I worked in a nursing home for 9 months and couldn’t take it any longer. It was “deficiency free,” but in the first week I saw at least 3 blatant violations. I am sure the DON was sorry she hired me! I reported the following to her and she asked if I was gunning for her job: within the first two days I observed chunky potato salad given to people on a puréed diet, kitchen staff placing food on dishes with their bare hands. The next was a personal infection control violation: dirty linen was placed in covered trash cans, with contaminated gloved hands it was wheeled to laundry and clean linen placed on top of the same lidded trash can. Employees returned in same gloved hands. Patients might wait 2-3 hours before cleaning and changing out of soiled diapers-this was a staffing issue because 1 aide cared for 25-33 residents. I also saw a nurse who always seemed to quickly pass her medications, while I was always lagging behind. When I asked others how I could improve my speed, they told me they suspected that one nurse only passed medications to those residents who were alert and oriented! Appalling! Even worse, no one reported her to the best of my knowledge.

I worked in a nursing home for 9 months and couldn’t take it any longer. It was “deficiency free,” but in the first week I saw at least 3 blatant violations. I am sure the DON was sorry she hired me! I reported the following to her and she asked if I was gunning for her job: within the first two days I observed chunky potato salad given to people on a puréed diet, kitchen staff placing food on dishes with their bare hands. The next was a personal infection control violation: dirty linen was placed in covered trash cans, with contaminated gloved hands it was wheeled to laundry and clean linen placed on top of the same lidded trash can. Employees returned in same gloved hands. Patients might wait 2-3 hours before cleaning and changing out of soiled diapers-this was a staffing issue because 1 aide cared for 25-33 residents.