I'm reading a more and more of the disparages among the licensed and certified that give so much time and passion towards Nursing Home care and LTC on these forums recently.
As a new RN-BSN, I have learned the very difficult way that hospital nursing is NOT where my own passion lies and I am looking to get into Nursing Home care.
I would love to read some positive input from you who give so much of yourselves to this occupation as to what you find most fulfilling in this career path.
Is there room for this overeducated, underexperienced R.N. in Nursing Home care?
What encouragement would you offer your:
sister/cousin/daughter/brother/boyfriend...etc if they told you that after pursuing the struggles in Nursing School, passing boards under personal obstacles and great odds, and attempting to hone their skills in hospital bedside care, that they made the most difficult decision to navigate away from the New Grad bastion of hospital orientation to do Nursing Home/LTC?
Looking for positive encouragement and hope :heartbeat
I can be having the worst day ever - CNAs not getting along, being called over the PA system a million and a half times all day long, things going wrong - then one smile or a hug from one of my residents sets a completely different tone and I know I am there for a purpose and that is to be there for them.
Working in LTC can be very satisfying if you take the time to enjoy your work. Staff members, residents, and visitors can see this and the mood can spread. Even on a busy shift, making jokes, laughing and relieving stress will help you get through it. The other thing to remember is you are providing a service to a generation of people that took care of us. It is always important to remember that they deserve it.
I have been in LTC for 14 years as an aide and now a nurse and I love it. Some days can be crappy and some days are wonderful you just take it all in . The residents are wonderful and become your family of sorts and thats why a lot of us I think love it. You will learn so much about assessment, you are always busy and the rewards are endless. Have fun with it, keep a positive attitude and enjoy!
You either like / love working with demanding old people and their families or you don't. Personally, every shift I work, I get something out of being there. The shifts I just don't want to do, those are the shifts that someone asks me to tuck them in and...oh, can I have a hug too?...those times melt me. Here are people that, for the most part, have worked all their lives, have lost their people through death usually, and just want to feel a good heart near them. I do agency nursing, I only do LTC. I have adopted grandparents around me every shift I work, and sometimes I am so touched by them I could burst. In most cases, their annoying families don't know how to care for them but to be a squeaky wheel. To those PIA's I just deal with them as someone's daughter and granddaughter, and remind them that I understand their concerns and whatever I can do for their loved one is what I am there to do. That's my job.
In some cases, control freaks can just be PIA's. I try to remember that I'll be them soon...For better or worse, I'd hope someone will be there to speak for me too. Aside from all the politics and paperwork is a heart you need to share, jokes you need to have laughed at, hugs that need to be given....none of these people were perfect when they were younger, and they are not close to perfect now, but they do need you. They hate needing you, but if you're there for them they'll love having you around, even the tough ones.
This is actually my first time posting (I've been lurking for like a year, lol!) and I am so glad I found this thread! I am an LPN student who is starting clinicals next week at a LTC facility (most likely in a NH, I'll find out Monday!) and I've been so nervous about it...I went into this experience 100% certain that I did NOT want to work in geriatrics and that ER nursing was where I ultimately wanted to land...but just from lurking on allnurses and reading the posts on this forum (and on the ER nursing forum for that matter!) I'm starting to get the feeling that LTC/NH might actually be a better fit for me... It takes a special kind of person to take on these kinds of challenges every day and my hat's off to all of you who have made this your life's work...to the OP, being a student myself I can't offer much advice but I can say that I am also hoping to continue my education as far as I can and I feel like whatever area is your "calling" is what you should pursue. One of my professors is working on her doctorate in nursing and says that she doesn't want to work anywhere else but in geriatrics :yelclap: Good luck!
My mother was sick the majority of my childhood and I watched in awe wonderful people being attentive to her as well as my dad and me when she was in and out of hospitals as well as in a nursing home. I have inherited the syndrome she had and have been on the receiving end of care once again from some pretty amazing people. I began as a CNA at the facility I work at 20 years ago. It was my way of giving to others what others had given my mother - comfort, dignity, encouragement to allow her as much independence as her condition would allow as well as assistance when she could no longer participate in activities of daily living. She had a peaceful passing under the watchful eyes of a caring staff. I was hooked - geriatrics was my "niche"- so I returned to school and became an RN. My "forte" is the resident's with dementia - if I can get them to do things they may not want to do it's great. Grant you there are times I Feel like the Pied Piper of dementia when some of our wanderers latch on to me going to meals or activities but I know they feel secure. I've sat with people that didn't want to be alone and watched as they took thier last breath. I've counseled and hugged family members that weren't ready to let the resident go and made them ready and at peace when the time came. You can come away with soooo much knowledge if you just listen to their life experiences. Not to say there aren't hard times - when the unit gets busy and you are Manpower challenged because of call ins - you just feel like calling it a day and put nursing behind you. But you are quickly brought to your senses and realize that this is where you are meant to be when a resident gives you that certain smile or a family needs your assistance. I love working the holidays - if I can get someone to smile who may not have anyone - then i have received the best present ever - the gift of love. Any way I'm afraid I have run off at the mouth a bit much but I just wanted to give you what you asked for - positive re enforcement. LTC may not be for everyone but you won't know unless you give it a try - so go for it and best wishes in whatever you choose to do! :redpinkhe
I work in LTC-- on a skilled unit, actually. I am a RN with my BSN. I started in a hospital-- excellent for the extensive orientation, but my heart was never in it for many reasons.
What do I love about LTC? Well, I love that my patients are not tethered to about 10 different IV's/drains (I'm not exaggerating either). Dementia I can handle. Dementia or delirium with 4 hemovacs, a central line, a foley, a flexiflow feeding tube, telemetry, and a trach... well - that's another thing.
I love getting to know the families. For the most part I have encountered much more kindness and understanding than demanding people. To the poster who said don't do it because you're going to have demanding family members and patients-- News flash-- This is not specific to LTC. I encountered more attitude in the hospital-- not because the family and patients were bad people. I just think they were under a lot of stress with the nture of the type of patient I took care of. Anyway, every day my faith in the goodness of people is reaffirmed at this job.
I really do like my coworkers. I don't know the shift to shift hostility is just not there like it was in the hospital. I know I am lucky as far as CNAs goes, but I love the aides. They are so much more grateful for any ADL assistance I give than aides were in the hospital.
Most of all, I do love the fact that I get to know my patients-- there is so much more continuity with patients.
Hospitals are big. (I worked at an academic medical center). They're just so impersonal. They're not for me. I like going in to work and smiling at my coworkers, and have them smile back at me.
Okay - let's try to stay to the topic of what is positive in LTC nursing.
I'll go next: I don't work in LTC per se, but rather work in nephrology. With the advances in dialysis, people are living longer and having better lives. Here's some examples:
- 85 y/o gentleman, used to be a policeman. Still volunteers 4 hours twice a week at our local police station.
- 88 y/o lady who lives with her family continues to help out by cleaning house, doing laundry and watching children.
- 90 y/o retired farmer still mows his own lawn.
And there are many more. The elderly have much to offer us if we only listen!
Oh yes, I totally agree here. I'm glad you brought this up! i love asking my patients about their lives. And I love the fact that most are not wedded to cell phones!!!! They seem to have more ability to entertain themsleves than I imagine our generation will.
What a Godsend this post has been for me! Just what I was looking for. After a long career in Nursing i finally crashed & burned, said to hell with this, and took a few years off working altogether, then took a job as a dishwasher in a casino. But, the love of Nursing never really died, and next week I start my new job in an LTC facility around the corner. To say that I've been a little scared is an understatement! This post, and all the others I read today, brought my fears to a realistic level, bolstered my strength and sharpened my wit. You didn't scare me away, you made me eager to roll up my sleeves and dig in again. I miss, more than anything, laughing with my 'sisters and brothers'.
I miss that graveyard humor, cleaning up the most awful messes then wolfing down bad pizza in the lunchroom while talking shop. I miss the compassion, i miss the science, I miss the mysteries. All of you have helped me feel good about my decision and all of you will keep me afloat. God bless you all.
LesMonsterRN, ADN, RN
300 Posts
I can be having the worst day ever - CNAs not getting along, being called over the PA system a million and a half times all day long, things going wrong - then one smile or a hug from one of my residents sets a completely different tone and I know I am there for a purpose and that is to be there for them.