Career Path- LTC worth it?

[HopefulRN7]

I'm not in any way putting down LTC nurses, let me first make that clear. It's just not my cup of tea. I started out in LTC (non-nursing) and have a huge amount of respect for you guys.

Here's my dilemma: I work in private duty Peds and I'm feeling pretty stagnant. I LOVE the pediatric population and know this is my niche but I need a challenge. My plan is to apply to a Children's Hospital once I transition into the RN role, however I only have home care experience and experience working at a family practice. I'm hoping the autonomy counts for something for the home care experience but my question is whether hospitals will want to see some facility experience (being able to prioritize pt care, be a part of a team, etc...)

I interviewed with 3 LTC centers and received offers from all three. I am heartbroken to think of leaving my Pedis, however if it will improve my knowledge base (even though it's a different population) and look more favorable on my resume I will make the move.

I feel very fortunate to have so many options and I'm not complaining by any means, just looking for guidance from anyone out there that has gone down a better path or has some good advice.

Thanks in advance!

[Adele_Michal7, ASN, RN]

I would say it's worth it. Your skills will languish in PD

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

If you love the pediatric population, I do not think you'll be happy working with a patient load of 30+ chronically ill adult residents in long term care.

The time management skills, documentation requirements, myriad of different medications and basic procedures will provide amazing opportunities upon which you can learn. However, I suspect you'll be very disillusioned in that environment.

This is coming from someone who spent the first six years of her nursing career in LTC. Since I dislike children and peds, I enjoyed LTC for a time period. However, the LTC industry has changed for the worse due to dwindling reimbursement rates.

[HopefulRN7]

This is coming from someone who spent the first six years of her nursing career in LTC. Since I dislike children and peds, I enjoyed LTC for a time period. However, the LTC industry has changed for the worse due to dwindling reimbursement rates.

That is one of the biggest concerns for me. I would also be taking a pay cut as well.

I also received an offer from an ALF in NH- from what I understand we as nurses are able to do much more in this state like administer meds (not hand over hand like in other states) run diagnostic tests (UA, glucose checks, etc...) than at ALF's in other states so I would essentially be doing some of the same type of work as a LTC center but working with obviously a more independent population and a more favorable nurse to pt ratio (1:14). Any thoughts on ALF nursing?