ACNPC-AG in a nursing home (new grad)

[LTmurse78]

I am a new grad NP. Having a hard time finding a job. If i take a nursing home position, How easy is it to move back into hospital setting as an NP?

[Corey Narry, MSN, RN, NP]

Sometimes you just have to take what's available. As far as being able to transition out to a more high acuity specialty, it would depend on how long you've been in a specific role. I started out at a low acuity specialty myself fresh out of school, stayed in it for over a year then found a Critical Care NP position somewhere else. I've been in Critical Care for over 15 years now and at this point, it could be a hard sell for me to try to transition to a low acuity setting like LTC if I tried to.

[KatieMI, BSN, MSN, RN]

SNF is, actually, not a bad place to start, especially if you do not have much previous experience. You'll learn how to manage simple bread-and-butter things in the environment of limited diagnostic options. You'll hone your physical assessment skills. You will start seeing the beginnings of the serious problems and how to sort them out of routine. You'll feel what working with many common drugs is like.

In addition to this, you are almost guaranteed the whole way more independence than ever in acute care. Plus, after you get into the job, your working hours are very likely going to be flexible.

SNFs is not everybody's cup of tea (definitely not mine, for that matter), but it is work experience and a learning opportunity. It is always good to get feet wet on the other side and see how strangely things can look like from there.