Anyone familiar with Kindred (LTAC)

[mindlor]

So,

I am a new grad. NCLEX pending. I have interviewed with these folks and thus far I really like what I hear and see. Patients are complex, most everyone has a PEG, VENT, CVAD. Most have glasgow scores ranging from 3-8. Most are TOTAL care. Many have pressure ulcers and multiple comorbidities.......

Seems like it would be a hard job, but it also seems like I would learn a lot. Overtime seems plentiful. No pyxis though, narcs are all the old fashioned way....

They have an ICU and said that if I get my ACLS, which I will get on 5/20...they will put me into their critical care training program......

So, I am just looking for opinions/guidance. Another questions is, would working with these types of patients be considered criticalcare experience for say the purpose of getting in to CRNA school?

Thanks in advance.

[Altra, BSN, RN]

You will learn tremendously with this patient population. However, at some point you will need to work in an acute care ICU, the higher acuity the better, in order to be a competitive candidate for anesthesia school.

[mindlor]

Thank you Altra :)

[Good Morning, Gil]

Agree with Altra. I'm confused, though. Kindred's LTAC has an ICU? Is it connected with the main hospital that has an ICU? You will get valuable experience there as a new nurse.

The...."overtime is plentiful" is somewhat concerning lol. Why is it that they can't keep people or do they just choose to staff short-handed? Either way, it will be a good experience (by good, I don't mean ideal if they're short-staffed, but non-ideal jobs make you appreciate the good ones you have or will have after you move onto a more ideal job lol); many of the ICU nurses I work with came from LTAC. I came from a place that also had lots of OT before I started in the ICU, and it ended up working well as I could work as much or as little OT as I wanted (not mandatory). Also, I would make sure it's not mandatory OT :).

I have heard of Kindred, but don't have them near me currently. I'm assuming it probably varies from hospital to hospital depending on the individual management. I would ask someone you know and/or someone that's had family in that hospital how they feel about it. Best of luck!

[tokidoki7, ASN, RN]

I don't know much about Kindred but I did have an interview there a while back. I was introduced to the nurses on the unit I was applying to work on and I was surprised that all of the nurses were young, like early to mid-20s. There's nothing wrong with that, but where were the older, experienced nurses? And Kindred's tuiton assistance was unbelievably wack. It would still be a good place to learn though.

[MomRN0913]

I interviewed as a nursing supervisor for a kindred once. i know some people who worked there.

I guess it depends which one. This one was a very heavy patient load with nurses going at eachothers throats.

I managed an LTAC. Yes, they can be very critical patients, and heavy patients. I would check your nurse to patient ratio and ot see if they have an acuity rating system.

Their Glascow scale is intersting. There are walkie-talkies......

But no, those hours in the ICU section do not go towards your CCRN. Really their ICU section is a better ratio, not an actual ICU. You can get patients coding and on drips though.

Another thing to be sure of is to feel out if there is a good ratio of expierenced nurses, to non experienced. You say they all seem in their 20's...... The one I managed was mostly new grads (eeeeekkkk) and was a little chaotic.

All in all, it's a good opportunity as a new grad.

[KateRN1]

You're a new grad. Take what you can get. LTACH is just about the best possible experience a new grad can get, IMHO.

[mindlor]

Oh wow cool :)

[mindlor]

But anyway, yes his facility haas a seperate ICU where those pts have a-lines, monitors the whole shabang. I guess the pts come from gen pop and go to ICU as they are circling the drain......

At this facility the management team seems to be outstanding. The nurses that I met during my shadowing experience had been there an avg of 3-5 years with a total experience of around 10 years.

The nurses that I worked with were extraordinarily nice and the level of team work on the floor between RT, CNA's and RNs seemed really really excellent.

I have basically fallen in love with the place. Plus, it is right on the water and is just gorgeous.......

By their own admission they have a difficult time keeping CNA's as all of the CNA work is TOTAL care......CNA's rightfully prefer mainly walkie talkies lol.....

I also have a chance at a new grad residency program at a majot not for profit chain here in the area. I should hear back from them next week.

My mind set is to take the first firm offer that comes.....I dont think I can stomach leaving an offer on the table......

[Kyrshamarks, BSN, RN]

PM me...I work in a Kindred ICU

[beeker]

The Kindred near me has terrible reputation of understaffing and huge patient loads. They hire almost exclusively new grads (in an area where new grad jobs are hard to come by) and burn through them rather quickly. A few of my schoolmates (from the year ahead of me) did it, they all learned a lot, but none stayed longer than 6 months.

I would see if you can find anyone who has worked at the one you are looking at. I am sure some are better than others. If it were my only job offer as a new grad, I'd probably give it a shot.

[mindlor]

Tell me if I am wrong but from what I can gather, "heavy" patients, and demanding patient loads are the norm in most facilities these days?