I have worked in a long-term care facility now for about 3 months.We have about 60 residents.Nurses are abondoning ship one by one. We have a few dedicated nurses who are taking on more and more hours to make up for the shortage of nurses. My gripe? When is it appropriate for a DON to tell me I should overlook something illegal or unethical? We had a LPN working in the facility for 2 months on a non-renewed license. The DON hired her back. This LPN has caused more havic and problems for the facility than I can name. Also, I am finding documentation of neuro checks being done when the resident was at the hospital. Should I even continue? Please read this list and tell me if I am totally crazy to work for this facility:
1. LPN writes up CNA's for not hearing a door alarm go off because they are in the shower with a resident. When asked how they (the CNA's) could go get a door alarm with a resident in the shower they were told to put the wet resident back into his/her wheelchair and go check on the doors. OK, another accident waiting to happen.
2. DON tells me to not worry about a LPN doing neuro checks on a resident who was at the hospital, not in the facility. How can you do neuro checks on a resident who isnt even in the building?
3. LPN tells cna's they cannot lay down a resident who is crying. DON says no one goes to bed until 7:30 pm. Resident is crying, asking to be layed down, her tailbone hurts, LPN writes up cna's for laying her down.
4. RN tells other RN's and LPN's that they should stick together as nurses and we shouldnt work as a team with the cna's. Its us against them I guess eh?
5. Cna's want to sit behind the nurses desk, sit on the nurses desk and the DON wont do anything about it. I tell them I dont want them sitting behind the nurses desk, they have no reason to be there, they are interupting my work, I have no time for their nonsense, I dont care that they went drinking all night the night before and I dont care to hear about a male cnas husbands problems.
6. LPN allows male cna to stand at nurses desk for 30 minutes and talk about last weekends drinking spree while the other cna's are working their butts off.
7. RN who is 70 years old thinks her place is behind the nurses desk, wants this younger (42) year old RN to do her work.
8. This RN comes into work at 6 pm to relieve another nurse. LPN says "oh thank God you are here, can you do me a favor, can you pass my other halls meds"?
Does it sound like a place any of you would want to work at?
My aunt is a resident of this facility. Does anyone want to give me some suggestions? I am already working over 130 hours in 2 weeks and I am tired. I am tired of doing other nurses jobs while they sit behind the desk and read a magazine. I guess I need to learn to say NO. I cant be nice to everyone.
Been there done that Yes get your aunt out of there. I have worked in LTC for a avery long time.Sounds like the other nurses have given up. Unless you can get managment to back you, that problem will never be solved. You can call the Ombudsman and the state as those patients are at risk if not already being abused.
Karen,
I have looked over your postagain. I am assuming you are an RN
1)According to your first statement you could have written this LOPN up for being incompetent with regards to her directives to the CNA. If this were the first incident I would have just spoken to her about it.
2)This could have been just an error made in haste, I have charted things then found out that some one before me had charted twice or charted on the wrong day. If you were convinced it was just her incompetence then you could have written it up.
3)This was an actual violation of patient rights in nursing homes. Unless otherwise ordered by a doctor for medical reasons, noted on the care plan and charting to reflect that this patient was to go to bed at a certain time it was a violation and should have been written up.
4) Not sure why a nurse would say that unless the CNA's were ganging up on the nurses. That statement taken out of context is hard to comment on.
5)As far as CNA's sitting behind the nurses station is concerned, this is usually a facility policy and each facility is different. Was the aides work done, as the RN you are responcible for telling them, by now you know the LPN was not competent.
6)Sounds like this LPN has a problem with directing the CNA's it then becomes your problem as the RN on the unit.
7)You stated that the facility was losing nurses one by one, maybe management was not able to lose her even though she wasn't a very effective nurse.At 70 years I doubt that they could do much about her.
8) The med pass is unclear as to why it wasn't done or was this the evening med pass. this one is too vague.
I just tried to break it all down, since I experienced a lot of this myself I know what you are going through and it can be tough. Sticking it out and trying your best may only lead to you getting terminated. Some people who don;t understand the rules and politics of nursing might think you were hanging in there just for the money. LOL They forget that nurses are actually human beings and need an income just like every one else.
hi Iam, yes I am a registered nurse and becoming more and more disgruntled with my workplace. It seems like many nurses in the facility I work are older than me. I am 42 and I have been a registered nurse for 10 years. I have never in 10 years been subjected to such nonsense as my place of work. I guess all workplaces have their gripes and complaints.
The LPN who I spoke of in my post, the one that wrote up all the cna's no longer wants to work on the evening shift. She cant handle the cna's attitudes. Attitudes? I have been working with these young cna's for 3 months now and dont have a problem with them. I respect them for the job they do and they respect me. Now if I would disrespect them, they would have a reason to not want to do their jobs. When I ask them to do a certain task, they are more than willing. If another nurse asks them to do something, they wont do it. I guess I have a more understanding of what its like to be a cna. I worked as one for years during my teen years. I know the work is hard, my back is paying for all those years of lifting and pulling on residents.
I also have a good understanding of the young persons mind and understand that they have feelings too. I work better with younger people. I used to be a case manager for teen parents. I love working with younger people and can relate to them. The older nurses cant get these same cna's to do a thing. The cna's have said they respect me because I do my work, and I give them the benefit of the doubt in many situations. I have watched them with the residents. Some of the nurses we have scare me with their attempts at nursing. We have 2 70 year old nurses who are so lazy they dont want to do their med passes and want me to do those for them. I finally have grown a backbone and told them that they are responsible for their halls and they are to do their med passes. Just because I am a bit younger and move faster than them doesnt mean I will earn their paycheck for them.
I care for the residents. It shows. The residents and their families turn to me for support instead of going to these other nurses. My DON knows that I am very good at what I do, I get my job done and I have the respect of the residents, their families and I believe that I am a good nurse. I am not the best, but I do know my job. I just dont respect nurses who do not use good judgement in their jobs.
Just my gripe for the day, thanks for listening
Unfortunately you are not the only nurse working there. And even if the CNA's like you better that is no excuse for not doing it when you are not there. I have worked with all age groups and I found that age does matter. So why were they not doing their work if you were there? Over the years I have found that people are manipulative and very self centered. Are these CNA's adults? did they not learn work ethics? Since I was a recipient of that type of work environment a I am not sure I would agree with you. Since I have been made ill over my last job, I don't think the lot of them should even be in the nursing business period. I was a nurse for many years and you may find your self in the same situation some day. Just remember if these CNA's are that shallow they can turn on you some day. LOL I find it hard to believe that they are a caring bunch like you say, if you are a caring person you do not hurt others for your own gain.
I recognize that the cna's should be doing their jobs when I am not there. Its not that they refuse to do their jobs when I am not there, they would just rather work with me because I dont ride their butts. I expect the work to be done. I have taken it upon myself to do halls checks after they do their bed checks. They were leaving residents wet for the next shift. I just started doing these hall checks and they are getting those halls done and those people are dry, at least when I leave that facility. We have many nurses who dont care anymore. Its sad. I am not saying that all cna's are bad. Some care, some are there for the paycheck and nothing more. Some have small children and need the money. Once I am off the floor and not in that facility, its the other nurses responsibility to make sure those cna's do their jobs. I cant be there 24/7. It sure seems that I am there all the time. I might as well get a bed LOL. Our evening shift gets dumped on all the time. Days blame nights for all the messes, evenings blame days and nights blame evenings. I have seen it all over and over again.
Yes, there is a chance that these cna's could easily talk behind my back at any given time. They can say anything they want as long as the work is done and the residents are taken care of. I have made it a standing rule that when I am there, I expect that the nurses and cna's understand that I am the charge nurse and anything that goes on in that building is under my direct supervision. There is always another nurse with me on the evening shift, be it a LPN..then I am in charge of that facility. If there is a RN working with me on evenings, we share the responsibility, BUT....I take on more of that responsibility because I am younger and I seem to be able to get the work done faster.
Having 70 + year old nurses working in the facility can be very hard. I know they desire to work, but when alot of the burden falls on me to get things done, its really hard. I get frustrated easily, but try not to show it.
Back to what I was saying...we have a nurse who is working evenings. She usually works the days shift. She has tried so hard to come into MY shift and change things. The residents arent happy, the cna's arent happy, and therefore the family members arent happy. When a family member chooses to speak to ME about a resident on the other nurses hall, I already know that residents background and can tell them what is going on. The other evening nurse does not know the residents that well because she REFUSES to do a certain hall. I dont believe in that sort of nursing. I believe that we take care of ALL the residents and they are ALL our responsibility. We had a resident walk out the door into the highway and I was the first to get to him. I yelled for help on my way out the door, but do you think that the other RN came to help? She was still sitting behind the desk while there is a door alarm going off and she is not doing anything to watch these residents. Its really tiring for me to take up the slack for other nurses. Like I said, I am not the worlds greatest nurse, but I am well liked and I have earned the respect of the DON, and the cna's. I dont care if the nurses dont like me because of my style of nursing. As long as the residents are taken care of and the work is done, I believe I am doing my job. Nuff said.
I agree with you about the residents getting taken care of. Nursing is nursing. Make sure you keep in tight with the DON LOL. They also come and go. Be glad you have your health and are able to still run around like that. It will catch up to you some day. Hope you never are one of those 70 year old nurses sitting at the desk. I have been in nursing for 25 years. Now it has become a sport instead of a profession, if you know what I mean. LOL
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