Do acute care hospitals in CA consider LTAC experience to be acute care experience?

U.S.A. California

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Hello! I graduated in June 2019 with BSN, RN in Philadelphia, and moved to Berkeley, California a year ago after getting married. I got licensed in California in November 2019, but have struggled to find a hospital job ever since. I graduated with a good GPA and internship at a magnet hospital, so had hope that I would find something as long as I tried and waited patiently. I applied as far as Los Angeles, and only offer I got was a Kindred Hospital, LA for 2 years contract RN residency program. However, I read a lot of negative reviews of the facility and one comment says that hospitals in CA don't even consider RN experience at a kindred hospital because of its bad reputation. I read some posts on allnurses regarding a transition from a LTAC hospital to a regular hospital- some say LTAC is an acute care experience and it helps a lot to transition to a regular hospital but some say hospitals don't consider LTAC to be acute care experience and rule you out immediately from the applicants. Can I please have an opinion on this? I was hoping to apply to a bigger hospital in CA after getting the experience at Kindred, but I am afraid that I will never be able to get a job at a bigger hospital later even with 2 years experience at Kindred. I would have to sacrifice a lot to work at Kindred (having to do long distance with my husband, live with my in-laws in LA, get low pay..) and I am not sure if it is worth taking the offer to build up my resume for the future. At the same time, I am afraid that I will never be able to work at a hospital if I miss this opportunity.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. I would really appreciate your input!:)

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Specializes in Tele, ICU, Staff Development.

I live in California and it's not a "Kindred-or-nothing" situation for new grads. New grads who live in the high-paying and competitive Bay Area apply in Central CA to land their first acute care jobs and gain experience.

If you did indeed apply to all major hospitals in central CA and received zero bites, your resume and cover letter are failing you. I strongly recommend you read my book, Your-Last-Nursing-Class, revise your resume and cover letter and put all the outlined strategies into action. You must learn how to target each organization individually in your resume and cover letter, capture their attention immediately, know how to leverage ATS software, and much more to stand out and land that all-important interview.

New grad status is what qualifies you for a residency position, but   unfortunately, your new grad status expired June 2020.

Now your status is neither new grad nor an experienced nurse.

The question is what to do now. You have to seriously hustle and land your first  job because the clock is ticking. Career-wise, you can't afford to be unemployed much longer. At this point, acute care is unlikely. Get a job in sub-acute, whether it's SNF or LTAC , and keep the job for 1-2 years. From there you can apply to acute care. You will learn a great deal, including time management.

Honestly, whether you make the leap from subacute to acute is largely up to you. Your determination, your presentation, your perseverance, your dreams.

Here's some articles to help you:

Best wishes,

Nurse Beth

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Specializes in RN new grad with ER tech experience.

I am going to follow this thread because I have the same dilemma. I graduated on December 2019 from a well-known university, did my senior practicum in a magnet hospital and worked as an ED tech for 7 years, and I moved here in California to get married and since March I am still unemployed. Getting in the residency program in California is very competitive and am considering applying to LTAC or subacute to gain experience. But even then, these facilities are not hiring at the moment. 

I wish you all the best and update this thread if you get accepted in the hospital. 

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Specializes in Tele, ICU, Staff Development.
3 minutes ago, KenzoRN said:

I am going to follow this thread because I have the same dilemma. I graduated on December 2019 from a well-known university, did my senior practicum in a magnet hospital and worked as an ED tech for 7 years, and I moved here in California to get married and since March I am still unemployed. Getting in the residency program in California is very competitive and am considering applying to LTAC or subacute to gain experience. But even then, these facilities are not hiring at the moment. 

 

I really hope you land a job soon and be sure and read the articles above for tips. Best wishes

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Hi, I graduated Dec 2019 with a ADN from VA and moved to CA. I got licensed here 9/8 with only 6 months Med/surge tele experience. Since 9/8, I’ve had 3 interviews with 1 being already filled, I managed to get an offer from SNF and Acute Care hospital. I didn’t have a cover letter. Try indeed and especially Glassdoor for job openings then go to the company site to apply.

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Specializes in RN new grad with ER tech experience.
On 9/23/2020 at 2:30 AM, Maly said:

Hi, I graduated Dec 2019 with a ADN from VA and moved to CA. I got licensed here 9/8 with only 6 months Med/surge tele experience. Since 9/8, I’ve had 3 interviews with 1 being already filled, I managed to get an offer from SNF and Acute Care hospital. I didn’t have a cover letter. Try indeed and especially Glassdoor for job openings then go to the company site to apply.

Hi. May I know which part of California you moved? I am in Northern California. And I had a few interviews from acute hospitals and was rejected from all of it because of no RN experience. I am currently working in a SNF gaining RN experience and was hired through indeed. ?

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