your 2cents please

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Hi all,

I have a dilemma, and I'm hoping to get some points of view from the been there done that crowd...

Background is I'm a fairly new RN grad from a 2step college, LPN first year, RN the second. This summer before taking RN boards, I temped for a few months at a LTC/Rehab facility...it was busy busy busy, the patient load was overwhelming and the orientation consisted of about 2 whole days, not all in one chunk....BUT...I loved the residents, the other nurses, the management and the ancillary staff and the atmosphere, and I was getting a handle on the routine.

Fast forward several months after passing boards and being hired for a med/surg floor in a hospital. I'm still in orientation and things are coming together fairly fast, but I really do not like the 12 hour shifts, the feeling of being trapped on the floor, and the fact that just as I'm coming to know the patients and their needs...poof they're gone home. Add to all this I'm supposed to flip to nights soon, which I do not want to do...thought I could handle it but my personal life has changed and I'm a single mom...and I've got a problem. Every day I think about the LTC and the people and wish I was back there, or somewhere in a LTC.

What I would like to do is go get a job in a LTC...I don't think I'm cut out to be a hospital nurse, and I know that my mom responsibilities and home life would be better off if I do go to LTC/Rehab, the money is about the same or more, and there are lots of opportunities for advancing.

What do you experts think? good move? bad move? Stuff to think of that I haven't thought of? Also...I'm still in school, taking psych classes while researching nursing schools for a MSN, so a 3-11, 2-1030pm would be great for the next year or so...

Thanks so much in advance!

moonjumper RN

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Your post sounds like you have given this a good deal of thought and you have a handle on it. If you prefer to work in the stable atmosphere of a LTC facility, then go ahead. Nothing wrong with that. But you might get pigeonholed there and might also lose some of your ability to deal with fast pace situations. If you can see yourself staying in the LTC area then that is ok. But if you want to maintain your skills and/or your ability to go elsewhere at will, then you might consider a PRN or part time position at the hospital. Good luck with your decision.

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Go where your heart leads. And it sounds like LTC.

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Specializes in LTC.

Wow, for a minute I thought I was reading about myself! I just started a med-surg job from LTC and the difference is palpable. The 12 hr shifts, the in and out pts, the acuity of the pts is so far removed from LTC. While I am still a new nurse (1 yr on the 27th of this month :D) I feel like a brand spanking new nurse in med-surg. I daily, sometimes hourly second-guess my decision to be here. I miss the chaos of LTC, of knowing my resident's and their families as well as my own, of the family-like camaraderie with staff. In med-surg I feel alone, inadequate, and I'm scared of the responsibility I now shoulder. That being said, there is nowhere else I, as a LPN, could find a job that offers the level of training and experience that utilizes every skill I have plus teaches me more and more every day. I chose to go med-surg to become a better nurse, to develop critical thinking skills so that I can make sound decisions for my pts. I do have plenty of people who are bending over backwards to make sure I'm trained well, and everyone (so far) is approachable when I have a question. I know that LTC will always be there, so if it ever gets to where I can't stand it anymore, I can always go back. But for now, the experiences I'm getting are invaluable to me as a nurse. I'm still in orientation and going to nights at the end of December. I know just how you're feeling. I don't have the answer, either. Just please know you're not alone. I'm going to stay for the experience, for awhile anyway. I also plan to go back to school next fall, so I don't know if this will work out then, either. I just know I have to show up to work tomorrow, and I'll go from there. Good luck, and hang in there, wherever "there" is.

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

I agree with suescuatch.

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Specializes in Rehab, Med Surg, Home Care.

You might consider acute rehab for the best of both worlds. Patients will stay on the unit long enough for you to get to know them somewhat. The pace will still be hectic, but not as disjointed as med-surg, and you will get to keep up most of your nursing skills.

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Specializes in Peds Critical Care, Dialysis, General.

I agree with Suesquatch. Your heart is telling you where you belong. You just need to listen to you heart. :heartbeat

And many blessing to you for your passion for LTC. They really need people like you in LTC:bowingpur

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Specializes in acute care and geriatric.

Where I work you can take an unpaid leave for a few months and try LTC to see if you like it better or if its more suited for your needs at the present. At the end of the unpaid leave you can decide.

There you go - have your cake and eat it too.

In truth there is much to be said about getting good experience in a Med- Surg setting but if you hate it....

The best thing aobut nursing is the options- so take advantage.

My advice though is to find the best place with the highest level of care that you can find and join their staff so you can learn from them.

There are pro's and con's to everything- whatever you do will be the right decision

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Hello...

Calliotter3, Suesquatch, bluegeegoo2, Jess1983, Chaya, WarEagle4Life and achot chavi...a million thank you's for your replies...

To clarify, the place I worked this summer was a rehab as well as LTC, and I worked the rehab side...g-tubes, trachs, you name it, they had it. The places I'm considering are also rehab type places with all those things as well.

There were several suggestions in your posts that I will follow up on.

I don't really know much, but I do know this...life is short, and there needs to be a balance...maybe I should start doing something that improves my WHOLE life, and not just hang in somewhere that I can't stand because it will look good on my resume...

having my cake and eating it too...I like the sound of that.

Mucho Gracias fellow Nurses!

Moonjumper, RN

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Do what you love, love what you do.

:)

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Specializes in LTC, Med/Surg, Peds, ICU, Tele.

Definately go for LTC!!! It's a great career and like you say, you really get to know your residents.

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