Has anyone went from ltc to hospital RN

[expo4u]

I am a new grad ad have not found a job in a hospital. I think my old acting manager whom has never even seen me work is partly responsible for this. I am wondering if starting at a ltc facility is a mistake. I want to work in a hospital. I really do not want to work in a ltc facility. Has anyone started out at a ltc as a new grad and went to a hospital later. If offered a job should I turn it down. I absolutly do not want to be stuck in ltc. I went to nursing so that I could become a travel nurse and I am 45 and do not have years to waste to reach my goal.

[SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN]

i have applied and applied and applied. i believe i am being blackballed by a supervisor whom has never seen me work. i have placed over 50 applications at one hospital that is not counting the other hospitals in my area. this supervisor whom i believe is blackballing me once told me "i don't like male nurses".

is this a nurse supervisor or another kind of manager in a different career field?? a nurse supervisor may have some weight but a former supervisor of a non-nursing job probably has no baring especially if you did not give permission for him/her to act as a reference. a job contact does not = reference. job contacts have to hold his/her tongue except to verify employment.

btw, if the only jobs you can get are in ltc, then take what you can get at this time. otherwise, you may need to move out of the area (rural preferably). the fact that you are not getting a job might be because of the competition in your area rather then your reputation. many hiring mangers will hire their former cnas and nurse externs before he/she will hire someone else. gl!

[amjowens]

If you don't want to work in LTC, it will show. You should just keep applying for hospital jobs. LTC isn't necesarily a "less than" place to be, just different. For me, I want to eventually specialize in geriatrics as a nurse practitioner. If I were managing the LTC facility, I'd almost want to pay people to stay away from the patients in LTC who DIDN'T WANT to be there, than pay to go through the tasks and hate it. People are people, whether on a med-surg floor or a subacute LTC floor, and need top nursing care. There's absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to be in a hospital, but just make sure and go there, not LTC. You'll do nobody a favor, especially yourself, if you do the LTC route according to what you've said.

[expo4u]

I do not mean to have a bad outlook on ltc. I have been told by several recruiters that they do not hire ltc nurses and some have told me it is possible to go from ltc to hospital. I would like to know if this possible means a 1 in a 1000 chance what.

[SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN]

i do not mean to have a bad outlook on ltc. i have been told by several recruiters that they do not hire ltc nurses and some have told me it is possible to go from ltc to hospital. i would like to know if this possible means a 1 in a 1000 chance what.

lpns or rns? lpns are not being hired in acute care at this time unless he/she was a cna and his/her manager wants to keep him/her after receiving the lpn license. otherwise, i know former lpns who worked ltc for years then became rns that got a job at my hospital with no problems. i would not state a 1-in-a-1000 chance against them because they are not treated the same as new grads. also, some rns at my hospital pick up shifts in ltcs so i cannot see why ltcs would be a no-no.

think about it… if you do not get a job for the next two years, do you think you will be more marketable then the same you who worked in a ltc over the same time frame? if you do not work at all you will be treated as a new grad nurse and competing with fresh new grad nurses. if you work in ltc for two years, you will be treated as an experienced nurse and be trained differently to adapt to the acute care setting (you also will not cost a hiring manager as much money as an inexperienced new grad). just some thoughts.

[MentalRn]

Don't stress the LTC experience. You will learn plenty. I started my nursing career in LTC and I do not regret it.

I worked for several years in LTC before going into med/surg. I did not feel lacking in my skills as a nurse.My transition to acute care went smooth. LTC nurses every day utilize many skills and they do this with a huge patient load. There are also some LTC travel contracts out there if you desire to travel in this field later. Hang in there, I remember thinking the same thing.

[debRN0417]

I went from LTC nurse to the hospital to the ER/ICU and then to the House Supervisor position. It is possible, but it is up to you. You have to be on your toes, do a good job wherever you work, be a team player, get good evaluations, and establish yourself as a good nurse who cares about what he/she does and the folks he/she cares for. You have to be willing to learn and put yourself in every position you can that affords you a new opportunity to learn. When you interview you need to convey that you have a positive attitude, are a team player, and that you have what they need. I went back to long term care, and now I am doing something else that I always wanted to do....so it is possible to do whatever you want to do, you have to work for it!