whats so good about working in a hospital?

[OnlinePersona]

i hear the basis for people not wanting to be a LPN or rather wanting to be a RN is "hospitals are phasing out LPNs" or " hospitals dont hire LPNs"..... my question is whats so good about a hospital in the first place?

I get the impression people think those that dont work in a hospital = dumb/not so smart as hospital workers. You still use nursing skills/critical thinking/advocate/etc in a SNF right?

my dream job is at psychiatric facility.

who cares if hospital dont hire lpns? geez

:)

[LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN]

A patient's family member taught ME how to manage a vent at home, on her mom. I still felt it was beyond my scope of practice, though the agency was willing to consider me 'trained' thereafter......still, the dgt understood and I did everything else during the home health visit, while dgt did the vent.

A good home health agency will educate nurses on vent management; in my experiences, a lot of times most families have some knowledge while others have none at all because nursing care is allotted by insurance, especially in Peds cases. Depending on acuity, Private duty home health is approved; in PDN home health, the nurse is responsible for respiratory management because it is within our scope; even in LTC, nurses do respiratory care as well as med pass and wound care management; we do it all.

[ceccia]

Like others have said, it entirely depends on what you want! everyone is different. i would never work in an acute care hospital. Too stressful, too fast-paced, too strict, hell to the no. then again i'm not ambitious at ALL when it comes to nursing; to me it's just a paycheck. So I work in rehab and asssisted living where things are more laid-back. I can totally understand why other people would want a hospital job, if they want to get into advanced practice or if they really like the fast pace and challenging environment of hospital work.

[LVN2RNMom, ASN, BSN, LVN]

I am an LVN working at a major hospital and prior to that, I worked at a psych facility. They both provide very different learning environments but my goal was to work at a hospital as an LVN and I am. There are nurses who love what the psych environment provided but not me. I desired hands on care and I knew what I wanted. Don't feel bad for following your heart and we all have different niches

[No Stars In My Eyes]

1pinknurse--

You said it all perfectly in the last five words of your post: "We all have different niches."

It's a darn good thing that it takes all kinds to make the world go 'round! No one job is "better" than another. If it suits you, you enjoy it, do it well and are satisfied, then BRAVO! You could put a great hospital nurse into a home health or private duty position and they might feel like a fish out of water. There is a need in ALL areas of nursing for good nurses.

[NM_ICU_RN]

What's so good about the hospital?

Well, the 5 years I've spent in critical care have given me the experiences, knowledge and resume to start a quality NP program. In 2 short years, I'll be the one giving the orders - not the one taking them.

The hospital up the road pays their NPs 3 times what they pay their RNs. And that's at the hospital alone. There are even more lucrative opportunities outside the hospital in the private sector, or I can even set up my own practice and run it how I want it to be run. Thanks to my ICU experience, I can also choose to go to anesthesia school and then the sky truly is the limit as far as income.

The time is coming one day where hospitals will be outmoded by services offered in the community instead - it's true. But there's another trend that is here already and that is the lack of providers. There may not be a nursing shortage, but there sure as heck is a provider shortage - and that trend will only worsen over the coming years. As The Commuter so aptly stated, it's time to get with the program or potentially get left behind. It's true that acute care positions are declining in sheer numbers. But that's for RNs - not for providers. I'll be in demand - even as a new grad. Again, thanks to my hospital experience.

What's so good about the hospital is that it has opened all these doors for me. I really can't think of many more nursing jobs that would have afforded me such opportunities. Oh, and did I mention that the hospital will pay my tuition?

In the near future, I'll be using my mind to earn a living instead of my back and enjoying at least three times the salary I'm making now. And that's a lot more sustainable over the long-term. I'm not sure how long my back will last, but it's a safe bet to assume my mind will outlast it. Just ask all those nurses on disability due to injury on the job.

That's what's so good about the hospital.

[QuiltDog]

What's so good about the hospital? My answer would be nothing and you couldn't pay me enough to go back. HOWEVER, hospital experience opens the door to a lot of other jobs for nurses. I don't regret that I started there, but I wouldn't go back.

I agree 100%!!!

[sweet sunshine]

I hate the "customer service" aspect of hospitals. Every shift I work I leave exhausted. It sure isn't easy work. [TABLE]

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[AmeliasAunt]

What's so good about the hospital? My answer would be nothing and you couldn't pay me enough to go back. HOWEVER, hospital experience opens the door to a lot of other jobs for nurses. I don't regret that I started there, but I wouldn't go back.

Yes, this is exactly what I was going to say. I do still work in the hospital setting on a PRN basis because I do still enjoy providing bedside care. However, I am now at a hospital that I truly love working for. I have worked at hospitals that were absolutely horrendous. So, I guess my point is that if you can find a hospital that shares your values and ideals and provides you with what you need to be successful, hospital nursing can be great!

[glittergirlRN]

I was nurse at a level 1 trauma center(1000+ beds) for 10yrs. now I'm working at a mental health hospital and have been for 6 months. If I knew then what I know now I probably would have started with mental health first. Love it!

[Racer15, BSN, RN]

For me it's pretty simple. I want to be a flight nurse. Need 3 years critical care experience to be considered.