I am an LPN in LTC with 8 months experience. I am seriously considering quitting my job - my first job as a nurse - and going to work for an agency. I am frustrated with work, but I would stay if there wasn't so much politics going on among the staff. I am beginning to feel out of place.
I wonder what it is like to work as registry - is it tough to go to a different place every shift? How well received would I be by an agency, when I only have 8 months experience?
At my job, registry are kind of looked down on because they are "outsiders" - even tho everyone is so happy to see them at shift change... anyway... I want to hear from registry nurses.. share your experiences!!
I have also encountered problems in my agency work, where the RN's have not done the initial assessment as thoroughly and completely as they should have and I have found wounds on my patients, because the right questions were not asked or they would try and get them done quick and leave. Many of my patients complained that the RN was at visit for only about 20 minutes and in order for me to be a good nurse (LVN), I would have to stay and extra 30 minutes to an hour to get all the necessary information. I was only paid for one hour, as this is all the time my company allowed for my patient visits, but getting paid for this extra time didn't concern me at all. The important thing to me was making sure the patient received proper medical care at visits. Plus if the patient would go see there physician and they encountered this wound it would come back to me and not the RN, because our policy requires us to do an assessment at each visit. However, I would CYA and I contact my office immediately with the information and was told they had no knowledge of any wound on the patient. Also, there has been many times where I had to make a list of patient's medications, because many times this was not done on initial assessment either. The worse part of the medication was that many times my patients had all medication unorganized in a bag with both current and DC medications which could lead to some bad adverse effects or potential overdose, because sometimes they were taking the same medication but the dosage was changed. These should have been separated on initial RN assessment as well. There has also, been many times where the patient or patient's family would call the office making false accusation about treatments not being performed, even though I would contact my office to verify physician orders for treatment or that I used the "F" word very frequently in my conversation. I was very fortunate that my agency didn't believe these accusations, because I made it a point to keep them frequently updated on patients conditions or problems with family members who didn't want to be in compliance or who refused to schedule follow up visits with physicians or I would have gotten fired by now.
Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
What do I personally think of agency LPNs? I think they're a fabulous asset to healthcare with a useful purpose. They often fill the staffing holes that no one else dares to work. They are brave enough to walk into unknown situations that other nurses have deemed unbearable or too difficult to work. They use their skills and judgment to get through challenging situations with very little support.
In fact, an agency nurse relieved me last night at the nursing home where I am employed. I work at a facility that has a reputation for difficult patient loads. It takes a certain type of nurse to walk into this place.
However, I would not recommend becoming an agency nurse without experience.
I would not work in skilled facilities as a nurse as you are resented because you are making more money if you would work registry.
I have NO issue with how much an agency nurse makes, I have issues with many of their work ethics. They come to the unit late,usually after report is given, now we have to stop what we are doing and give her/him report. They talk on the cell phones WHILE they are giving meds, I have found that MANY sign for meds that they have not given, one of the biggest problems I have is that they don't LOOK at the patients and can't really assess them. If a patient doesn't eat or drink, they assume that is the way they always are. If an aide reports something ie skin tear,pressure area, they ignore them. They don't document on anyone! These are a few of my issues. Now this isn't just one or two agency nurses I have come across, it is the majority! Another thing, many of them are a mess, they look like they just climbed out of bed after sleeping in their uniforms!
FARMER1870
11 Posts
I have also encountered problems in my agency work, where the RN's have not done the initial assessment as thoroughly and completely as they should have and I have found wounds on my patients, because the right questions were not asked or they would try and get them done quick and leave. Many of my patients complained that the RN was at visit for only about 20 minutes and in order for me to be a good nurse (LVN), I would have to stay and extra 30 minutes to an hour to get all the necessary information. I was only paid for one hour, as this is all the time my company allowed for my patient visits, but getting paid for this extra time didn't concern me at all. The important thing to me was making sure the patient received proper medical care at visits. Plus if the patient would go see there physician and they encountered this wound it would come back to me and not the RN, because our policy requires us to do an assessment at each visit. However, I would CYA and I contact my office immediately with the information and was told they had no knowledge of any wound on the patient. Also, there has been many times where I had to make a list of patient's medications, because many times this was not done on initial assessment either. The worse part of the medication was that many times my patients had all medication unorganized in a bag with both current and DC medications which could lead to some bad adverse effects or potential overdose, because sometimes they were taking the same medication but the dosage was changed. These should have been separated on initial RN assessment as well. There has also, been many times where the patient or patient's family would call the office making false accusation about treatments not being performed, even though I would contact my office to verify physician orders for treatment or that I used the "F" word very frequently in my conversation. I was very fortunate that my agency didn't believe these accusations, because I made it a point to keep them frequently updated on patients conditions or problems with family members who didn't want to be in compliance or who refused to schedule follow up visits with physicians or I would have gotten fired by now.