I'm in an RN to BSN program (only two semesters left) with the intention of going to graduate school to become a nurse practitioner.
I have a husband and four children to support, and amazingly, working four days a week making $25/hr we are able to scrape by in spite of a $900 per month mortgage (and the numerous expenses associated with it, house is on the market, BTW.)
Anyway...
the problem is that I work in a low skill, intermediate care nursing home and with the exception of private duty and an 8 month stint in home health, I have worked in this nursing home as long as I have been a nurse (8 yrs.)
I know I haven't done myself any favors careerwise but I felt I have done the best I can under the circumstances.
Everyone knows you get skills in a hospital. In fact, people act like it is some kind of defect to work in a nursing home. I'm fairly comfortable but feel very unchallenged at my job. But it fits in well with my school schedule right now.
Do I sacrifice convenience and take a hospital job even though it will complicate everything and risk it affecting my studies or stay at this nursing home job where I am not gaining any kind of real clinical experience?
I would personally stick with your job that pays well enough, and allows the flexibility you need for school.
I do believe however that a solid set of nursing skills and judgment is crucial to practice as an NP. While you may need to brush up on your acute care skills before clinicals start, you should be fine.
You may want to verify, however, if the grad school you want takes NH experience. A lot of schools require a year or two of acute care exp for admission.
I understand exactly how you feel. I have been working in a nursing home since graduating w/an associate degree. I am also working toward a bachelor and hopefully become a NP. I know that even though I enjoy my job, i feel like I shorted myself on skills.
I agree the transferring from chronic care to acute care would be a great learning experience. But I guess you first have to decide what sort of NP do you want to be? FNP? ANP? GNP?
The one thing that working in a hospital does is expose you to all sort of acute issues and more importantly the acute course of treatment.
How comfortable are you will cardiac patients? If you plan on working as an NP with adults in an primary or acute care setting then it is worth your time and inconvenience to get experience working on a telemetry unit where they deal regularly with acute cardiac conditions. Remember that heart disease is still the number one killer for both men and women in the US.
The ER is another good place to work for learning how to quickly triage, assess, and treat all patients - cradle to grave. Now that I say that maybe I should look into ER again ....
It never hurts to broaden your practical experience -- all it will do is help. And if nothing else you learn what type of patients you enjoy taking care of (or not).
As you know I am also considering the NP route. I am currently working on a CV step down unit and interviewing for ICU positions - in an effort to relearn lost skills and learn new ones (I haven't worked ICU for several years). I believe that this will only make me a more well rounded nurse because of the diversity of patients that I will be exposed too.
I don't know, they kept telling me, "oh, so you're basically a new grad."
Well, excuse me. Most of the patients in a hospital are old, aren't they?
This woman told me to go take an RN refresher course. I think that it is always good to learn more but I was insulted at that.
I would have been insulted also. Doesnt sound like it would be worth the change, at least at this point in time. One advantage of your current job is at least you know what your current schedule is. In most hospitals, esp mine, there is very little choice in shifts , etc, and this might not work with your current schedule.Maybe you should speak with someone in the nursing dept of your intended NP school and ask them if you need acute care experience. what type of NP do you want to be?
That recruiter sounds like an a... The more I think of that convo you had , the more mad i get. You've been an RN for how long??You have plenty of experience- especially assessment skills to bring with you, esp regarding the geriatric population.How can they call you a new grad. how absolutely insulting. I wouldnt want to work for them. Guess they must not be having too much of a shortage there then. Imagine being a pt- who would you want caring for you - the new grad who knows NOTHING, or the RN with exp in LTC.
I don't know, they kept telling me, "oh, so you're basically a new grad."
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What a horrible thing to say!!! Insane! I bet if you took a nurse who has spent his/her entire career in a hospital, there would be plenty for them to adjust to in LTC.
What others have said is right on the money - start trying to get a feel for what kind of NP focus you want to have. If it's at all feasable for your schedule and stress level, and you think you might want to broaden your experience, go for it. ...maybe not at the hospital where you talked to that recruiter though...is there another one in your area? It would be nice experience as far as maybe sharpening your critical thinking skills - not that you don't do that in LTC, but I think there are more frequent fires to put out in the hospital. I hope that comes across the way I mean it, because I'm not trying to take anything away from LTC nurses - you guys are just as important as the rest of us, be it in the hspital, MD office, clinic, etc. But do you know what I mean? You might have 3 pt's with funky labs, one just coming back from surgery, one with lots of IV atbs, etc. It would be a good way to get familiar with new drugs and stuff too, because with the rapid inpt turnover, you do get a lot wider variety of pts. Anyway, I hope I'm making sense. I'm about to pass out from hunger, haha! Time to eat!!!!! Good luck with whatever you decide to do! Oh and also, I forgot to ask - do you plan to take time off between the BSN program and NP school? Because if you do, transitioning to a new job might just be a great way to bridge the gap!
SteveNNP, MSN, NP
1 Article; 2,512 Posts
I don't think you need a refresher.....
I would personally stick with your job that pays well enough, and allows the flexibility you need for school.
I do believe however that a solid set of nursing skills and judgment is crucial to practice as an NP. While you may need to brush up on your acute care skills before clinicals start, you should be fine.
You may want to verify, however, if the grad school you want takes NH experience. A lot of schools require a year or two of acute care exp for admission.
Best of luck!