ADVANCING
YOUR PRACTICE
Be someone's
angel: A long-term-care nurse
By Donna Smouse Ferguson, RN, BS
My career in nursing began in long-term
care, and I wouldn't trade the experience for
anything. In this article, I'm going to tell you
why you too might want to consider becoming a long-term-care
nurse.
The demand for this specialty should
be strong. The United States has a population of 300
million people, and approximately one in eight are older
adults.1 By the year 2030, the proportion of older adults
is predicted to increase to one in five.1 Caring and
compassionate nurses in long-term-care facilities will
be responsible for ensuring quality care and quality
of life for many of these older adults.
Look at the practical advantages of
this field. Long-term-care facilities are located in
the community, so you may find work near your home.
You may be eligible for many opportunities to advance,
with or without specialized training. Your facility
may pay for you to advance your training or improve
your skills.
If you enjoy technical challenges, consider
this: Because of longer life spans, shorter hospital
stays, and medical advances, long-term-care facilities
are admitting older, sicker residents. Your skill is
needed to accurately operate medical equipment, to care
for patients using ventilators or central lines or peripherally
inserted central catheters, to perform blood draws,
and to insert I.V. catheters. Aging affects residents'
skin integrity, requiring you to be skilled in wound
care and prevention. A resident's health can change
very quickly, requiring you to promptly and accurately
assess him and implement care using your critical-thinking
skills.
Now let's weigh some of the intangible
benefits. Nurses in long-term care can enrich the lives
of our older residents through caring and compassion.
Anne Marie Barnett said, "I found out that if
you want to make a difference in someone's life
and form relationships with your patients and their
families, long-term-care nursing is the way to go."2
If you're a nurse in a long-term-care
facility, you may be the reason your resident smiles.
You may even be the highlight of his day, but for me
it's not a one-way street—I find that building
a compassionate relationship with a resident enriches
both of our lives. For instance, my older patients'
life stories are filled with firsthand knowledge of
history: They were soldiers in World War I and II, they've
experienced the technology revolution, and they raised
families during the Depression. You can read about any
subject you like, but you may not feel the emotion unless
you listen to someone who was there. Listening enhances
our lives as nurses.
Hospitals, with shorter and shorter
lengths of stay, offer less opportunity for nurses to
get to know their patients with acute illnesses. Our
facilities, on the other hand, offer extended care.
Caring for a human being on a daily basis offers rewards
and challenges like those of being in a family. At times,
you are the resident's family.
Long-term-care nursing encompasses all
aspects of the residents' life needs. You're
there to listen when they need to talk, hug them when
they're blue, and reorient them when they become
confused. Sometimes their only comfort comes from being
able to recognize a familiar face.
Marion Casey Renz once asked a nurse
in a long-term-care unit, "Why do you keep coming
back here?" The nurse replied, "I figure
that someday I'm going to be like one of these
old people, unable to care for myself. I won't
want to burden my kids, so I'll have to depend
on the kindness of others."3 You have the power
to ensure that the "kindness of others"
exists for the future residents of long-term-care facilities.
Seize the opportunity to use your caring
and compassion to enrich the lives of older adults.
"Long-term care workers are the angels of this
world," according to Dorothy Seman.4 Are you ready
to be someone's angel?
REFERENCES
1. Population Reference Bureau. http://www.prb.org.
2. Barnett AM. An inside look at long-term care nursing.
Maryland Nurse. 2004;6(2):27.
3. Renz MC. A question of caring. Nursing.
1994;24(8):54-55.
4. Seman D. Listen with the ears of your heart. Nurs
Homes Long Term Care Manage. 2003;52(9):34-39.
Source: Nursing2009
Career Directory. January 2009.
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