aFor 25 years as a nursing home manager, Joan Robbins said it would only make it difficult.
Robbins oversees the Briarwood Nursing and Rehabilitation nurse team at Little Rock, a long-term care facility for seniors. Robbins says she loves all the nurses on the roster and she is proud of how they arrive early and stay late if the situation asks for it.
But finding people to meet her rank is never easy. She understands why she is better than anyone else. Simply put, nurses in elder care facilities are special people. They must be.
“If you're good at it, it's a fierce job,” Robbins said.
What do elder care facilities nurses do? The better question is, “What are they not doing?” At any time, nurses can plan residents' care agendas, monitor cognitive functioning, analyze urine and fecal samples, oversee outpatient functioning, and plan and support physical therapy.
Separating nursing home nurses from other crowds is the necessary combination of compassion, communication and good old mental toughness that makes them special.
“We've been working hard to get a better chance at a better place,” said Jennifer Shem, administrator of the Nurse Rehabilitation Center at Good Shepherd in Little Rock. “You have to have that compassion for the understanding of the elderly and these families.”
It is where the demands of elders' care facilities diverge rapidly from other areas of nursing. The nurse must be able to communicate clearly with the residents' families. Unlike hospitals where most patients are treated and eventually leave, the majority of nursing home residents will be there for the rest of their lives.
Nurses cannot simply monitor and record residents who are suffering from poor health. The nurse must also be able to distill the patient information to conditions that allow them to understand and communicate the conditions to the residents' families.
In many cases, the news is not good.
“When you get into long-term care, that's the last thing everyone wants to do,” said Mike Nichols, administrator at the Sherwood Nursing & Rehabitation Center. “It's the last place (the patient) wants. In most cases, that's the final chapter of their lives. You have to be able to deal with all the emotions from the background of all different breeds.
For many families, even if residents are still reasonably healthy, sending their loved ones to long-term care facilities is the beginning of the grief process, and nurses are at the forefront.
“Every family will respond differently when they lose a loved one in long-term care,” Nichols said. “We had a couple who were with us for 60 years and they promised each other not to put themselves in long-term care facilities.
Lance Stack is the operational director for nursing consultants, a consulting firm that supports nursing homes, and said the demands for nurses go far beyond clinical knowledge. For example, hospitals usually visit with family members and share bad news about their loved ones. In long-term care facilities, the responsibility often rests on the nurse.
No matter how good the education and training of nurses is, there is really no way to prepare them.
“We have a real heart to help people, so we try to catch and catch people who are taking part in nursing,” Stack said.
Elder care nurses are thrown into emotional situations, even when they involve residents, their families, or both. Even with a perfect heart and a sense of true compassion, every nurse is human. Nurses need support structures to succeed in the field.
“Mental toughness is very important,” said Emily Roy, director of nurses at Belvedere Nurse at Hot Springs. “You can go to work, and someone you may know can die. It's the person you mostly see as a family. Sometimes you are their only family.
Nurses in long-term care facilities are often there as they can be the worst day of a family's life. There is no instruction manual.
“Half of the job is being able to talk and communicate with people,” Roy said. “To be honest, it's hard to find a nurse who can talk to people. Talk to your family and you have to be strong for them. You have to show the tougher side of that. It helps your family get through it.”
The importance of compassion extends to nursing home managers. It is common to hear about workplaces that are trying to create a family atmosphere, but in long-term care facilities it goes beyond just cliché. At any time, nurses may be dealing with fatigue, loss, compassion fatigue, and anxiety. Administrators need to ensure that staff can unite and support each other through situations that outsiders cannot understand.
“It's not easy,” Siems said. “It's never going to be a routine. We help each other in the facility for such things. We build up each other so that we can hit bad news for our families. We become stronger for our families. And we work within a group of employees to help each other get through it. We all work together.
residents. “
The question remains: Why? Why would someone start a nursing career in elder care when there are many other ways that can be less demanding and less emotionally taxable? The simple answer is relationships. Even if the resident's family members are committed to staying in touch and visiting regularly, there will be days or weeks when the only point of contact for the resident will be the nursing staff.
It's more than filling out the chart to get the temperature. Nurses develop relationships and friendships with residents that can last for years. It's not for everyone, but in many cases, the elder care nurse finds himself completely exhausted and fully satisfied with driving around the house. The work is demanding, but the feeling of ending the day is precious.
“The nursing home provides the opportunity for you to intervene and intervene with patients who will develop long-term care relationships,” Stack said. “You take care of them every day. You can get to know them. You can get to know their families. You know their needs. You'll definitely go to sleep at night knowing that you're helping people, for those who have an actual desire to help people and invest in their lives.
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