weekend supervisor

Hi, I am a weekend supervisor at a ltc facility in the Tampa Bay area. I think we do a really good job on the weekends, we have a Baylor program for nurses and CNA's are on 8 hour shifts. There is a rumor going around that the weekend supervisor position may be eliminated ( that would be me :) and I believe its because they want to recruit me for 3 to 11. I am wondering if anyone out there has any comments on how a ltc facility functions without a nurse in charge. We have 109 beds.

Hi! My facility doesn't have "shift supervisors"....it is understood that the nurse with seniority is the supervisor. Of course, if there are any major questions, concerns, etc., "the powers that be" are always available.

Suebird

I was the weekend supervisor where I used to work. As such I was responsible for the running of the entire facility, not just nursing. Since I left they have tried on several occasions to do without and have met with disaster. The charge nurses won't take charge and nobody knows who to go to for problems. They tried a weekend manager program but the department head is only in the building for a few hours each day. I believe that they are once again looking for someone to fill that position.

Our facility has and will always have 24/7 nursing. That is written in the policy and really can't be changed due to the fraturnal org. that owns it.

However, I have seen other facilities that do not have weekend nurses. They typically have an on call for emergencies or the CNA's must call 9-11 for things. Not very efficient but in todays day and age with expense...many facilities must cut their budgets in drastic ways. (I came from a facility with two floors and 160 residents).

The only thing that bugs me is that most times I have heard of...the residents still pay high rents (even medicare costs) even if there is no nurse on weekends or after busniness hours! That is unfair and should not be done! Just for a nurse many patients I have known pay upwards to 500 extra dollars for them just being on site, let alone any treatments or CBG's to be done...that is billed extra...frequent safety checks for high risk falls...add another 2-3 hundred...medication administration by CNA...add 500! Laundry..add more! It scared me once I saw the bills!!!!!!!! They even charged for bowel monitoring!!!!!! And a bandaid...heck that was 2.50 per bandaid and had to be prescribed so medicare would cover it (so no sense buying your own for 2.50 a box! uhgggggg).

No wonder medicare/aid will not be available when we need it huh? UHGGGGGG!!!