Where are all the nurses?

Dont you love the new nurses who know it all. I welcome all comments and recommendations, but arguments? Besides if she disagrees with the older more experienced nurse, she can speak to you for advise how to approach it, not with arguments

I said that was the dream, not the reality. At least where I am and the program I graduated from 99% were applying for major medical centers in the area (Chicago) in hopes of beginning their graduate programs next fall and growing their careers while still young and without a family. I also read a couple posts of new grads yesterday contemplating this same dilemma, unable to get into a hospital due to the freezes but LTR's offering them positions...I just think if those were the dream jobs of new grads they would not have such a hard time making that decision.

It's silly to assume that this does not go on in the hospital...I've worked the acute side, and the LTC side. It's the same thing. I hope that with time you will see this for yourself.

why not hire lpn/lvn's instead of rn's, that's what most ltc's do in nc, a rn is overkill for the limited duties u stated, maybe it's a state requirement n ur state.

it's not only cheaper for them, but it gets care to the patients, a lpn is better than no nurse caring for patients, an experienced rn n ltc is a luxury. most rn's don't go to nursing school to work in ltc, ltc n nc have to pay several dollars more an hr than hospitals pay to attract rn's, then there's the problem of keeping them. if ur having a problem getting/keeping rn's n this economic environment, it's gonna be even worse when the economy heats back up. it sounds like the one new grad that has stayed for now sees ltc being beneath her (probably why she's combative), she'll move on if she can find something better. sounds like you could also be located n an area where not many working class people live, so there's the double downer of working n ltc and having to commute, so pay would have to be even more to attract/keep rn's.

What shift are you hiring for? What part of the Cape are you in? I currently work in a LTC facility and live in Middleboro. I had an awful time last year when I was a new grad trying to find a job. That's great that you will hire new grads!

I live in an area that got hit hard by the economic recession right when I graduated from my BSN program. We had been told for four years: Sure, getting a job'll be easy! Great pay! Great benefits! When reality set in, I applied for 144 jobs around the entire country and got TWO interviews. I finally ended up staying in the same area in a LTC setting.

Once I got started I figured out what a huge mistake our nursing program had made. I had NO idea how to do this, and my expectations about how "easy" it was going to be was erased. It is hands down the hardest job I have ever had, I work nights with one aid and 25 people. Any new grad who would turn their nose up at LTC needs to take a second look.

No, you won't get that job paying $$$ an hour on a tele/icu with zero experience. Working LTC gives you EXCELLENT time management skills, assessment skills, and even management skills. I guess my bottom line argument is that you can't be "too good" to do a job.

And to the "Dude" touting LPN's over RN's in LTC care environments: HA. HA. We had an LPN take over day shift (and no inexperienced one, mind you, she had been doing this for 5 years) and she had no idea how to clear the med sheets, no idea how to chart correctly, do wound care, didn't know/give a crap about pharmacology and just literally pushed pills and pudding all day. Sometimes you need an RN because while LPN's are great, they just don't cut it all the time.