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With the new nurse graduates, I decided to share this as a way of forewarning them of what to be aware of. I got the same advice when I graduated but sadly did not listen. Please don’t be me, learn from me!

Long Term Care (LTC) is NOT for the faint of heart. To thrive in  Long Term care, you have to be prepared to eat or be eaten- it is a toxic enviroment. My journey into LTC started as a new nursing graduate. Prior to that, I had heard of many horror stories but I chose to ignore this believing that I could overcome. Of course,  I had all the energy of a new graduate nurse with all the dreams as well. I was wrong; the stories were true- LTC is toxic.

From the corporate office whose only goal was how to spend the minimum amount of money while reeling in the profits to my co-workers who were also evil as all get out.

LTC was the place where I lost my new grad innocence- it was the place where I learned not to trust any co-worker.

LTC was brutal

  • It was brutal in the way co-workers stabbed each other in the back just to get ahead and sometimes simply for the heck of it
  • It was brutal with the revolving door, constant turn-over and having to work short
  • It was brutal in the way you had to avoid pitfalls of which there were many

LTC was poorly managed

  • It was poorly managed through the poor caliber of people hired to run the place. The Administrator that was only concerned about cliques, the DON that only wanted to supervise from a distance; the unit managers that had alternate personalities, it was rough.

LTC was a hell hole

  • The residents could also make life miserable for you with all the false stories that were told

I use was, because I refused to be burned any longer. I got out of LTC and went into home health. Now I care for my patients, as they should be cared for, one at a time too.Be warned, if LTC is where you choose to be, make sure that you go into it with your eyes open wide. It is not for the feeble. LTC will drain the life out of you if you let it. Be the wiser, RUN from Long Term c.

By Saren K