Why would a long-term care facility require 2 years of experience?

BSN16 · Oct 31, 2016

I seriously think HR puts down 2 years experience for literally any job. I think they do it to weed out people, ignore it and apply anyway! My job said i needed 2 years RN experience and 1 ICU and i applied anyway and now here i am lol

Editorial Team / Admin · Oct 31, 2016

Perhaps a history of too many new grads jumping ship as soon as they an acute care offer.

Perhaps a sudden exodus of experienced staff, thus leaving them staffed with new grads.

Perhaps just for the heck of it.

Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN · Oct 31, 2016

And perhaps they wanted experienced nurses. LTC/LTAC isn't the no-brainer that people often think it is. It's a tough specialty, in more ways than one.

caliotter3 · Oct 31, 2016

And perhaps they wanted experienced nurses. LTC/LTAC isn't the no-brainer that people often think it is. It's a tough specialty, in more ways than one.

This. And because, in this job market, they can.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Oct 31, 2016

It seems that after 2 years, one would have experience to advance themselves in more complex nursing roles.

Not everyone wants more workplace complexity after accruing experience. We are all different folks with different strokes. To be honest, I am happiest in nursing roles that do not draw upon the need for hands-on procedural skills, snap decisions, or quick thinking on my feet.

In addition, someone with two years of LTC experience might actually enjoy it enough to remain in that area indefinitely. I spent the first six years of my nursing career in LTC, although I could have moved into a more 'complex' specialty after two years if I really wanted that.

elkpark · Oct 31, 2016

Also, my thought is, if someone has two years of experience, why would they be applying for this type of position anyway? It seems that after 2 years, one would have experience to advance themselves in more complex nursing roles.

Who says working in LTC isn't a "more complex nursing role"? I don't work in LTC and have no desire to, but even I found that statement kind of insulting.

cyc0sys · Oct 31, 2016

I tend to agree. I work in a SNF- LTC/Rehab. Assessing, charting, and medicating 30 sub-acute patient of all types and ages with multiple comorbidities, with more scripts than CVS, requires more skills than 4 nurses possess. We have 2 per shift.

Thank God I was an EMT in another life because I've had 3 people circling the drain due to various reasons that had to be sent back to the hospital they came from as 'stable'. Sometimes LTC is more reminiscence of battle field triage with all of the casualties and none of the help of a modern hospital offers.

I've had patients with drug seeking behavior being self medicated by family after I already hit them with Roxy, a violent dementia patient who almost broke the wrist of another nurse (we have no standing orders to chemically restrain) and a CVA who refuses thicken liquids but constantly aspirates everything.

We also have a problem with the life safety system alarms going off at random times through out the night waking everyone up. A gas leak threatened to close the facility and took 3 hours to resolve after the fire department and maintenance showed up 3 hours later. Security walked out one night and left all of the external doors unsecured for all of our exit seekers to find. All of this occurred in one month.

Please, tell me more of this non-complex LTC land of unicorns and rainbows, of which you speak, because it must be somewhere over the rainbow from where I work.

Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN · Nov 1, 2016

And perhaps they wanted experienced nurses. LTC/LTAC isn't the no-brainer that people often think it is. It's a tough specialty, in more ways than one.

LTC and LTAC are two completely different tough specialties -- long term acute care having more in common with stepdown/progressive care than with long term care, or even with med-surg.

That said I agree completely. Perhaps this facility actually wants expert nurses caring for its residents? I don't know, I've had several elderly relatives who needed long term care, and I appreciated that the floors weren't staffed full of novices.

Plus, most LTCs don't have the ability to offer long orientation periods -- a few shifts, maybe. So it would behoove them to hire nurses who can practice independantly once learning the basics of that particular facility.

Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN · Nov 1, 2016

LTC and LTAC are two completely different tough specialties -- long term acute care having more in common with stepdown/progressive care than with long term care, or even with med-surg.

D'oh! Why in the world did I include LTAC in there? Even I know that they're different!

My mind must have been on a coffee break when I was typing that :sorry:

NotYourMamasRN · Nov 1, 2016

I think that since they are offering a bonus, they are in desperate need for nurses. They probably do not have the resources to train a new graduate. The add itself is offering a bonus, they want experienced people is my suspicion.

Blackcat99 · Nov 2, 2016

There is no "nursing shortage" so they would prefer to hire experienced nurses. As for "big bonuses" I worked at a job that promised "new people" a big bonus. Unfortunately, every single one of these "new people" never actually received any kind of bonus. They all complained that they were all promised a "big bonus" but it never actually happened that anyone received the bonus.