Working re-hab and burnout?

[nurse2beme]

I work in LTC on the re-hab floor. This is my third year there and I absolutely love the fast paced environment as well as the feeling of helping people get well and go back to their home. My dilemna may just be me, but I think I'm hitting some sort of burn-out. I work second shift so it is just one other aide and myself doing HS for 20 people. I have a lot of patients in my area that come in as 2-aides then as they get better they get to the "independent" stage. The other aide gets in a lot of more traditional patients whereas most of them will eventually stay at the LTC facility. Here is the the problem. When I get my residents done, besides helping answer call lights throughout the whole hall too, I help whoever I work with get the rest of their people done. A lot of times my co-workers will just let my call lights go and sometimes their's too because they know I'll get them. But I keep hearing everyone say I have it "easy". I don't understand. I work hard and I feel that whoever I work with and I are a team and just because at times I have 2 or 3 independents doesn't mean I don't put into my work all I've got. Does this make any sense? I'm exhausted every night I work because I care about everyone on the hall. Can I be caring too much?

[asun21ta]

You could never be too caring. I commend you for your kind heart and great efforts to make things right. Now, here is my ....

Normally, everyone has at least 1-3 independent people. That does not mean your section is not hard, but tell that to someone who has 13 dependent residents. The grass always looks greener on the other side. I have no doubt that you don't work just as hard as they do. I would ask them to try to answer their own lights because you have your own residents to tend to. Offer help if they need it. Now that does not mean you will stop answering call lights, just don't make yourself so available. People will take advantage, but it will start taking a toll on the quality of care you give your patients if you are constantly tending to someone else's. I know it is everyone's duty, but if your patients call light is on and you leave purposely ignore it so someone can get it, that's wrong. It seems as though your co-workers may be taking advantage. :angryfire:angryfire Kindly Put a stop to it now.

[fuzzywuzzy, CNA]

So you're feeling burned out because you're constantly bending over backwards to help people, but your coworkers brush it off because you have the "easy people?"

Can you ask to switch assignments with someone for a little while? Then someone will be able to see things from your point of view and vice versa. A new assignment might be a breath of fresh air anyway.

I do the same thing- bending over backwards to be helpful. I understand that it gets really tiresome when you work with the same lazy people time and again who don't even say thank you. The other day I was having a rough time on a new assignment and one of my coworkers helped me out and I actually felt guilty about it. I kept ruminating and I had to tell myself several times that I wouldn't think twice about doing the same for someone else. I think we're just people-pleasers.

[One Flew Over]

Why don't they split the long termers and independents, so you each have a half of each wing?

But the ignoring call lights thing just has to stop, I mean they really have no excuse for that

[fuzzywuzzy, CNA]

Noooooo! Trust me, splitting rehab and long term is a huge pain in the butt!

Our long term wing is hard work, but very predictable. Our rehab wing is generally easy although it does get hectic from time to time. The wings that are mixed SUCK! You have your long-termers that take up a lot of your time simply because they're incontinent, feeders, can't reposition themselves, need assistance with everything, etc. And most of them have a specific routine and are very set in their ways. Then you have the rehabbers that just ring, and ring, and ring. And they have a whole different set of rules and Different paperwork. And they're always changing. Some of them think they're at the Ritz. And then some of the long terms ring and ring and ring. It's like dueling bells all day. I run from one end of the hall to the next.

I posted a thread about this a little while ago and people said, "Oh but mixing is easier because rehab makes everything easy." Not always. Long term independent people mixed with long term total care? Fine. Throw rehab in there, and you're running around like a chicken with no head.

[One Flew Over]

Yeah, but I don't think she's talking about totals here, it sounds like they are just assists on the rehab floor who are not quite able to go home, and are waiting for a long term bed. I mean, they need to even out the workload, it's not fair that one assignment has to assist their whole assignment while the other has few to assist