Which to choose?

[Kylea]

I am an LPN currently working at the VA. My husband and I recently moved approx 30 minutes away from the hospital I work in for 'mental health' reasons. (we needed to be not next door to work anymore, and our neighborhood was HORRIBLE!) Anyway, I am working LTC/hospice now, which is something I always said I didn't want to do. The VA will not hire me on med/surg without at least four years experience. I have two and a half. Since we decided to move, I put in applications at the two hospitals closer to my new home and haven't heard from them. The applications were put in about two months ago. I tried calling and following up, but the HR has a menu and it says something along the lines of "If we are interested we will call you. If you don't hear from us in two weeks assume we aren't interested." So I assume they aren't interested.

I worked in Surgical Acute for two years before we moved to this state in Januaury. I know that when I finish my RN, I will be moving on to something more acute than LTC/hospice.

My question is this. Do I stay where I am while I finish my RN (approximately one year to go) and drive an hour each day to/from work five days a week or do I look into nursing homes/hospice closer to me? I think about applying at other nursing homes or hospice facilities in my immediate area, but I'm afraid that the grass is greener if you know what I mean. And I hear that once you leave the DoD system, it's hard to get back in.

Either way I go, I will be doing a type of nursing I don't want to stay in, but I know it is just until I get my RN. Will working in a nursing home look worse on my resume than working in the VA system (even though it's a nursing home at the VA)? Does it even matter?

Pay scale does factor in a little bit; we just bought a condo, so I can't take a huge pay cut...but I am paying more than double in gas since we moved...a small pay cut might be worth it to not drive so far....:banghead: I just don't know which choice to make. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Ginger45]

I have worked in nursing homes most of my career. I have never had a problem being hired for an acute unit even if it has been awhile. I have had hospitals tell me the same thing but I always go for the Long Term Care acute settings. They are very busy and you will update all of your skills. They also pay very well.