Do acute care nurses look down on LTC nurses

LPNweezy · Mar 28, 2011

I have no idea, but i am a LTC nurse and i'm very proud of what i do. I make the job no one wants to do-fun. And I am very competent as well. :) Stigmas suck. mean people suck.

General E. Speaking, RN, RN · Mar 28, 2011

Nope. LTC is a different world. If anything, I think you have to be even more creative with your critical thinking skills because of lack of resources (equipment, access to doctors, etc...)

MouseMichelle · Mar 28, 2011

Thankyou for your feedback so much. Yes we have to really concentrate and have our priorities. I had once an acute care nurse come to LTC and first she was amazed at what patients we had to deal with, the amount of patients, the meds we had to give out etc. I was talking to a ST who said she admired LTC nurses because she saw one time a acute care nurse not knowing how to give breathing treatments. It's a different enviroment. Yes we are good nurses, yes some of us suck but for the most part we are very good nurses.

Also whenever we have a patient return from acute they have SO many skin issues that then we have to deal with.

mazy · Mar 28, 2011

I don't know. I see a lot of posts on this site, especially from new grads, who say things like "I've put out hundreds of applications and I'm so desperate I'm even starting to consider LTC." Or that they refuse to even consider LTC, or that will hospitals hire me if I've only worked in LTC.

So yeah, I think a lot of nurses do look down on it, not going to generalize and say all of them, but there are plenty.

Tina, RN · Mar 28, 2011

Personally, I have a lot of respect for LTC nurses.

I worked acute care right out of school. After a couple years, I took a job at a LTC facility, for a change. Foolishly, I thought it would be "easier". I was wrong, wrong, wrong! I was on a dementia/Alzheimer's unit. The residents were very challenging. There was never enough help. The med passes took forever. And as someone else mentioned, there are a lot less resources in an emergency situation. You really need to have the ability to "think on your feet". I was very grateful to have some fantastic LPNs on my unit, to help me. I only lasted a few months, then went back to acute care.

caliotter3 · Mar 28, 2011

Other nurses are probably too busy with their own job or with their job hunt to be concerned. If anything, they are probably happy that anyone working in another area is not competition for them in the job market.

Trauma Columnist · Mar 28, 2011

I think any EMPLOYED nurse is lucky. Doing whatever pays the bills is fine.

Different kinds of nursing for different types of people.

CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN · Mar 28, 2011

I used to wonder or worry about the same thing, but you know what...I don't care anymore. I know that I do a darned good job, love what I do, am constantly learning and growing as a nurse (even after 13 yrs in LTC) am well respected and make a darn good penny to boot!

Nursing is nursing is nursing. If we all worked in the hospital who would take care of everyone else?

tiroka03, LPN · Mar 28, 2011

We have two sides to our facility, acute care and LTC, I work on both sides. So, if I looked down on LTC, I would have to look down on myself. As far as nursing goes, Acute Care is harder than Hospital nursing. But, LTC is harder still. If I were a nurse starting out, - I would do so in a hospital. Hardly any patients and plenty of supplies. Then I would go to acute care and have 3 to 5 times the amount of hospital patients, and very limited supplies. Then I would go to LTC where you are looking at a whooping 60 pts, and a lot of those acute pts, and no supplies, just the ingenuity of you and your staff.

Dazglue, ADN, BSN, MSN, RN · Mar 28, 2011

I don't. LTC nursing is not for everybody! And vice versa!

MouseMichelle · Mar 28, 2011

Personally, I have a lot of respect for LTC nurses.
I worked acute care right out of school. After a couple years, I took a job at a LTC facility, for a change. Foolishly, I thought it would be "easier". I was wrong, wrong, wrong! I was on a dementia/Alzheimer's unit. The residents were very challenging. There was never enough help. The med passes took forever. And as someone else mentioned, there are a lot less resources in an emergency situation. You really need to have the ability to "think on your feet". I was very grateful to have some fantastic LPNs on my unit, to help me. I only lasted a few months, then went back to acute care.

Thankyou thankyou thankyou for this reply. It is very hard in LTC, and you have to be on your feet to be a good LTC nurse