Hello everyone! I have been an RN for almost 4 years now. I spent the first three in a large OR in a large hospital in Florida, and the last year in a CVICU. We recently moved from FL to Michigan, and I was hoping to get back into an OR. However, the hospitals nearby were more interested in placing me back in CVICU (which I don't like) and the pay they are offering is pretty lame. As far as the OR goes, since I have been out for over a year, I would need to be re-oriented, and the largest hospital nearby has a semi-annual new nurse orientation that doesnt begin until January. Obviously, I needed a job before then, so I answered an ad for a very well paying position in a LTC. (6.00 more per hour than the CVICU position!)
Well, I started in this LTC facility (never having even done med-surg before, mind you) and I am scared to death most nights! I knew what I was in for, but I didn't realize all the potential for error that exists in LTC! Polypharmacy notwithstanding-- there is no system in place for identifying residents. (they don't wear armbands) and I have to ask the CNA's who is who! The other nurses tell me that they just get to recognize the residents with time, but for now, I am flippin out! Not only that, but they keep floating me all over the floors, so that when I do begin to become familiar with some of the residents, I have to start all over again, and my med passes take three and a half hours! I feel like a crummy nurse, and am beginning to worry about making med errors due to all the distractions during med pass. (dementia patients, staff, and families). Not to mention that there is no easy system in place for identifying the pts who are DNR or Full code. I was shocked to find that there is no crash cart here, and in fact only one ambu bag per floor. Is this the norm? Supplies are short as well. Things like tissues are hard to come by, denture cups are a rarity, and I am so spoiled from the hospitals I feel like I am now in a third world country.
I was on one floor for a full week, seeing the same pts every day, and I was starting to get to know them, and even to get a little attached to them. Then-- WHAM I am on another floor, and the next day another. Never getting back to the floor I was getting comfortable with.
I am also worried about losing some of my clinical skills. We don't start IV's, in fact none of our pts have any kinds of lines. I am wondering if I will ever be able to get back into the hospital after being in LTC for 6 months (which it will be by the time I am able to re-orient to the OR program).
In case you are wondering, I only left the OR because I want to go to CRNA school, in which you need one year ICU experience. Now, due to financial reasons, that is not going to happen.
Has anyone successfully gone from LTC back to the hospitals? Thanks!
