none of the clients fall down and the charting/nursing notes get done (along with anything else that's common sense). Giving meds to each patient is usually like 30 seconds in the room each before moving on to the next one, so med passes will go by quicker than you think. After enough time spent there you will memorize all the clients sort of like a teacher gets familiar with all their students within a classroom, and things like weekly summaries become second-nature. I wish you the best of luck!!

yaripr1 · Jan 20, 2017

Thank you for replying. Apart from the fact that I will have peoples lives in my hands, med pass was something I am really worried about so I hope I am the same and I dont take forever. Im still nervous but I guess I should just keep in mind that I am not alone and that this is indeed a team.

mrsfoster601 · Jan 20, 2017

That's normal don't be afraid to ask question and ask for help You will be fine Good luck welcome to nursing

foggnm · Feb 1, 2017

You will adapt to your environment and learn, like any new job. LTC is a tough environment and you will be very busy. Maybe you will find you love that work and never want to do anything else. Maybe it will be stressful and you'll decide you only want to do it for a year or two. Just focus on your future and think about what you want to be in 10 years and let that drive your career choices and education. Sometimes thinking about your long-term goals in the midst of difficulty can help make the current stressful situation seem like a stepping stone, rather than an overwhelming obstacle.