Any nurses that have worked hospital AND nursing home?

[manch]

Hi,I am a middle-aged male LPN who has four years experience workinglong-term care and corrections. I currently work in home care andhospice. I am nearly finished with my associate degree in registerednursing.

I've reached a cross-roads in my career where I amcurrently under-employed and cannot find another LPN job (because themarket is saturated in my area). I've seriously considered leavingthe profession, because of what I've seen in the past four years:

1)Long-term care. The workload is setup for nurses to fail and tobe blamed for everything. But it's the system that is the problem,not the nurse. I will not work in this area.

2) Corrections. I was able to "get by" working in thisfield, but I will not work in corrections as an RN because of theridiculous workload they have to handle.

3)Hospice. I cannot findenough steady work because of nurse saturation in this area and thenature of hospice. I'm not too enthused about beating the heck outof my car as an RN case manager. I will not work rotating shifts.

4) Home care. I was surprised to discover that nurses earn about2/3 the money they can make in other areas. And your car takes anabsolute beating. You run the risk of getting robbed, because of thegritty areas you visit. My home care company "whores-up" onnurses. They do this because nurses are so plentiful in the area,like sand pebbles on the beach. The company invests very little inbenefits, which transfers expenses to the employee. Nurses are paidper visit, so the company has no incentive to keep the nurses busy. As a result nurses are sitting around at home doing nothing and notgetting paid. This is not for me.

Iwas wondering how the RN workload compares in a hospital vs. nursinghome vs. clinic setting. When I began nursing, I had no idea therewere so many "crummy" jobs in nursing. So I call on fellownurses to enlighten me on the work load in other areas of nursing. My question is, "Why continue in nursing just to find new areas notto work in?"

Anotherproblem: ADN educated RN's are considered only half a nurse by BSNeducated RN's. When do you say "enough is enough!".

[jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B]

I would say mental health or urgent care. Or in case management at a hospital.

Depending on area, there is a push for a BSN in some arenas. Others not so. Another thought is school nursing.

Best wishes

[NikNak21]

I am a newer RN grad from Minnesota with my ADN and am almost done with my BSN. I worked briefly in nursing home as a CNA otherwise worked long term care but in group homes with only 4 clients so I didn't have a crazy workload. I worked in home health for a year right out of school and got bored with it. I had 3 patients that I worked with every week but only focused on one patient a day, and I felt like it was same thing, different day. In September I got hired at a hospital on an acute rehab unit for 12 hour overnights. Overnights I think is a good place to start for those newer grads who are afraid of having too big of a workload as then it gets quite overwhelming on day shift. The most number of patients that I've had on my unit is 4. Next door to me though is a Skilled Nursing Unit which is where I may begin floating once I am off orientation and they have many more patients. I've seen nurses having 7 patients over there. They do have nursing aides whereas I am total patient care and all alone on my unit. I really love the unit that I am on..but we are always low census and are not allowed to have more than one nurse on the floor therefore someone is always having to float. And as horrible as this sounds I did not get hired to be a float nurse...if I would have wanted to do that I would have applied for a float position. I think that a lot of us newer grads can relate to the "why continue in nursing just to find new areas to not work in?" comment because I have no idea where I want to end up.

[sam1971]

Have you considered OR nursing or PACU? Based on your post, I think these two areas may appeal to you. Also, if your going to get your RN, you should plan on getting your BSN. Otherwise, I think you may have limited options.

[firstinfamily, RN]

I would say that most of us who have been nurses for awhile have not stayed totally in one area. That is the beauty of nursing, you can move around as long as you do not get sterotyped by employers. If you have the opportunity to cross train you should do it. Yes, those who specialize in one area may get the promotions sooner, but they really may not have the broad experience that is being seeked after. I am glad I took time away from acute care to see what else was out there, and at least know that my preferred area is sub-acute nursing. Unfortunately, in the area where I live the sub-acutes are located within LTC, so a sub-acute nurse gets floated to the LTC areas where the demand is so very different. I liked sub acute because the pts were always getting better and going home or returning to ALF, LTC. In LTC it seems the only way out is through the morgue and that is too depressing for me!!!

[wanderlustnurse88, RN]

I currently work both LTC and acute care right now. LTC has taught me time management but I felt like it wasn't learning much in terms of acute medical conditions. Now that I also work in acute care, it gives me the best of both worlds. Also I didn't want to stay in LTC for the rest of the career but still really enjoyed it. Now I feel like I'm more marketable.

[withorwithoutyou]

I was working at a long term care/rehab place while I was an ADN. I was in school at the same time and now I have a BSN. You know the whole time I was at the long-term care facility I wanted to get into the hospital. The reason was that almost everyone said "that is the way to go" so I could later on go into other fields. It was a major mistake man. I know that there are other people who love the hospital setting, but it wasn't for me. The stress, the holding to use the restroom, the short breaks (I prefer not to get a break to finish all of the tasks) however my preceptor insisted that I take a break. I still think about work when I go home. The constant charting. It is a huge mess. I'm quitting before my orientation is over which is one more week. I already know that the stress level will be too much. I already deal with enough stress early in my life so I want to have less stress as much as possible. Some people might not consider you as a real nurse if you don't work in the hospital but who cares as long as you are happy. I made the mistake.

[ktwlpn, LPN]

Hi,I am a middle-aged male LPN who has four years experience workinglong-term care and corrections. I currently work in home care andhospice. I am nearly finished with my associate degree in registerednursing.

I've reached a cross-roads in my career where I amcurrently under-employed and cannot find another LPN job (because themarket is saturated in my area). I've seriously considered leavingthe profession, because of what I've seen in the past four years:

1)Long-term care. The workload is setup for nurses to fail and tobe blamed for everything. But it's the system that is the problem,not the nurse. I will not work in this area.

2) Corrections. I was able to "get by" working in thisfield, but I will not work in corrections as an RN because of theridiculous workload they have to handle.

3)Hospice. I cannot findenough steady work because of nurse saturation in this area and thenature of hospice. I'm not too enthused about beating the heck outof my car as an RN case manager. I will not work rotating shifts.

4) Home care. I was surprised to discover that nurses earn about2/3 the money they can make in other areas. And your car takes anabsolute beating. You run the risk of getting robbed, because of thegritty areas you visit. My home care company "whores-up" onnurses. They do this because nurses are so plentiful in the area,like sand pebbles on the beach. The company invests very little inbenefits, which transfers expenses to the employee. Nurses are paidper visit, so the company has no incentive to keep the nurses busy. As a result nurses are sitting around at home doing nothing and notgetting paid. This is not for me.

Iwas wondering how the RN workload compares in a hospital vs. nursinghome vs. clinic setting. When I began nursing, I had no idea therewere so many "crummy" jobs in nursing. So I call on fellownurses to enlighten me on the work load in other areas of nursing. My question is, "Why continue in nursing just to find new areas notto work in?"

Anotherproblem: ADN educated RN's are considered only half a nurse by BSNeducated RN's. When do you say "enough is enough!".

You have quite a LONG list of "will nots"..... I've worked in a number of settings for several different organizations.Each has it's own mission statement and work culture.You really can't paint them all with same brush and to maintain your own relevance you need to be flexible and adaptable.

Your associates degree will probably not open many more doors for you,especially not into acute care,even our largest local hospice is going all BSN.Patient assignments in acute care vary widely ,I've worked myself half to death in some...others were not so bad.Doctor's offices,clinics all vary as well...Pros and cons for every setting.A conscientious nurse can do fine in LTC ,there are good ones out there.

I'm not sure what you looking for-off shifts might suit you better in the settings you have experienced

[middleagednurse]

I don't care where you work or how many degrees you have, as a nurse, EVERYTHING is your fault. It's part of the culture.

[Nola009]

I am an associate's holding RN and any BSN RN who tells you we are half of what they are is just madbecause we worked for and became NCLEX-RN eligible in around half the time they did. Big- city hospitals may "prefer" BSN holding nurses, but you should be able to find acute care employment in a smaller (less saturated) city or town.Earning a BSN is great, but it's something any nurse can do in around another year, after completing a ASN and passing the NCLEX. In my opinion, work experience is more valuable than which degree you have. So, yeah. Try some applying at outlying hospitals. That's how I went from a new grad inLTC to working acute care. I have 4-5 patients and am just as busy, but it works for me.