how can a nursing home nurse get into a hospital job?

[RN2783]

I just need to vent, and maybe ask the wonderful nurses here at AN any ideas as to how I can obtain my goal, that is, to get into a hospital job. I have been working as a nursing home nurse for two years now and have been sending out resumes trying to get into a hospital job, but with no luck. At this point, I am very discouraged. I am tempted to move out of state already just so I could get into a hospital job somewhere else as I found that it is very hard to land on one here in the state of California, particulary in the bay area. My problem is that my husband's job is here and we cannot just up and leave. Also, I am pregnant and on the way to starting a family, which is why I am determined more than ever to get into a hospital job as the pay would be higher and we could use all the financial resources that we can find. But I get rejection letters everytime and it's eating at me already, pushing me down. Any ideas on how a nursing home nurse can get into a hospital job? Thanks.

[NaKcl, BSN, RN]

"..in some area in the hospital, when census is short, staff gets cut. I have never heard of a LTC nurses being cut due to census."

good point!

[BloodyMedic]

I recently graduated from a Medic-RN transition program and our instructors (2 Masters, 1 PhD) told us that working in a nursing home, at least in this area, in career suicide. They basically said that nurses around here work in nursing homes because they either A. Are druggies or B. Can't get a job anywhere else. Part of me believes that is quite unfair to say, but the other part has run calls at these nursing homes and the caliber of people they had as well as the care they provided was ATROCIOUS. I've responded to numerous calls where the nurses on staff were clueless. I got called out one night for a lethargic pt at the local nursing home, when we get there they have her on a simple mask at 2 (yes they did) and the lady was deader than a hammer. And that's one of the least insane stories about these nursing homes.

Now on the flip side, when I responded to Katrina and Rita I saw some nursing homes that were outstanding. Hell, I wanted to move in! But around here being a nursing home nurse is largely associated with being bottom of the barrel.

I know that's not true everywhere but its exceptionally hard to get on anywhere here after you've worked at a nursing home. I've been told that lots of nurses just leave it off their apps.

[adoglover]

I have two relatives that are nurses who prefer the LTC setting. One has an associates in nursing, and one with the BSN. They both hold nice positions within the LTC facility. One is an ADON and the other one is a Infection Control Nurse. They both love the hours, and they are compensated really well.

[FLmomof5]

"..in some area in the hospital, when census is short, staff gets cut. I have never heard of a LTC nurses being cut due to census."

good point!

In the facility I just left, they did cut nurse hours due to census. It was really horrible....insomuchas the MSU (acute/subacute) side had a low census and the LTC side was down to 56 of 60 beds. They cut one of 4 nurses...and the LTC nurses had to split their time on both sides of the house....split med carts...etc. Nuts!

[LPNnowRN]

FLmomof5 sounds like my facility right now! Then we get eight new admits and staffing hasn't changed, no charge nurse, ect...I got a new job, start in a few days.

[katiebug83]

I was an LPN who worked in LTC and went back to school for my RN. It was really difficult to get my foot in the door in a hospital and my only advice is to keep putting in applications and call and email the recruiters. Big hospitals usually have recruiters and if you bug them enough they will talk someone into giving you an interview. I ended up at an LTAC, and if you want some good experience try one of those. The work is hard so they usually have a higher turnover rate and might be more likely to higher you. I wish you luck!