Whats wrong with working in a nursing home?

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I have heard a lot of people discourage becoming a LVN saying that the only jobs available for LVNs are in nursing homes. I'm not sure if its only in Texas, but I wouldn't mind working in a nursing home as long as I'm helping people. Is there something I don't know?

This statement is not all true about the lpn working only in nursing homes, I worked as an EMT for four years before starting nursing school. Ive met lpn's in doctors offices, schools, and as floor nurses.... I just think most hospitals would rather hire a RN than hire a Lpn who has to be overlooked by a RN...

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There is nothing wrong with working in LTC.

LTC nurses are saints, in my opinion...

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There's nothing "wrong" with working in LTC. I just am not gonna do it. I spent 4 weeks doing clinicals in a crappy nursing home during nursing school and that showed me all I needed to know about working in one. I've been an LPN for 23 years and never even applied at one. There are lots of other places to work where I've not got my license on the line, and responsible for 50 patients at a time, on a 12 hour shift. Nope. Not gonna do it. But props to those who do. I've had several family members in nursing homes.

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Specializes in Emergency Nursing.

I find it amazing the stark contrast of negative experiences to the positive ones.

We have discussed...

safety issues

Pt satisfaction

Nurse satisfaction/retention

Too many chiefs, not enough Indians

While negative thoughts are far more likely to be expressed than positive ones, this is so far wide spread that perhaps we are indicating a real problem in many LTC settings.

Now, in earnest, what can move the greater public to refuse such poor care. It seems the majority of ppl know LTC is awful, but it is accepted as such, and thus changes are not made. We must make a widely accepted belief about poor care in LTC unacceptable. How? How do we make turn mass perception of LTC from bad to good?

I need help- authors, ideas, letters I can write. These things.

How do you want to spend the last remaining years of your life?

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Hi... here's an author for you (and an activist): Dr. Bill Thomas - The Green House Project.

I am coming to nursing via the social services end of gerontology... I actually pursued my masters in gerontology to make a difference in this field, and though my interests have expanded to preventive care (wellness), etc., I became convinced that his vision of small, home-based LTC is the way to go...

A nurse administrator for a very small facility could erase a lot of overhead (normally spent on an Executive Director)...

Anyway, we are always saying that our children are our most precious resource.

Well, actually, I think our older people are our most precious resource, because they have the life wisdom our children NEED to thrive and prepare for life.

But I wander...

Again, look up the Green House Project on YouTube, Google, etc...

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I personally want to get experience in a hospital but I know that most hopsitals only want RN's and not LPN's. I think it is the thought sometimes that people have about working in a nursing home. I didn't like it when I was a CNA only because I couldn't keep up. So I quit after 3 weeks. I wish I would have stuck it out. I am starting LPN school in 3 weeks and I need to find me a job and more than likely it will be in a nursing home. Bottom line, it is all in what you make it. You think negative about it more than likely you will have a negative experience.

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I'll add to this conversation a little. I worked on a 30 bed Alzheimer's /dementia /psychosis unit for a year. I on average had to care for 29 residents with the help of my 2 cna's. I worked for what had to be the worst ran LTC facility in Harrisburg. All that being said, I would not trade the experience for anything.

Yeah I had a few days where I was so stressed out that I had to go in my med room and just cry it out for a few minutes and then I was good lol. But that for me was just me learning how to cope with the responsibility of managing my patient load. The job itself taught me impeccable time management and delegation skills. I learned how to monitor my residents for changes in condition, affect, and such. I learned how to tune out distractions and concentrate on alarms, disruptions, and such. As well as how to utilize my staff so that I had eyes and ears everywhere.

I came into nursing with no preconceptions, I knew what kind of nurse I wanted to be. I take the responsibility of caring for our elderly very seriously. And this came across in my leadership style as a charge nurse on my unit. You have to be in the trenches so to speak working as a team with your ancillary staff. You'd be amazed at the progress you get when your staff knows that you will shower someone, change them if they had a bit of incontinence, etc.

You are in control of that floor for your 8 12 or sometimes 16 hr shift . You have to set your expectations early and be consistence and most importantly you have to show your staff you care and will accept nothing less from them than to provide the patients with dignified care they deserve.

I guess to summarize, it is all what you make of it. Nursing isn't any easier after you get your RN. Your still going to have to deal with stress and heavy patient loads no matter where you are in the spectrum of ltc/medsurg. Master those skills that are going to allow you to become an amazing nurse. I've seen far to many new grads come into the profession with rose colored glasses and rice paper for skin and just walk away. You have to take the good with the bad and roll with it.

Also... There are other options out there for us lpns. I have a good bit of my class start in LTC and transition into pediatric home health (trach/vent/medically fragile) cases and they absolutely love the one on one pt care they get to give. I myself work as a hyperbaric technician /wound nurse in a outpatient clinic setting where I get to see people heal improve vs decline. There are plenty of clinic and doctor office positions or there as well. Just have to be diligent in searching for the opportunities.

Good luck with your studies, the first semester and a half I think are the worst cause your still getting your foundation and thought process in place. But you'll have that moment when everything starts clicking.. Care plans will be a breeze, you'll start learning s/S you need to be looking for with confidence and diligence. Just take it all in and try not to be self critical :-D

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Nothing at all be happy to have a job!!!!!

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I agree working in the nursing home is hard, and alot of cna's make it hard for us, but I can't work for 17.00hr, I'm trying to figure out another job I can do while I finish my RN, because it is getting rough.

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I work in a nursing home. I don't have time to "help" anyone. I am too busy passing out medications most of the time. I am "too busy" to care. If I were to spend any kind of "quality time" with my residents I would be late with my medications and other duties. Nursing homes do not want to pay nurses to stay over and finish their work." We get "written up" for doing overtime at my nursing home.

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Blackcat99, just sending you love and thoughts and prayers... you are doing some of the most important work in the world. The fact that you clearly care so much about the limitations your administration places on your ability to give your residents sufficient time and attention shows that you're probably the best person who could be there, now. ((((HUGS))))

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Blackcat99-- I am 100% with you. I wish I can spend more time with my patients and make them feel better not just physically but mentally as well. But a lot of the time I had to get CNA to do "care" or else I'd be so behind on med passes. Sometimes the patients are so bored and want to chit chat and I feel bad only able to spare a minute. :-(

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