Why I Hate Nursing Homes
Ok, I should have entitled this post "Why I Hate Nursing Homes, with a Side of Dr B's Top 10" but it wouldn't quite fit.
Was in medical last night. We sometimes call medical Green. The jokes about Green and long and distinguished. Its fairly common to hear it referred to as 'Walking the Green Mile'. The smells from Green are NOTORIOUS. I think its a combo of feet, funk, poo, urine and a side of vomit. GROSS! You've gotta love it!
We got a patient last night from a nursing home. She is 74 years old, a diabetic and recently put in a nursing home. Apparently, she was getting her PO diabetic meds, and all of her insulin WITHOUT having her sugar checked. Hey guess what?? She was found unconscious with a sugar of 29! She was also uncovered and had a temp of 92.0 F. That is criminal!!!The EMS peeps gave D50 and warmed her up. The nursing home didn't even know her last name. When she woke and was more with it she said that "Nobody should treat older folks this way. They all have this coming."
These homes claim to take excellent care of our loved ones. But they are left in urine and feces so long we have trouble cleaning it off. They are allowed to waste away with hardly a look... much less a turn every 2 hours or a bath everyday. These places are EXPENSIVE! The shitholes will cost you an arm and a leg and they are the nice ones! Those poor people deserve so much better.
OK, so to counter my bummed out mood may I present....
THE TOP 10 REASONS I WORK AT (UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER) EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT:
10. The respectful and courteous patients that are always thankful for the high quality of care they received.
9. Teamwork!
8. Betting on ETOH levels.
7. Being able to stroll into the Trauma room and say to the patient "That looks like it hurts."
6. Plenty of state of the art equipment available.
5. Hospital administration views diversion as a sign of weakness.
4. The ICU intern telling the ED attending "I think that patient will do just fine on the floor."
3. Being able to drop the F-Bomb at will.
2. Sexual harassment as a job requirement.
1 The staff is crazier than the patients and almost as dangerous!
By Dr B.
Don't stick stuff in your ear. No pens, pencils, small furry animals, lottery tickets or after dinner snacks. Just don't do it!
Was in medical last night. We sometimes call medical Green. The jokes about Green and long and distinguished. Its fairly common to hear it referred to as 'Walking the Green Mile'. The smells from Green are NOTORIOUS. I think its a combo of feet, funk, poo, urine and a side of vomit. GROSS! You've gotta love it!
We got a patient last night from a nursing home. She is 74 years old, a diabetic and recently put in a nursing home. Apparently, she was getting her PO diabetic meds, and all of her insulin WITHOUT having her sugar checked. Hey guess what?? She was found unconscious with a sugar of 29! She was also uncovered and had a temp of 92.0 F. That is criminal!!!The EMS peeps gave D50 and warmed her up. The nursing home didn't even know her last name. When she woke and was more with it she said that "Nobody should treat older folks this way. They all have this coming."
These homes claim to take excellent care of our loved ones. But they are left in urine and feces so long we have trouble cleaning it off. They are allowed to waste away with hardly a look... much less a turn every 2 hours or a bath everyday. These places are EXPENSIVE! The shitholes will cost you an arm and a leg and they are the nice ones! Those poor people deserve so much better.
OK, so to counter my bummed out mood may I present....
THE TOP 10 REASONS I WORK AT (UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER) EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT:
10. The respectful and courteous patients that are always thankful for the high quality of care they received.
9. Teamwork!
8. Betting on ETOH levels.
7. Being able to stroll into the Trauma room and say to the patient "That looks like it hurts."
6. Plenty of state of the art equipment available.
5. Hospital administration views diversion as a sign of weakness.
4. The ICU intern telling the ED attending "I think that patient will do just fine on the floor."
3. Being able to drop the F-Bomb at will.
2. Sexual harassment as a job requirement.
1 The staff is crazier than the patients and almost as dangerous!
By Dr B.
Don't stick stuff in your ear. No pens, pencils, small furry animals, lottery tickets or after dinner snacks. Just don't do it!
posted by jeepgirl at 10:38
51 Comments:
I can relate to the nursing home problem. More than once i've worked an evening shift where 20 residents were in my care. 20. 1/2 of whom were bed-bound, and needed assistance with meals.
There was also an incident where the charge nurse gave one resident's meds to another resident. Made for a long night for both of us.
Seems that most places have the same problem, just not enough good staff.
shayla
You're right about nursing homes. They are vile. I have a loved one in a nursing home and I have to go in every day and take care of things the nursing home does not do. I hate to say it, but the staff is awful. I don't say anything because that will only cause trouble, but the aides treat the people as if they are annoying children. They are neglectful and don't seem to have any compassion. It's quite shocking. Nearly everyday I visit I see people asking to be changed for well over an hour, the strong smell of BM coming from them, and they are completely ignored. The aides will only change the residents if they agree to go to bed. If a person wants to stay up, they have to sit in your full diaper. Many people there sit in filthy clothes, I've seen aides drop food on people, and they always, without fail, just leave it there. If an aide is out sick, some people end up having to stay in bed for the day. If an aide is out sick on the day a a resident is scheduled for a shower, they don't get a shower that week. Many residents have BM under their fingernails, even at the dinner table. The aides seem to have no compassion or empathy. The residents are not allowed to complain- they get a verbal lashing. It's shocking,and this is Lutheran Church non profit nursing home.
Hell yeah. Nursing homes are a joke. I am at one with 50 pts. on my side and one supervisor and usually 3 stna's. I have anxiety for hours before every shift. I am really thinking about quitting this shit. No glamour here. I am also tired of fat assed women supervisors who treat me like shit b/c I don't flurt with them or show interest. I am a male by the way. Why is it ok for those bitches to screw with me but if I say something back they get all pissy?
I work as an lpn at a nursing home and hate it. I wish i would have gone into auto mechanics. I started late, in my fifties. I work nights to stay away from the suits. I am never on the same hall, do noe half of one hall and one half of another. Always something different and there is no continuity of care. I am sick of other nurses who are rude, dont respect fellow workers, and think they are the Dr. Staff is always short, no one stocks the med cart for the next shift, tx cart is never stocked. I am tired and anxious, waiting for someone to berate me for an honest mistake. I get sick when i have to go to work. This is a small town and not much hiring going on. Geeze, I thought i would be helping people, all i do is rush around all night worrying about getting it all done so dayshift doesnt get mad and the other shifts think we sit and do nothing all night. Changeover is another horrible thing every month. I can relate to all the comments. It is a shame i feel this way.
Oh Gosh I also worked at a nursing home and it was HORRIBLE! The CNAs were extremely rude and took 2 hour breaks. Would get angry when asked to do their work. I had 33 patients and was floated to different units within the nursing home. There is no way I can possibly get to know 90+ patients in total. Half of them were Medicare residents so they had to be charted on so there is absolutely zero time to spend with any of them except to change their dressings and give them their insulins. To make things worse, about half of them did not know who they were and they wear no arm band so you could make a med error and the training I got was 3 days! There was no way you could go to the restroom for a minute, much less go on lunch break yet the ADONs would write you up for not clocking out 30 minutes. BS. Nursing is stupid. When I went in I thought I'd be so happy helping people who can't help themselves but now I regret it and wish I had known people who already were nurses and had told me how horrible it really is. I wish I had gone to school for something else. Now I have kids and no money and no time so going back to school is not an option. How sad!
I am a nursing student. We have to obtain our CNA to earn a "point". So I did my first clinical at a nursing home yesterday. I wanted to vomit all day long. I felt so anxious all day about everything that I thought I would break down at any moment. I am an MA and have 5 years experience in Dr. offices. I don't think this is what nursing care is supposed to be like. I absolutely abhorred it and have to go back for the next 8 weekends. Residents had poo under their nails at the dinner table, one aide was yelling at a lady for having her light on. Aides were sitting in dark corners texting, and everybody was put to bed right after lunch. What kind of a life is that? I am dreading going back. I swear, if I didn't have to have this point, I would never ever return to a nursing home.
Ok, so yesterday was day 2 in clinicals. I spent one WHOLE hour digging poop out from under a lady's too long fingernails. Followed up with a trim and a coat of polish. I felt so bad for her as she had just eaten lunch with this crap under her nails. It was so hard to get out, it was obvious it had been there for a long time. She said they don't do that for her. Mind you I'm a student. I'm doing clinicals. And of course, the CNAs hide when they should be doing their work. I wish to God I didn't need this stupid point to get into the RN core. What BS. RN's don't do this, so why should I have to do it?? Ugh. 7 more Sundays and I'm SO outta there!
For the most part all nursing homes are terrible places. The problem is on the care giving level. Cna's should be paid more, trained more, and watched and disciplined more. And, every dime patients have to pay for staying in these places should be spent on their care. How can our country allow someone with alz. that doesn't even remember their own name and doesn't have any family be care for by a business that is run for profit? Sadly, I am in this business and I don't see any end to the evil in sight. The so called state inspections are a joke. The communites (strangely) all these nursing homes are in have no supervisor authority I know of whatsoever. Never if you can help it let a loved one be addmitted to one of these places.
I'm proud to say I work I'm a good nursing home in one of the states with the strictest state surveys. My question to the nurses who are currently working in bad ones is what are you doing to make it better are you disciplining the cna's who are doing wrong? If not you are as much of the problem as they are, and to the family have you contacted adult protective services about the care this facility is providing. Honestly hospitals aren't always that great, I have a hard time believing that cnas in hospitals are repositioning every 2hrs when I have admitted people with black heels.and stage 4 pressure ulcers from hospitals. Hell I've seen a stage 3 to a persons nose from a bipap that wasn't removed or repositioned. To the one nurse to sat and cleaned under the nails of the woman trimmed and painted them bravo to people like you are what we need. Medscape has released a study in which it takes the best of the best if nurses to work in a nursing home. Oh and for bad care we recently discharged a resident to the hospital who left with a dressing on his arm which had been placed on fresh that day and returned a week later with same dressing. Sorry for typos doing this on my cellphone.
sLegainLet me start off by saying that Im now a registered nurse working on a medsurg unit but when i first started nusing as an LPN i worked at a nursing home. The problem was we had 22 pts to 1 nurse during the day and 44 residents to one nurse on night shift. It is IMPOSSIBLE to given excellent care to the pts when you have that many and they are ALL pretty much total care pts. The state regulation says that this number of pts is appropriate so that is all the staffing the nursing homes will hire. I am now on the receiving end of the pts as i work at a busy hospital and i admit that i dont like getting NH pts. I know there are people working in the medical field that dont need to be there and could care less about pts, but there are some that try there hardest and still are unable to do EVERYTHING that has to be done. I can say with NH experience that its not that i didnt want to give excellent care to 22 pts, it was just that it was an impossible demand. Also you may have 1 tech to 8-10 pts that all need to be turned, fed,bathed, etc. Then you as a nurse are trying to give everyone medications, treatments, charting, and any other surprises, admissions, sendouts etc. Its a very stressful job.
Hi, I have to agree! I am only nursing student, fresh LPN, but I have eyes and brain. I knew nurse who as a fresh graduate had to take care of 50 patients. Average nurse has 28 pts. Where it leads? To errors. I caught several med errors in medication at nursing home. Nurses fault? Oh no! How can she possibly check meds as law require (check MAR, vitals...) for 28 patients within 1 hour. If the CNA did not do it, because they are taking vitals at 10 a.m. While morning meds has to be passed at 8??? So I could because me as a student I had one patient only.... It is impossible to do all what nurse have to do in one shift for all patients... in order to "prioritize" and have done the most urgent things... the nurse has to neglect the less important. Someone was funny when hired 1 nurse for so many pt, alzeimers, bed bounds, long list of meds...! It is the smart team of owners and management educated administrative persons who have no idea what the job is about, how the elderly have to live there and well - if the law allows it - who cares right? Money are more important... and if patient dies because of neglect - well - now this is not a joke, the facility gets around twenty to thirty thousand fine only. Stop complain about nurses or Cna not doing enough. Use your common sense... stop requiring impossible! It is like wanting to have a palace built over night and employ only two masons! You see the nonsence? Why no one see that in medical care for years??? So what have to be done? START LOBBYING FOR LAW CHANGE!!! Make a law demanding a 1 nurse for 15 pt., CNA for 10... then you can complain if the job is not done. Force the greedy nursing homes owners to employ adequate staff. It is the only thing which can change this horrific situation in nursing homes.
And mandatory training... 3 days - I know NH do it, but it is another non sense! Learn patients, computer program, place... the way they chart, their policy, who does what, and who to call if this happens... take care of dementia patient... SURE.. NO PROBLEM :)) I wish to see the greedy smartie pants able to handle it in 3 days :))) That should be mandatory too... Mandatory training for new hire four weeks minimum.
This is horrible. Every comment on here has nothing but negative to say. I will say I have not worked in Nursing Homes, and I refuse to. Reasons include:
1. Staff are horrible. RNs have virtually no quality assessment skills. If they have a problem, they call 911! One "Nurse" joked, "I don't use any of my nursing skills" Very funny, until a patient dies.
2. Understaffing
3. They are in it purely for profit. That being said, they do not honestly report issues, such as HAIs, Falls, etc.
4. Overall, hygiene 101 is so lacking, it's a disgrace. I observed Doctors and nurses not washing their hands before examining patients.
5. Most of the staff have become so complacent, that they just don't give a shit.
Overall, nursing home staff are some of the worst around; they complain, berate patients, and ignore dignity. I have friends claim they are nurses, but work in nursing homes-- I call them glorified babysitters. Actually, I would be wrong-- Babysitters actually change diapers.
People fail to see that the nursing homes that are horrible is because of the staff. There are places out there making only $2000 a month profit, less than what a nurse makes, and cannot afford more staffing. The government keeps elevating the paperwork and decreasing the profit. Where do you think this leads?
But keep complaining that YOU don't respect the workers or wanna work hard, that will solve it for sure.
I work at a nursing home and will tell you it is the corporate office that refuses us to work with bare minimum staff in every dept. I am a Director of my dept. but that means nothing. I have talked, encouraged the Administrator, etc. to do something about and told it will not happen. I will leave after finding new job, probably after the first part of Jan 2014. Cannot take it anymore!
Hey now,
I'm a LPN at a nursing home and the job sucks the life out of me. Not the the patients, because it isn't their fault that they have to be there. I'm talking about working back to back doubles, and then receiving a barrage of phone calls and texts from administration asking you to come in and work another double. I am responsible for the medication and treatment administration of almost 30 residents, and I have 2 aides on my hall, which means I am toileting, transferring, and putting residents to bed before they try to get up and do it themselves. If someone falls, I'm doing neuros every 15 minutes for 2 hours. I became a nurse to care for people, and I have so little time to do that it makes me sick. Don't label nursing home staff (nurses and aides) as glorified baby sitters, because I guarantee my 8 hours is far more stressful, emotionally draining, and backbreaking than you can imagine.
Hello everyone. I have been working in nursing homes for the past 8 years as an activities director and can say that they are all the same in terms of being rotten. Understaffed..underpaid...you name it they have it. Nursing homes are no place for good clinical staff to make careers at. I have a degree in recreation and decided to make my exit by going back to grad school and majoring in healthcare administration. I have no intentions of ever applying back to any nursing home jobs. The lack of care from administration, the lack of team work, the lack of supplies, high turn over rates.. Ive seen it all.
I have been an RN for 21 years and 12 of those years have been in long term care. I love it! My residents do not lie in urine and feces for hours, they are turned changed and re positioned at least every 2 hours. What I can say to you all if you hate then you need to leave or you need to make a difference, not just complain about it but do something. Work with the CNA's, set a good example, others will follow your lead. Don't be part of the problem be the solution
I have to say as a CNA in a long term care facility that all homes are not created equal nor the quality of the cna doing the care. Often the CNA's are stretched so thin that its all they can do to get the work done due to high job over turn, lack of staffing and money to staff, state regulations allow more patients per cna than is actually possible to do depending on the type of care. SO be careful when you lump all people together, that's like saying all doctors are good, all cna's are bad, all cops are pigs, just not true. Be glad there are people out there willing to do this job at very little pay and poor working conditions. Most health care workers have back issues that they pay for, for the rest of their lives not to mention stress and other health issues directly associated with the work. I am a proud professional CNA and have been for over 9 years. I give it all I got not my fault everyone else doesn't.
I work at a nursing home and I hate it so much. I do my best and have only been a cna for a month. The expect me to do an entire hall by myself. It wouldn't be a problem, but I have to do four changes throughout the night, chart on all the residents, and out of all thirty of them, at least eighteen, are bedridden and need changed. I love the residents and I take my time with each and everyone of them. I just got chastised on that today and they are considering firing me because i'm not ''happy enough'' there. Well, they got one thing right. I was told it at the longest, the incremented time, it should take seven minutes to change someone. Let me tell you why that's bullshit. You must gather your supplies, lift the bed, turn the resident(gently) clean properly, without leaving any residue of urine/feces,spread cream and powder under their gluteal folds, lower the bed, tuck the resident in, answer any request the resident may have, and throw your dirty linen/ trash. That takes longer than five minutes. I promise. The higher ups are friends with all the morning shift people. If they think you haven't done your job, they run straight to the supervisor and not the charge nurse. Even Though the supervisor has advised to go to the charge nurse first. The fucking ass kiss, bully, cna gets away with making everyone's life a living hell just because she kisses enough ass. I joked with an orientee. I said, "run while you can." After I said I said 'joking' and I laughed Well, one of the precious morning aides found out and made a big deal about and ran and cried to the supervisor and now i'm being punished and blamed for everything. I hate it there. Oh, and I forgot the morning aides aren't perfect, either. Especially Miss employee of the month. At the end of her shift she wants a pity party. "OH they didn't help me *whine*" "i had a bad day *"whine* I do gets up too which can take awhile. You get them up, help them pick the clothing they want, help put the clothing on them, make sure they are properly clean and changed, lift them into their chair, comb their hair (gently) and was their face if they want to. Takes a while, especially if they can't ambulate themselves well. I'm not sure if all places are like this, but this place is atrocious.
Tired of being a CNA? Overworked, underpaid, unappreciated, that's plus trashing your body, never getting to leave when its the end of your shift. Time for a change
tiredofbeingacna webstarts com
You might want to think about a career change, some nursing assistants are switching over to EEG Technicians. Has to be better than wiping butts all day. I agree with Tired of Being a CNA.
I am an LPN at a nursing home. I've been a CNA also, so I know it is a hard job. Part of the problem is not enough staff for the amount of residents. I would have 11-12 people to get ready between 6-8 am, including many who were totally dependent. Many who had sit-to-stand lifts and full body lifts. It is constantly working against the clock. Would we do better if we had 6 people to take care of? Of course. Now, on the other hand, I see CNA's whose only goal is to do everything as fast as possible, take as many shortcuts as possible. They are careless, if they leave a tab alarm or bed alarm off and resident falls, it's not them that has to deal with it. It's the nurses with the paperwork, the responsibility. I go behind CNA's constantly putting on alarms that they forget to put in place. I remind them to use barrier creams, and to do good peri-cares, even on those residents that are supposedly independent. ALSO, I see that most CNA's have real attitudes. If you get on them as a nurse, they complain and tell DON not to put them on your shift. I've never seen such a complaining bunch of people. Night shift complains about day shift and vice versa. They gripe about each other and stab each other in the back. Unless the nurses are backed up, all this continues.
I work in a nursing home, only in an administrative position. I truly believe that there are people who work where I do who truly do care about the residents. I blame corporate for the problems. It is all about that fricken budget. Residents pay high dollars to be there, and to corporate it is all about how much they make. Maybe it is time for potential residents/families to start asking questions/demanading better service. Ask the resident to stna/nuse ratio they keep. When they tell you a ridiculous number, move on. Employees need to start calling the state and complaining about things you see, anonymously of course. Start putting the pressure on management and at the corporate level. 1 person can only do so much. We recently had an incident where nursing was complaining of covering 2 halls, there were 2 med errors that very day. I have always said, and will continue to believe, that healthcare should have never become a for profit business. It can and is only bad for the resident/consumer.
I agree. Family's need to start demanding higher staff ratios. I have been a nurse 30 years. Loved it for years. We had time to talk with patients. Comb their hair, we even rolled it for them at times. We would bring them in things when they didn't have family. We always had people willing to come in. If an extra staff was there we let them stay. Always something. We charted by exception.it has changed do. I wouldn't advise nursing career. But I guess all jobs suffer a lot not due to the greedy nature of our society. Sad. And don't forget government regulations. Their answer to everything I'd another rule, another piece of paper.
I have worked in LTC for 15 years. I am completely burnt out. I am the nurse that DOES have the skills required to care for these patients. I work a skilled hall and I have 32 patients on my own. The staff to patient ratio is the problem, it is a joke to think that 60 patients can be properly cared for with ony 4 CNA's and 2 Nurses. 15-20 dependant feeders, 15 diabetics, 60% incontinent. Showers only every couple of days. I love my patients but I dread going to work hours before my shift these days. Ready to move on!!!!
I work in a care home in the UK. The home is called residential home, but in a reality it cares for patients with dementia - around 90% of residents has some kind of dementia. I used to love this job - helping people, have a small chat with the old folks, but now I feel completely burned out. There isn't enough time to do the job properly. Certainly no time for even the small chat. I often have to rush the residents because I have to hurry to another patient.
By the way I'm a foreigner here in UK. It seems, my many native English co-workers are pretty lazy. I worked on shift where my colleagues were sitting hours and hours while I was constantly on my feet, had no time even for a cup of tea. My friend in another care home had exactly same experiences. This is my fourth care home, in every place was some useless (English) individual, but the current home is the worst in workwise.
And how these care homes treat the elderly - I can tell stories, what would make headlines. In one of my previous place was such a bad scabies infestation, even some staff members caught it, like me. I even didn't know until that time what are scabies, but I noticed the bad skin of residents. It was said it's from the water. Strangely they had just very few showers there. The management denied it's scabies. When my skin started to itch, a doctor diagnosed it, I realised what a farce is that nursing home.
Another care/nursing home where I worked was a very posh one and very expensive. One of the residents, one tiny, nearly 100 y old lady was killed, because somebody tightened the handling belt around her chest so much. She died in pain few days later. Even the police was called out. But the home covered it up!!! nobody was charged or cautioned. I know who was the No 1 responsible person. When I said this to management, they didn't want to know!!! I was thinking to go to police, but if I would have been identify the killer, I wouldn't find another job in the industry because of the references. They will hire you only if you have got good references. Now I hate this job, but in this area is very hard to find work outside of the care industry. Here are no factories, but lots of elderly living here, because here is one of the best spots in UK weatherwise.
I'm an RN working at a nursing home,and let me tell you all the problems come from management. Iv sat through many meetings etc and they do not give one single shit about residents or the staff, all they care about is money money money! It's a business to them. I remember another nurse and I trying to convince our boss about a demented man who really needed to be in a different level of care because he was wandering into other residents rooms, attacking them etc. (Our facility is not equipped for that sort of care as we are hospital level) it was a huge danger to everyone and what did he say? " well at the end of the day we are a business and we need to keep all the patients that we can so we get the income" bloody disgusting. I really feel for the HCA'S because they are working their asses off for pittance pay, a huge turnover rate so we only have a few good ones left that really know the residents. The rest are either really new and inexperienced, or just lazy, let the team down and ring in sick every weekend (you know the kind). We are constantly short staffed but we are still required to give "quality care", have everyone up and washed by 1030 etc and if it's not done the RN'S just get absolutely chastised and hung out to dry. Everyone is burnt out and we're doing our best to lead the team and get it all Right while being hugely unsupported by management and it all just seems impossible!! I walk out of work feeling burnt out and unfulfilled. It gives me no work satisfaction because I KNOW these residents aren't been cared for properly but management don't want to know.
Nursing homes suck! Most of the issues stem from administration AND the "state" agencies who regulate them though! They put extremely high expectations on staff without supplying them with appropriate staffing, training and education. When the "State" survey's, I have yet to hear that they enforce lower staffing to patient ratio's. Generally, they cite for an error, and this just adds another responsibility to the nursing staff that they are almost guaranteed not to be able to meet...unless, they fall short on another responsibility. These days...only hospitals, and maybe like health departments attempt to protect a nursing license. These nursing homes and home care agencies just manipulate the nurse for their license to make a profit. In order to effectively have a business in healthcare, it requires micromanagement with appropriate tools and staffing for it to run smoothly.
Thanks for Sharing Quality information With us ... Top Nursing Colleges in Bangalore | BSC Nursing Colleges in Bangalore
Why work there then? I worked at a Nursing Home for 2 weeks and realized there had to be something better out there. Private duty, home care, wound care visits. I currently work for an insurance company. I work from home and probably make more than you. No stress, and I'm a LPN. You don't have to be there if you don't want to! Do some research! Get out!!!
Don't complain about the aides. Complain to the management - is there enough help. Usually not - and one person cannot adequately take care of ten total need clients properly. The RN and the LPN don't even want to touch your mom or dad. And neither do the children or relatives of the patients. That's why there are not enough aides - you are treated and looked upon like shit for helping totally helpless old people who cannot even wipe their own ass anymore. - instead of being giving the god given respect to be able to have the heart to care for the old and helpless. Cna work is just plain nasty.
Shut up and go wipe butts for the elderly. See how long u last.
Yeah, it's easy to crap on nursing homes when you've never worked in one. How about being on a subacute floor where I have a full code in CHF exacerbation, mental status change, crazy pulmonary edema, 87% on 5L, stage 4 kidney failure, needing to be in an icu for diuresis and I have to fight for 911, fight and fight, and the boss is like im lasix 60, when he's already had 160 oral. I called 911 myself and then get berated by some asshole emt that I should have called hours ago, umm I have only been at work for an hour and I'm trying to keep this man alive with limited resources, while fighting management. He ended up dying at the hospital the next day. At the same time I'm giving morphine q2 to a cmo, actively dying pt and comforting their family. Also at this time I'm trying to do 6 bgm. Pass meds on 15 ppl, and take half of their vs, body audits on 3 ppl, running peritoneal dia, hoping my trach man doesnt start hacking, and listening to families complain that their loved one didn't get butter with their dinner and no one made their bed. Yeah, sub acute, where I send ppl to the ED, half the time (esp if someone is dnr, which I will never do bc docs/hospitals stop giving a crap about you when you choose this) they send them back, like duh they're ok, and the person dies the next day. So yeah, that bs, on top of babysitting old demented people who love climbing out of bed with my one aide. And listening to people whine and complain about how terrible we are. What do you want me to do? My aide has 15 to get up for dinner and put to bed. If you love your loved one so much, you take care of them, don't put them in a home. I love my parents so much, I would never ever do that to them. At least I know I can handle any nursing job in the world after working with the resources of a nursing home, but with 15 pts that ARE hospital level acuity. Get em in, get em out.
I'm a PSW (here in Canada) and I can tell you...we are over worked, underpaid, short staffed & stretched thin! We are the ones caring for your grandpa & grandma!! We are the front line. We are NOT appreciated or valued near enough. Without us, these poor people wouldnt have anyone.
I work at a nursing home and it's s joke with management and the aides there. My training was non existent, my "trainer" would leave constantly leave me to go on numerous breaks or take naps. Nurses have caught him sleeping in a resident's room but nothing was done because his cousin was in management. I was by myself with 50 residents and no one helped me. When finally the night shift aide came in, she decided to sit and watch movies and take numerous smoke breaks for three hours. When she finally decided to "work" one her residents who I had earlier in the day, had urinated all over her bed. The aide got in my face and starting screaming at me then goes in the hallway and is still screaming obsecenties about me. I told the nurse who was standing there and witnessed it that I quit. The aide was escorted off the premises and was reprimanded but still works there.
I feel the same way. I got into the nursing field to help people and also my father kept pushing me to go to into it. It's been three and a half years and I hate nursing. The aides are rude and immature. Some nurses are decent but can be just as bad.
Useful Information, your blog is sharing unique information.Thanks for sharing!!
Three Links
And what do you do for work ?????
Take your “loved one” home.
Take your “loved one” home.
You need to learn to be assertive you’re supposed to take charge.
I also Am an RN in LTC. People need to realize assertive and self motivated staff do well. Also prioritization is how to enjoy your job and do well. I’ve been doing geriatric care for 8 years. The only complaint I have is the families misunderstanding of the patients health. A lot of family who complain of care need to get home health and also recognize how much is being done. Some of my patients should be hospice and I push for it when appropriate. But after almost two years in the nursing home that I’m currently at I would like to move on to the hospital setting.
Amen... it is an impossible demand
Yes yes and yes. Get cna training tho you'll need it. And learn everything you can there are many more homecare resources than there used to be at least in USA. Do your best to set up support network and respite care in advance. Be prepared for some wierd family dynamics...
I agree with assertive, but would add you have to have empathy for your co workers too even if they appear to suck.
What state do you live in. Considering moving there
I used to work CNA at a nursing home n sometimes go to work with little or no sleep bec dreading going to work. I thought there was something wrong with me. Glad to know I wasn't the only one. Strangely once I got there things would suck but I didn't mind that much cause I liked working with the people. But ended up with muscle spasms in my back, a mystery rash, unwanted personality changes... still miss it but wasn't good enough not sure I ever could be
Amen. Please take your loved one home. There are many more resources now for home caregivers. Maybe even money from the government.
One of the saddest things about being a CNA was hearing the residents crying and telling me they want to get out of there. Not a whole lot I could do for them a lot of times. If I take extra time to listen, give them an extra nice bath, whatever, that is good and can ease their feelings but guess what... on the other end of the line someone might not get changed because I spent too much time.
Seems like many nursing homes run on a lose-lose business model. I don't know the depth of the evil here, how the system is designed, who benefits and who exactly is to blame etc. But there is a saying "where there are no men (women) strive to be a man (woman)" just do your best for as long as you can.
Also "you are not obligated to complete the work but neither are you free to desist from it"
So I guess even if a person quits being CNA or a nurse maybe it is important to educate the public on what is going on. Be more proactive in influencing people to get the training, find the resources and take care of their loved ones at home.
Working as a CNA if I had taken an hour to clean someone's fingernails I would have gotten way behind and fussed out big time. Cause the way it's set up we don't have time for all that "extra" stuff. Clean someone's nails someone else is probably working on getting a pressure sore on the other end of the line and guess who takes responsibility. That's right you do.
So I am curious chuckling one. What is your line of work. Are you a green beret or a Navy Seal maybe
Post a Comment
<< Home