I am a graduate LPN who just had my very first orientation day at an assisted living facility, and it was awful.
When I got to the facility in the morning I had to be with the night shift nurse because the day shift nurse who was supposed to train me up and quit without a notice.
I was with the night shift nurse for about an hour and a half until the assistant director of nursing came in. I was with her for most of the day. She kept disappearing to do things and I had no idea where she was at or what I was supposed to do.
A care giver called out for tomorrow evening shift, and I heard that two caregivers put in their resignations recently.
For the last four hours, I was with the DON. She had to leave to go pick her baby up from daycare. When the assistant DON left I was in the med room by myself with no nurse in the facility for a good 45 minutes.
The nurse that was supposed to be there on night shift ALSO quit without a notice, so we had to give the night time meds.
The DON was pulling meds and handing them to me to pass, which made me feel very uncomfortable. All of the residents were sitting in the dining room and she was telling me to give the med to "name", and I had no clue who anyone was. I had to ask her who that resident was, and what medication was I giving.
While we were in the middle of the night shift med pass, the fire alarm went off. We had to get all of the patient's outside and check all of the rooms to make sure nobody was in there.
She acknowledged that this was a very rough day and wants me to train with just her next week. I am really unsure if I want to even go back.
Should I give it another day? If I do quit, will it show up in a background check and look bad to other employers? And how should I go about quitting?
Sounds like the Rehab I worked at. Rose colored glasses at first. I was oblivious to the number of people quitting and jumping ship. I ended up being forced to work doubles because the nurse would call out or not come in. Aides were calling out all the time, entire units of them. I put on the schedule on the days I was supposed to have off because "there was no one else". I was mandatory doubled on thanksgiving, christmas eve, christmas, new years, and new years eve. I couldn't afford to walk out on my job. Not even for a minute. So I sucked it all up. I loved my residents and my coworkers. I hated the company I worked for. I clocked 190 hours in a two week period at one point. I was NEVER home. And finally, I was so burnt out.... I called out. I was exhausted, I had a migraine, I was just not feeling well. I gave them 8 hours advance notice. My DON spent 5 of it calling my phone, texting me, threatening me on how this would require disciplinary action and how it showed how unreliable I am. Despite everything I had done, all the shifts I had filled..... she wrote me up for calling out. Said my "call out was not accepted" and it was a no call no show. I said that's enough. I wanted ONE night off. That was it. I snagged an interview at the hospital and dropped that place faster than I could blink.
So. Run. Don't walk. RUN.
I am speechless,what total abuse,they were lucky they got 8 hours notice.
Situation is a booby trap, be careful,keep your ears open,...quitting during orientation is the best time,you are not beholden to anyone,same for the facility they can let you go anytime for any reason during orientation.Once off orientation they must show cause if there is a union.
It's so depressing that toxic environments and sky-high staff turnover seem to be the norm for ALFs and LTCs. I'm grateful that my grandmother is in a small, family-owned LTC with amazing staff who have all mostly been there for years. These corporate-chain facilities are the absolute definition of corporate greed, and also show how little we as a society care about our elderly folks. Stick it out while looking for a new job if you can; if you can't or don't need to, walk now and you'd be totally justified.
Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.
Regrettably, this is not uncommon in AL. I've been a DNS in several, and one was a complete cluster---we had an entire shift call out, medications weren't being given (one med aide was slow and if the shift ended before she was done with her med pass, she'd just leave), and some of the time the administrator and I worked the night shift because there was no one else to do it. I stayed there only three months, because it never got better. It made me angry that there were residents paying upwards of $6000/month and not getting the care they needed, but there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. It was a for-profit company that owned the place, and they were (and are) famous for not delivering on their promises as well as being greedy. They are still operating hundreds of facilities all over the country, and as far as I know still getting away with charging people up the wazoo and keeping staffing at a bare-bones minimum.
Specializes in hospice, LTC, public health, occupational health.
I totally agree. My husband and family think I'm crazy for going in for another day. If after my second day nothing is any better, I am going to tell the DON that I don't think the job is a good fit for me, and i'll quit. I just hate to quit during orientation, but the place is a mess.
When I first came in, there was only one caregiver who was freaking out because she felt like she would not be able to go through the day by herself. There was a scheduling issue and only one caregiver was scheduled.
The night shift nurse had two falls and said her shift was chaotic.
So for the first few hours the assistant DON (who I was with again because no staff) was calling every person she could asking them to come in. While she was calling people to come in I asked what I could do to help. She said to start pulling medicines.
There are two carts, and I did one by myself asking her questions as I had them. I also went to patient's rooms and gave medications by myself because she asked me to.
One of the upper management came to the med room to drop off medication from the pharmacy and just asked how I was doing as small talk and I told her I was overwhelmed but I was okay. I guess she went and told the DON because she pulled me into her office and told me she heard I was overwhelmed.
I told her that I didn't feel comfortable pulling meds on my second day, or giving them, that the assistant DON wasn't really explaining anything very well, and that I was concerned about all the people quitting and the amount of staffing issues.
She said under no circumstances should I be pulling or passing medications unless a nurse is watching me do it, and she apologized. She also said that the staffing usually isn't an issue, and that assisted living is actually very easy. And I agree that if there were the proper amount of staff, I would feel completely different about the job.
she had me stay in her office for a few hours explaining the charting system, and then instead of me helping with the lunch med pass she had me serve lunch so I could learn the resident's names better. We did the night time med pass together.
She was helpful and explained things really well, but the reason we had to pass the night time medications is because there still isn't a night shift nurse to do it. The facility only has caregivers (who are not certified) and a nurse on call.
The DON is a great teacher and I feel bad for her trying to run that whole facility. Most of my second day went well but the place is so unorganized and understaffed. My next shift I am supposed to be with just a regular floor nurse and NOT management, so I feel like I could get a better understanding of what my actual job duties will be.
Leader25, ASN, BSN, RN
1,348 Posts
I am speechless,what total abuse,they were lucky they got 8 hours notice.
So sad.