Want to hear your pet peeves in LTC nursing

Specialties Geriatric

Published

Right now I'm having an issue with the night shift LPN. She is always crabby when she comes in and criticizes almost everything I do or say to her. Supposedly she has a bad home life, but she shouldn't take it out on me. Sunday evening when I worked, I was really busy...and when she came in, she jumped my case about all the changeover paperwork not being done. Every other facility I've ever worked in, this was night shift's job. I apologized to her and offered to stay over and help her with changeover. Her response? "I don't need your help; the only thing I need you to do is stay the hell out of my way!"

I'm seriously considering filing a grievance against her. I asked my preceptor yesterday when I happened to see her which shift is supposed to do changeover and she said nights. So this night shift nurse is really chapping my hide!!!

I'm sure I'll think of other pet peeves too....what are some of yours?

Blessings, Michelle

Specializes in LTC.
That "lunch" is deducted from your pay, although I have yet to take a lunch or see anyone else take one either. :/

No lunch(well dinner because its 3-11) for me either since I've been flying solo. I might have been able to take one yesterday if I didn't have an interruption involving a stupid g-tube pump not working.

The Line Up... in the hallway.

The "that's not my job" or "I didn't know I wasn't suppose to do that" CNA.

A charge nurse that just can't get it together and then piles it all on the other nurse at the end of the shift.

Specializes in LTC.
The Line Up... in the hallway.

i hate that.. one facility i had clinical at did it purposely. about 15 residents just lined up outside the feeding room after lunch. there was no activities for the residents who weren't with it or total care.. they just sat there in the hallway it was sad

the place i work at some of the residents just choose to sit by the nurses station.. some have to sit there when not in bed for safety precautions

there is a small line up after dinner which is understandable because they all want to leave the dining room at the same time(they rush to get in there though at 4 to get a seat lol).. so some just end up lined up until the cna comes to find them to get them ready for bed

Ok, I'm new (my 3rd week) in a LTC, so for what it's worth:

- missing meds... and especially when the previous nurse(s)s charted med as given... some obscure med that other pts don't have (to borrow) and emergency cart doesn't have either.... and this med somehow was given several times in a row... I call the pharmacy and find out they didn't even have the order for that med!

- interruptions from NACs with reports for stupid stuff I don't even care about ("I came in and the thrash bag in room xx was full"). Pts who beg meds just because "i always take it at 15:47 and not a minuter later... Interruptions from anxillary stuff with requests to help them with something not really important.

- wandering pts... this is drives me nuts... you pour the pills, you gather up all the insulin, glucometer, their SVNs... barely hold it all together, run to their room... and it's empty... and noone seen the pt. arrrrghhh...

- demented pts who are at risk for falls who just don't want to stay in their chair/bed and keep setting off the alarm every 20 seconds

- demented pts who don't know what's going on and scream "help me!!!" on top of their voice 24/7 and can't be reoriented and whose sole purpose in life is to fall out of bed

- demented pts who wander in their walkers into the nursing station or your med cart every 2 minutes and grab and move stuff around

- managers/docs who don't do anything about all above mentioned pts... not even an order for PRN antipsychotic. I swear it take me at least 30min every shift moving these demented people out of the way/out of harm way/reassuring them/putting them back into chairs/putting tab alarms on

- badly written MAR order that miss one or more "rights"

- residents asking me to adjust their bed/turn on TV/rearrange their bed table/give them extra towel/urinal/ other stuff NACs do... and running into/around the hall and not being able to find one NAC on the floor

- pts lining up for meds... I know some of you love this, but I prefer to give meds at my own pace/order. I'd rather them at their rooms.

- s....l....o.....w pts. Those who can't make up their mind what they want. Or those who just keep mumbling boring unneccesary infortmation before/while taking their meds and explaining to you why and how they take every pill since the day they got admitted.

- when you pass on some undone Tx or info and you came back 2 shifts later and it's still not done.

- lazy NACs... patronizing NACs... "I've been working here for xxx years, and if you're new you probably now that you should take care of your NACs and they will take care of you"... after starting cleaning the pt and then leaving her half covered in poop on her side for 20 minutes

- and it's not really a pet peeve, but rather a reality of LTC... OBESE pts who can't move around.... impossible to do any kind of TX without bringing two aides with you to move them around.

My place is very small...

1. Staff has to DO all the laundry...linens and personals and put them away. Like the Aids have time for this.

2. Lack of communication between shift...I am sure this is everywhere

3. So many per-diem nurses, pretty much the whole second and third shift. They are great and needed, but a little more continuity (spelling?) would be great

4. Using the last of something and not re-ording or replacing

5. Unrealistic administrator...but luckily my DON is very hands on and much more realistic

Specializes in acute rehab, med surg, LTC, peds, home c.
My place is very small...

1. Staff has to DO all the laundry...linens and personals and put them away. Like the Aids have time for this.

2. Lack of communication between shift...I am sure this is everywhere

3. So many per-diem nurses, pretty much the whole second and third shift. They are great and needed, but a little more continuity (spelling?) would be great

4. Using the last of something and not re-ording or replacing

5. Unrealistic administrator...but luckily my DON is very hands on and much more realistic

What? Nursing staff responsible for laundry? What kind of low budget operation is this?

Specializes in Mostly geri :).
What? Nursing staff responsible for laundry? What kind of low budget operation is this?

Like the bird said.........cheap, cheap, cheap, cheap...................I've worked places where we've done that.

I do not or have never been a staff member at a LTC, but I did do a few travel shifts in a few. Have been in many for other reasons. I find many to be dirty, smelly, poorly staffed, not the greatest food selections, patients that look discheveled, over rated. I think Medicare gives a five start rating in our area for the best service, many are at 1 and 2 stars, and I believe they have to improve or they won't be able to stay open. A sure bet that a place is not taking care of the patient well is when you see a wound care nurse needed.

Specializes in lots of different areas.

How many beds was this facility that had the staff do laundry? I CANNOT stand doing other people's laundry, as I have 5 people's to wash at home :) I once worked two days in an ALF where the "hostesses" were in charge of serving food (cooking if no cook) setting table, dishes, passing meds, assisting with showers and doing laundry. I couldn't take it after 2 days! I was much happier as a CNA!

Now happy to have my RN, Jenny

Our facility is 36 beds. CNA's do the laundry, set the tables and serve. It has been working ok so far, but these CNA's are already overworked and under paid. They just keep adding more and more on to them.

this might not be just in LTC, but when you grab the thermometer, and the last person to use it didnt refill the ear caps and there is not a one left!!

Specializes in lots of different areas.

For those of us still doing paper charting, the last nurse leaves only one line in the nurses notes, and not a blank one to replace in the chart...

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