Weekend Supervisor in LTC Interview

JusT that LTC is more focused on rehab and getting back into community now!! You still have you long term people but most of the income is from medicare, short stay. Get em PT/OT/SP and send them home!! More therapy More $$.

GOOD LUCK!!

The push now is to treat residents IN the facility if they get sick. Sometimes it's just easier for the staff nurses to send them to the hospital because they have 20 or 25 other residents to deal with and don't have time for the sick person. But if there is a supervisor who can assess the patient, call the doctor and explain what the facility can and can't do, and help the staff nurse out with the sick person, everyone benefits.

As one nurse said to me right after I started. "as long as you go into this knowing you will end up "driving a cart" (working the floor and giving meds) at least once a week, you'll be ok. She's right, I am ok. I've been at this only 4 weeks and it averages out to about that...also working overnight because people don't show, schedule confusion or just don't care...maybe found another job and just can't stand to come in that last time..or? I feel a little burned out already but this is Nursing at an LTC/Skilled/Rehab. We have on call Nurses but they get called in a lot, and work 5 eight hour shifts a week. Hard to feel sorry for myself when I see that dedication.

Its seemed to change in the last year or so.

We are doing much more short term rehab residents that come to us sicker and many are post op day 2 or so. We have two wings..once they are rehabed they either go home or get moved to the LTC side. Sooo...more pain management, lots of IV therapy, alot of wound care, drains and wound vacs, alot of teaching and these residents are younger and want more and expect more "customer service" and sometimes it feels like it is "service" vs nursing care.

As Capecod mentioned...we are keeping most of the residents at the facility and really pushing the docs to let us treat them in the facility as opposed to sending them back to the hospital for care that really can be done in house...labs, IVs, Xrays, getting stat meds etc. The only problem we have been having with this (we've been encouraging our docs to do this for years) is that the labs, pharmacy, xray services are still lagging behind. Stat services aren't really stat..sometimes the lab won't come after 12 or so in the afternoon...what good is that? We have the younger, sicker residents that don't (nor should they) want to wait. They want answers now.

Another change but not really the change...staffing. The quality of workers just seems to be going down hill. This might be specific to my facility. Seems like the work ethic is just non existant.

I don't think it is the quality of workers as much as managemant looking for that dollar and not caring about the care. After 16 years in LTC I got completely burned out and left. Poor and constantly changes of managers. I hate that I gave it up, but pushing a bolder up a mountain by myself got old!! My heart will always be with the elderly but I'm now working for the prison system . I have learned that the state has more strict guidelines for convicts then the elderly. So I just may commit a crime when I'm sixty five, have a roof over my head, food in my belly and not have to worry about being a burden to my kids and still get my medication and dr visits!!