Office nurse or LTC?

ctnurse84 · Aug 22, 2012

I'm also an office nurse. I love it but do feel my skills may get a little rusty. I like the schedule though. I work some weekends but off on holidays and evenings. I couldn't imagine being away from my family on holidays or missing family functions. But I do miss hands on patient care. Now I do mostly injections and talking to patients via phone.

shamrokks, ADN, ASN, RN · Aug 22, 2012

I'm in a similar situation. I work for a Dr's office as well. This is the only LPN position I have had. The doctors are great, pay is decent, other than time off the benefits suck. My job is very easy but I also worry that I will lose my skills I learned in my Lpn program. Its hard to give up the great schedule and easy job but I know this probably isn't the best position to enhance my nursing career.

JailRN · Aug 23, 2012

I wouldn't compromise my values for any price. If the MD's aren't docs that you would go to and take your family to, I wouldn't work for them. It's not worth putting your license at risk.

wsp4905 · Aug 23, 2012

I have been working LTC for two years...I'm now searching to get out of it. With all the medicare/ medicaid changes, they are going cheaper on supplies, adding way more to our work load, still expect us to take our breaks and get out on time. It does not happen that way. Responsible for 18 ( subacute)- 30 ( LTC) patients, depending what hall I'm own. And not all of them are stable, and if they are stable, they are still very complex, many co-morbidities. Lots of meds, sometimes I feel like a gloried pill dispenser, and then I have treatments, skin checks, supervise cnas, deal with families a lot. It is very stressful.

On the positive side I enjoy my little old geriatric residents and have grown close to them. And it is hard when they decline and pass on.

Good luck with your decision.

AngelicDarkness · Sep 4, 2012

If you're getting stressed over the ownership and doctors, probably a safe route to get out of there. I wasn't happy with my previous employment and as much as it hurt to leave, I found a better one in a RH/LTC that is a lot less stressful. We nurses have to think of our mental health too:)

LTCNS, LPN · Sep 15, 2012

I am a LPN with 16 years experience, 14 of those years being as a MDS Nurse. While I enjoyed the Mon-Fri. 8am-4:30pm, weekends and holidays off schedule, I found myself getting terribly burned out and exhausted, and just plain sick of the office politics, the cliques, the backstabbing and drama. When MDS 3.0 came about, federal regulations changed significantly and I was stressed and in tears daily, dreading going to work every single day. Now the thing about me is that I have always enjoyed working in LTC. Have done nothing but LTC my entire career. I love being out where the action is and love working with the elderly. LTC work is not for everybody and most definitely has it's challenges, but it's what I like to do.

With that said, I was just hired for a 3-11 position in a very nice LTC facility and am looking forward to it. I will actually be making more money than I made as a Department Head and will have better benefits. My boys are men now and out of the house so I can be very flexible. I look forward to being on the floor and interacting with elders and staff and being away from those four walls day in and day out. Will I miss every weekend off and all holidays off? Sure! But most LTC facilities here in MS only recognize 5 or 6 holidays per year anyway so it's no big deal, plus they rotate holidays so I won't work every single holiday. I look forward to having days off during the week so I can actually get things done that are impossible to do working in an office without having to take off early or miss an entire day of work.

For me, at this point in my life, office work is no longer appealing whatsoever. I'm not saying I will never go back to an office job, but right now I am doing exactly what I have wanted to do for some time now, and that is to get out of the office and back on the floor.

OP, good luck to you in whatever decision you make and in your future endeavors!

Midwest4me · Sep 16, 2012

I've been a nurse for over 27 years; most of that time was in LTC, some in a medical office, last 8 years in mental health. If I were you, I'd stay put in the medical office. Medical office basically has banking hours, weekends off, holidays off, no night shifts, etc. EVERY job has its pros and cons but the office job was my absolute favorite. Unfortunately, I left it for more money in LTC; wish I'd never done that. LTC was the hardest specialty in which I worked! No breaks, rushed when had to use the bathroom, no lunch and ALWAYS left late because of time constraints. For ME, LTC was the least rewarding because I just did NOT have the time I wanted to have to spend with the patients on a 1:1 basis, I was constantly running doing nursing tasks as well as assisting CNAs.BUT you have to do what is best for you; just know this: it's not always easy to return once you leave! Good luck with your decision.

HippyDippyLPN · Sep 16, 2012

Well since I just left LTC (forever I might add) to go to a MD's office, I say stay put in the office and start applying at other practices. The difference in my stress level is amazing now that I left LTC. I have stable hours, benefits, etc. I actually get a lunch break which was a foreign concept in LTC, I was lucky if I got to use the restroom during a shift. I would suggest working more PRN hours in LTC to see if this what you really want. It will be a very different change but maybe it will be one you excel at and enjoy but defintely test the waters first!