LTAC nurses are the demand nurses since they are needed in a specific department by specific patients. Long-term acute facilities are built to cater to patients who need a long time to recover and they need nurses who can provide the care and assistance they need. LTAC nurses in Alabama are in demand and so more and more nurses are qualifying themselves to fit to become LTAC nurses. However before you become one know the duties and responsibilities of an LTAC nurse so you can prepare yourself to work as one.
What Are the responsibilities of an LTAC Nurse?
Monitor and Report Patient’s Record
LTAC nurses should be able to monitor the changes in the patient’s progress so they can report them to their medical team head. Monitoring the condition of the patients can be a good way to measure if they are improving for the better. Every change should be reported to the assigned physician so they can also update the treatment and procedures needed to be done to the patient.
Closely Checking on the patient’s Vital signs
The patients in the LTAC facility have to be monitored closely when it comes to their vital signs since any unusual changes can put them at risk. Vital signs can tell if the patient is in normal condition or not, some patients in the LTAC nurses are not yet capable of communicating verbally therefore they should be monitored closely.
Cleaning and Dressing of Wounds
There are patients in the LTAC facility who suffered from burns and they have to be cleaned and dressed regularly to remember faster. LTAC nurses are trained on how to properly handle this kind of patient and they know how to clean the wound in a proper way to avoid getting infected and instead hasten the healing of the wounds.
Acts as the Emotional Support of the patient
Patients who are staying in the LTAC facility have higher tendencies to feel depressed or sad since their recovery may take a long time. As their nurse, you act as their emotional support and let them know the progress so they can feel hopeful as well as educate their families on how to handle their patients so they can understand the progress of the patient’s condition and give them hope that they can someday bring home their patients in a good condition.
Implements the Individualized Treatment plan
Each patient has an individualized treatment plan for their patient which the medical team has to implement. As LTAC nurses must implement the treatment plan while watching the patients. Therefore they have to know the exact dosages and method of administration.
What are The pros of being an LTAC nurse?
Grow Professionally and personally
As an LTAC nurse, you will be encountering a lot of situations where you need to give your all to your patients with this experience you will learn to grow into a person who has compassion for others as well as learn more to enhance your skill so you can be able to give the demands of your patients. This can be beneficial in a way that you can enhance your skills and learn a lot of things as you handle different patients on a long-term basis.
Job Security
Since you will be expected to care for your patient for a long time, you can also be assured that your employment will be there for a longer period compared with other nursing jobs. So LTAC nurses usually love their jobs since they have to build a bond with their patients due to the length of their stay in the LTAC facility.
Opportunity to work with different Healthcare professionals
In the LTAC facility, a medical team is assigned to each patient. The team usually consist of physicians, therapist, nurses, and the medical staff. Getting to work in different professions can make you learn more and mold yourself more to become a better nurse and a better person as well.
What are the cons?
Burn out
There are times when the nurse and patient ratio are high therefore nurses are often born out since they have to handle more than one patient, considering that patients need close monitoring nurses have to stay alert despite handling more than one patient.
Lack of Medical Supplies
Since LTAC facilities are often using medical supplies there are times when LTCA nurses have to deal with a lack of supplies during their duties. This decreases their efficiency in providing satisfactory service to their patients.
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