Whats wrong with working in a nursing home?

jasminewilliams · Apr 17, 2013

WOW. If I do end up working at a nursing home, do you think there are ways to avoid some of the worse nursing homes?

libran1984, ASN, RN · Apr 17, 2013

The best way to avoid the worst nursing homes is to get your RN.

otherwise you can try asking these...

Ask what sort of acuity levels you will be working with.

Ask what the nurse to patient ratio is? (don't worry tho, you'll have TONS of help the management will say. Also add 2 more patietns minimum on to what ever number they give you) I truly feel anything over 10 patients per nurse is ludicrous unless the patients are TRUE assisted living classes- however, most assisted living facilities i'm familiar with still hold residents who need complete and total assistance and no way should they be in assisted living.

Its all about the money, man. That's why LPNs work in these places because they know we are the "low paid nurses" and they can get away with paying less than they would for an RN.

ugh....

just steer clear. Otherwise next thing you know you'll be forced to put an NG tube down a guy with esophageal verices and you'll cause excessive bleeding and he'll expire. Then the DoN will blame it all on you because you should have known he had the esophageal verices, but the patient was non-verbal so how were you to have known? His chart is all paper and its not even mentioned on his Dx's except for 300 pages into the chart where it was inexplicably left out in more recet Dx's....

Then the medicare charting is terribad. Computerized charting, you say.... no no no... ugh.

I honestly don't know what to tell you Jasmine other than I can imagine no worse job than being in LTC.

One guy I dealt with had a terrible MRSA infection in his leg and was at the rehab center to help heal it up. I asked my supervisor why the pt was unable to move his upper extremities and why is Level of consciousness was down the toilet. The nurse responded, "I think he had a stroke sometime". Upon further investigation, the hospital discharge assessment made him out to be A/Ox3 with full RoM except for his affected lower extremity. Because there was no charting EVER in regards to the computer and all the MAR assessments had been put into a storage box no one was able to tell when the pt became the way he is now. So what happened to him? It obviously happened while in rehab!

My first nursing job was ~$14/hr. That's like 2-3 dollars more than most CNA's and in many cases less.... if these LTC centers could just pay all the LPNs $14/hr and staff extra nurses, then patient safety and satisfaction would go up, and nursing retention would increase (as long as year raises of up to 4% were provided to allow financial growth) because it would offer valuable skills in a safe environment because let's face it, most of us got into nursing to help people.

I'd always heard how terrible the nursing pay was and then I became an LPN so I wasn't overly surprised when I began making $14/hr.

/sigh....

Jasmine, I'll be coming back to this post to see if anyone else has better advice to offer you. I'm sure I'm just scaring you. I apologize, but I've been scarred by the LTC experience as well as most other LPN jobs I've ever had. I love being an ER nurse but I'm not often referred to as a nurse by my co-workers but rather a "non-RN" and that just grates me. At the LTC centers where I am considered a nurse, I feel that I actually harm the patients through neglect since I can't assess them or offer them the emotional support they frequently need.

Find a clinic job, girl! Find a clinic job!!!!

vintagemother, BSN, CNA, LVN, RN · Apr 17, 2013

@libran1984... You said all I wanted to say but couldn't find words to.

Only difference is I know I will likely have to work in a snf for awhile after graduation. But I am doing all I can to be in a position to go straight to finishing my RN prereqs as soon as I finish Lvn school, so I won't be stuck there.

Thank you.

Lb321 · Apr 18, 2013

I'm applying to an lpn program.. And I also don't see the problem with working in a nursing home. I feel like the elderly need quality care, and if its mostly LPN's doing that then I will be happy to work there.

libran1984, ASN, RN · Apr 18, 2013

That's the problem tho... we all want to and strive to provide quality care, Lb321. However, in so many places it is just not possible, ie see above libran1984 posts!

carolinasweetheart88 · Apr 18, 2013

I almost completely agree with libran1984. I am a new grad in LTC and i cant tell you the times ive had to borrow meds and such...things we were taught in nursing school NOT to do. Although in NC where i live i make close to 20 an hour as a new grad i agree that i would be happy with more nurses, less pts, and less money. I am also in the process of going for my RN. And the bad thing is you have the occasional DON or assistant DON who just doesnt care about patient care.

AM326 · Apr 18, 2013

Hey hun, great on you starting nursing school this aug! :3 I worked at a LTC as a CNA and it was horrible. I love my patients, but the organization wasn't there and the nurses were really rude It left me a bit scarred to be quite honest. I'm a gen pre nursing student and I am thinking about going to LPN school rather than my RN atm. I want to finish, work a year and take my pre reqs, then apply to the RN bridge program. I'm bilingual (spanish) and I can communicate medical terminology and diagnosis with patients so I believe that will favor me when I look for a job as an LPN :3 I would like to work in the doctors offices for a bit. The hospitals here hire LPNs...but I think I would like a more *chill environment starting off :3 Anyways hun best of luck to you! It sounds like you got this!!!!

jasminewilliams · Apr 18, 2013

Thank you everybody so much with your contributions to my question. I am learning so much from you guys sharing you experiences. And i know that there is someone else out there who probably had been wondering the same thing. When nursing homes are so poorly run, is there someone that you can report these things to?

Susan Perkins · Apr 22, 2013

I worked at a nursing home as a CNA. I'm currently in school for my LPN. Here in GA., luckily we still have a choice to work either in a Nursing Home, Hospital, or Doctor's office. I'm a member of indeed.com, I receive e-mail alerts daily for employers seeking LPN's in my area.I will not work in a nursing home, unless it is in the Rehabilitation department. :)

JUSTanLPN · Apr 23, 2013

Thank you everybody so much with your contributions to my question. I am learning so much from you guys sharing you experiences. And i know that there is someone else out there who probably had been wondering the same thing. When nursing homes are so poorly run is there someone that you can report these things to?[/quote']
Not if you want to keep your job
I worked LTC for 8 months as an LPN. Got fired after a cna went into the med room ( A HUGE NO NO, THEY HAVE NO BUSINESS IN THERE ) took a pair of hearing aids and gave them to a patient with dementia. Sure enough he throws them away when no one was looking and now the facility is out $4,000. They blamed it on me....for some reason. I had just finished my 2nd semester in my RN program and I wasn't about to go back to another nursing home for all the reasons libran stated. I watched fat cna's take residents candy and sit in their room. They would turn all the tv's in the rooms to BET. How many 80-90 yr old white people do you think watch BET? I reported it/wrote them up numerous times, had talks with them, nothing ever changed. I'm agency now while I finish my last semester in RN school and work part time at juvenile court here in Memphis. Sweeeeeeet job. I make $17/hr to sit in my office until a detainee says he needs Tylenol for a headache. I would highly recommend this job to ANY LPN who is tired of pushing meds for 12 hours straight.
Ppl say they want to do LPN because its one year not two and they have this going on and that going on. Truth is my LPN school was m-f, 8-4. No exceptions. 12 months straight. RN school is lecture 2 days a week, clinical one. Yes u spend more time studying( the information is far more in depth) but I would rather spend my time at home with my wife while I study, then sit in a class room all day, everyday for 12 months straight.
Don't waste a minute between getting ur LPN and RN if you can. It will be well worth it...

Kimynurse · Apr 23, 2013

Nothing, some are run well

I work in a LTC on a rehab unit. I don't usually do long term, but you work hard 20 PTs

Iv's, wound vacs, meds , treatments, desk works ect.

Don't judge by all the negativity out there

It's great learning, while you are getting your RN or even to stay at

rhudo · Apr 23, 2013

Any job will have pros and cons. Look for Medicare ratings to decipher whether or not you even want to apply. Check quality indicators such as safety,falls, multiple meds etc. as a new grad, you can learn a ton in a SNF. Just regard your job a a necessary stepping stone to help establish your career. It IS hard work but can also be worthwhile when you brighten an elder's day.