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.

[mindlor]

Well, Kindred just called me...yes, on a Saturday to offer me the position :)

I accepted. I just cannot leave a firm offer on the table.

Thanks for all the advice guys !!!

[mindlor]

Oh also just to stoke the fires of debate....

The told me that one of the reasons they hired me is that I had no prior healthcare experience and they could mold me their way.....

So take that for what it is worth,.....

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

well....knowing kindred i know what that means.

all stuff aside. i have worked at a kindred as a supervisor that has an icu. yes a real icu......

you may find this thread interesting.....https://allnurses.com/massachusetts-n...664-page2.html

ltac's are a unique combination of very sick patients in a ltc setting. these people are the sickest of the sick and they have had complicated hospital course. a 4:1 ratio may not seem like very much but in an icu setting like kindred.....at time a nightmare. almost always the icu patients at kindred are the failure to weans so you will have 4 vented patients. most will have multiple lines including pa catheter's/swan , including pressors and iv's.

these patients are the icu patients that remain critically ill but have run out of "paid days" on insurance/medicare. you have settled for nothing and i will tell you, you will see a ton of stuff.......everyone else's failure to discharge home. open hearts with complicated post op courses, trauma's with halo traction, many unique disease process with complicated recoveries, open wounds, chest tubes, vac dressings, wound irrigation's. you will give tpn, blood, do labs...your iv skill will make you valuable to them. these patients are mostly full codes and every attempt is made to get them home.....but withe a fraction of the nursing staff in an acute care setting.

hospital administrators need to pull their heads out of their butts and find out what and ltac really is.....other that the place where they dump the financial drain out of their system. i have to humbly admit i was one of them at tone time. i knew the patients were sick but i actually went there as a supervisor to have a "slower pace":uhoh3: i was sorely mistaken. the particular kindred i work for had a reputation too for being as tough place to work.....they are strictly for profit and they are strict about profit. as the super, i spend a ton of time clinically, in the unit(more than other supers) because i felt bad for the staff.

you will gain a ton of experience and at least they do have great orientations. i wish you every bit of good fortune and luck in your new journey. if you have any other questions about and ltac....pm me.:heartbeat

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

Oh and CONGRATLATIONS!!!!! ON THE JOB!!! You will learn an ton!!!! PM me anytime!!!:w00t::cheers:

[mazy]

I worked at Kindred and agree with Esme. I went in as an experienced nurse and had a horrible time there. I probably would have stuck it out, but what convinced me to leave was that they couldn't keep up their census.

So we all often ended up being cancelled off the schedule 2 or three times a month. When you are working twelve hour shifts, that comes to almost an entire paycheck lost in one month. I blew through all my PTO time trying to cover that loss so that by the time I had been there six months I had no PTO time left.

They will say you'll get overtime, but you will probably get last minute calls to come in and you will be scrambling to take them because you've been cancelled so many times and you need to make up for the lost hours. They usually don't give you advance warning of cancellations, so it's very difficult to make up for that lost time with another job.

You'll get lots of experience though, so hopefully you can hang in there.

[yoyo1908]

What part of the country are you in?

[mindlor]

Thank you Esme for the words of encouragement.

Part of the appeal to me is the high accuity of these patients.

I start orientation on 4/23, (I have not even scheduled my NCLX yet, hope I pass first time lol)

Someone asked whaere I am? I am in sunny Florida. Jobs here are hard to come by and thus why I feel very blessed.

[Good Morning, Gil]

Congrats! Sounds like a nice place, and it's a nice bonus that the facility is right on the water :). I'm glad it's a place with good management, too, and many of the nurses have some experience. You will learn a lot there. Best of luck to you!!

[pgnurse79]

I currently work at a Kindred in the midwest area. I was hired in 2008. I was a nurse on days (12hr shifts) for 2 years, before being promoted to case manager in 2010 then I worked that for 2yrs. And just 6 months ago, I resigned from that position and took a nursing position for night shifts.

With that being said, I'll mention the positives and the negatives, but remember this is my experience with one Kindred location.

Positives: If you are looking for experience, you will definitely get it here. It may be tough for a new grad though. Although, I've only been a nurse since 2007, I had already worked at three different hospitals, trying to find my niche. But I digress....Anywho, experience....Complex wound care including negative pressure therapy, trach to vent pts, paraplegics and quads requiring complete care, TPN, gtubes, pscyh pts who are combative....all in one shift! (no joke this was my assignment just a few hrs ago). Next positive: Opportunities to move up within the company. On day I came to work and I was assigned to the ICU, although I am not ACLS certified....how fun! Also, I became a case manager with no experience and almost became the director of the dept. Next positive: For the most part, my co-workers are pretty cool. There is a Kindred family. Next positive: Best hourly rate in my short lived nursing career and OT is plentiful.

Now the negatives: The equipment is VERY outdated and the buildings are old and in dire need of repair. High nurse to pt ratio. 8 pts max for an RN; 10 pts for an LPN. 1% annual salary increase. No match for the 401k. Expensive health insurance. (but they will give you a bag or umbrella with their logo.) And if you take a different position, you will have the same pay. (hourly pays more than salary. With shift differentials for working weekends, nights and OT.. which is not an option with salary.) POLITICS, POLITICS, POLITICS. And is it really safe to have a nurse working in the ICU who is NOT ACLS certified?

That's it in a nutshell. I tried to keep it short. :)

[Guest 360983]

Don't discount the interview you have for a "real" new grad internship. As a new grad, I cannot emphasize enough any support you'll get. I've heard some bad stories about our local Kindreds (tough patients, difficult ratios, lack of support or experienced nurses) but I'm in a different area than you.

[miniangel729]

anyone works at the Kindred hospital in Ontario or Brea, CA?

how are the staffs? working atmosphere, and how is the orientation like for new grad BSN?

[YoungStud]

Anybody working for the Kindred ICU in LA or a Kindred ICU in general? I am a new grad, please PM me because I need 15 posts before I can PM!