What can we do to improve working conditions in Nursing homes?

Specialties Geriatric

Published

NOTHIING......until the exact ratio of CNA's and licensed nurses to residents are mandated in the State and Federal Regulations.

I have been a CNA/med-tech since 1994, and have worked at several different NH's, and things are the same today as they were back then, We are ALL unpaid, over worked, under staffed, and burnt out !!! They (the admin) will take any kind of resident that comes through the door. All they care about is the $$$$. They don't work the floor, so they have NO IDEA how these residents are, and they wonder why the cna's are quiting, and calling out, and why they're so many incident reports, and cna's on light duty(at least at my NH) I think if the higher up's would work a shift or two, then maybe they would/could see what it's REALLY. Sorry about venting.... but THAT felt GREAT !!! Don't get me wrong , I LOVE what I do, I just don't like working in the conditions that we are forced to. Have you ever noticed, that when STATE is in , there is PLENTY of staff?? amazing, This was my 1st post, sorry it had to be a negative one, but it's the truth, Y'll have a great evening!

purple_angel24521

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I was wondering, just how "common" are "attacks" in LTC? Meaning residents getting aggressive and violent.

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I was wondering, just how "common" are "attacks" in LTC? Meaning residents getting aggressive and violent.

Hi Holly, I just wrote a post about me and another aide getting beat up by a resident, it's under this topic : long term care and geriatrics, you can read it. I have been a CNA since 1994, I have had the 'usual' a smack, a pinch, but never had anything like this happen. It has really scared me , and what really scares me more is , I've been told "it's part of the job" that was told to me by the ADON, and the admin. I just can't believe that, we are there to help them and take care of them, not be abused by them. OSHA says that our employers are suppose to provide a SAFE enviroment for us to work in, and they don't seem to care. It feels like they are more worried about losing money from him if they were to send him somwhere else(that's sad) I'm still searching for some answers of what to do, and what are our rights as CNA's. wish me luck !

purple_angel24521

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I was wondering, just how "common" are "attacks" in LTC? Meaning residents getting aggressive and violent.

Waay too common, IMHO. Around here we have the problem of mentally unstable and aggressive pts being tagged as Alzheimers, when if you research their history, they have been this way for years. Just when the family couldnt cover and hide their behavior, they excuse it by saying its Alz whenin fact it is not. Sooo, they are shipped off to the local ALF or LTC..

My mother suffered a career ending injury due to an attack by a pt like this. A man, supposedly Alz, was admitted to the local ALF. well, my Mom went to check on him after admission and was cornered and beaten (suffered spinal damage :crying2: ) It turned out my grandma had once had him YEARS prior as a pt on her locked psych unit!!!! Yes, he was violent then, too. The family had covered his behavior for years and when they couldnt cope, dumped him in the nearest LTC with the supposed Dx of Alz/dementia.

In home care I am suspicious of any new pt that has a Dx of Alz/dementia. Seen way too many cases where the Dx was BS and the pt was obvious a psych pt of many years standing. If I go to a new case and they say its Alz, I always ask "what was your Mom/Dad like when they were young?" If the family says anything like "Mom was always a sweet . religious, meek homemaker" I want to run :rotfl: In my expereince, those are the demented pts that are most likely to turn mean. All that repressed stuff has to come out somewhere. :chuckle

Laura

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.........we have the problem of mentally unstable and aggressive pts being tagged as Alzheimers..................In home care I am suspicious of any new pt that has a Dx of Alz/dementia. Your quote.

Yes, I have seen also an increace in the numbers of the "dementures" dumped into the local Aged care homes. These have come from the psychiatric hospitals where they have lived for many years. (Originally they were all diagnosed psychiatricaly sick - long term bipolar/schitz etc.

Upon enquiry it seems that (I have quoted this before I think on another thread, however) once a female psych patient gets to 60yrs, or a male psych patient gets to 65yrs then they no longer have a psych diagniosis. They become 'normal' and are only dementures! (Lovely harmless old people with Alz/dementia!!!) Yes I do work still in aged care and yes I still see some of my old patients from when I worked in psych coming into the aged care facilities. The aged care facilities do not have psych trained nurses! Anyone who works in an aged care facility does not as part of their job expect or have to tollerate being beaten up! Whoever said that should be made to work in one of the units and get a beating.

So you loose your 'madness' when you get to retirement!

:saint:

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My grandfather was dx with dementia/alz and he didnt have any psyche problems in his younger years. He was 84 when he passed and he was fine until he was 81, then he started suffering from memory loss, seeing people that werent there and so forth. Over the last three years of his life, he progressively got worse to where he couldnt even walk anymore. This whole time my grandmother took care of him with the help of family. She had a visiting nurse come out three times a week to help bathe him. Mind you, my grandfather had colitis and no bowel control. He had to be diapered and would get up in the middle of the night, take his diaper off and have poo smeared all over the place. My grandma had to get up and clean it. They told her to tie him in bed at night but she refused to do it, so she would just endure these midnight cleanings. What a trooper she is, and what a wonderful wife my grandfather had. He passed away in April right before his 85th birthday but he lived a happy life even in the end.

If you were to ask me how my grandfather was when he was younger, I would tell you he was a kind, loving, and caring man, who would have given you the shirt off his back if you needed it. I guess my point is, try not to generalize all dementia/alz patients because not all of them are as you described.

My grandmother refused to place my grandfather into a NH from fear of him being mistreated. It is a known fact around here that these places are understaffed, lack supervision especially on the night shifts. They higher aids who are not certified and then put them through school, while in the mean time they are caring for pts with no experience or training!

Me and a friend of mine did a little research project on this a few years back after a big news story on it. We got the help wanted ads, looked for CNA positions and called these places up for an interview. Now mind you, in the ad it stated that the cna had to be state certified with experience. Ok keep that in mind, because when we called they asked if we were certified and when we told them "no" they said "no problem, we can get you certified". Ok no biggie, put us through school then we work...NOPE! They wanted us to work while we were going through our training and they wanted us to work the midnight shift so we wouldnt be at risk of the state coming in for inspections. This happens all the time here. They just dont have the man power to inspect the facilities like they are suppose to. Something has to give!

Suggestion: If all CNAs, LPNs, and RNs banded together and start a project for better working conditions, better pay and so forth, together we could lobby congress and get something done about this. I agree working for free is OUT OF THE QUESTION as well as hurting this profession severly. ANA needs more members! Something needs to be done about this very serious issue. Call your local news stations and have them investigate it, lobby congress, start a state organization and do something about it. Sitting back waiting for it to happen will never get anything done. You have a voice USE IT!!!!! I am not a nurse yet but bet your "free overtime" that I will be speaking up and saying something about it. I am not one to sit down and play dead, I stand up for things, I may be only one person but I will at least try. I am going to do a little more research on this, and if anyone wants to help out, or join in please email me at [email protected], or PM me on here.

Let's make this happen!

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Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

Is "dementures" the mid western spelling of dementia???

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i have worked nursing homes from LA to podunk alaska, and i've come to realize that no...i said NO, nursing home will ever treat a patient as well as someone deserves.

over the years, families have failed their loved ones and given the responsibility to an institution that is only looking to succeed, therefore make money. sure the staff does their best to take good respectful care of clients, but it isnt one on one care.

i can promise you that when my parents start to need more help, i will be the one to care for them. no one can love family the way family can. no ifs ands or buts. i think the problem is that modern families believe they must live at a higher standard, which doesnt include staying home and wiping someones ***.

for the ppl that are without loved ones, they must accept a lesser quality of life, and rely on a support system that has never known them, eventually to die in a cold, crowded environment.

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Is "dementures" the mid western spelling of dementia???

Sorry about that - I must have spent too much time checking out teeth and dentures for the dementias.

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i have worked nursing homes from LA to podunk alaska, and i've come to realize that no...i said NO, nursing home will ever treat a patient as well as someone deserves.

over the years, families have failed their loved ones and given the responsibility to an institution that is only looking to succeed, therefore make money. sure the staff does their best to take good respectful care of clients, but it isnt one on one care.

i can promise you that when my parents start to need more help, i will be the one to care for them. no one can love family the way family can. no ifs ands or buts. i think the problem is that modern families believe they must live at a higher standard, which doesnt include staying home and wiping someones ***.

for the ppl that are without loved ones, they must accept a lesser quality of life, and rely on a support system that has never known them, eventually to die in a cold, crowded environment.

while i agree that staying in one's home is the ideal, it is just not realistic for many.

and while i agree that there are some shabby facilities, there are also many that provide superior, warm, compassionate care and the patients are very happy and safe.

obviously you have not had the good fortune of encountering any of these specific facilities.

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Specializes in Home care, assisted living.

I worked as a CNA in two nursing homes owned by a local hospital. One seemed to be run pretty well, but the other stank of urine every time I walked through the door. At the second facility state officials were there the first three days I worked there, and the CNA's were shuffling me around to the rooms "state" might visit. "Don't change this person right now, change THAT person!" It was a baptism by fire. They also had a man who masturbated 24 hours a day and let the whole building hear him when he....well, we won't go there....:imbar

In the nursing homes, as well as the assisted-living facility where I currently work, I've been scratched, punched, kicked, pinched, cussed out and almost bitten a few times. It's an "occupational hazard" in the nursing homes--get used to it--but in assisted living we are supposed to file an incident report even if we get scratched. They don't tolerate abuse quite as much, thank God. Most of the residents who get abusive end up leaving pretty soon. But we have to learn to work with them until they do.

All I can say is, thank GOD I don't have to work in the nursing homes anymore. They worked my butt off for $6.00/hr. and I lasted four months. Now I get only $2 more an hour working in asst. living but I've been there four YEARS. Go figure....

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you are right earl, there are some good ones. thats not the point. nursing homes and residential care facilities are used as conveniences, and therefore are over populated. instead of biting the bullet and taking in the people that raised us, we pay someone else to do it. and most of the time, we sell, or take all of their life possessions, so that they are "poor", and medicaid/medicare will pay for it all... meaning you and i are paying for some lazy kid not wanting to repay their families, by doing what God meant us to do. there are exceptions to the rule, but those exceptions would get better care if we took the elderly that belonged at home out of the nursing homes, reducing the population of that institution, and bringing the patient to staff ratio closer to one on one.

the very best home ive worked at was in homer, alaska. small population (like 30-40), and a beautiful home. fireplace, tv, blah , blah, blah. one of the local russians works with activities, and cooks traditional food. for the few residents that know what the hell is going on, outdoor activities are planned.

with all of this great stuff, and only one hour away, i still would not put my parents in it. my parents were not perfect, but they did what they thought was best raising us. they deserve to have the favor returned.

anyways, Rn's and LPN's arent encouraged to better there nursing skills. mds reports, passing meds, and doing treatments over and over all day long isnt doing any nurse any good. the aides do all or most of the work, and its harder than hell to find a good cna. turnover rates are sky high everywhere.

whew... done with that tantrum.

if you are a cna, and you want a job at a nursing home, expect to get bit, kicked, hit, cussed at, (again), blah, blah, blah. most of the residents are confused and have lost their inhibitions. and the ones that arent confused are pissed off they got stuck in there, with few exceptions.

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