I've been in LTC for 14 years. Does anyone else experience the total lack of respect for LTC nurses? Anytime someone finds out I'm an RN, the first question is always "Where do you work?" I always answer with in LTC and almost every time get the same answer.... "Oh". It's like you're not a "real" nurse if you're not working trauma or something. I routinely care for 30 + patients, meds, treatments, documentation, ADL care when short staffed, counselor, social worker, tx nurse, admissions, dietitian, emergency care, etc, etc, etc. Yet what I get is "oh, don't you want to work in the hospital?" It frustrates me to no end. Do people go to the ER and ask them why they don't work in LTC? If my parents were in a nursing home, or myself even, I'd hate to know the nurses taking care of us was doing it "just b/c she couldn't hang with a med surg floor". I get so sick of explaining why I like LTC. I've been a CNA, LPN, RN, and hope to one day be a geriatric NP. But my love will always be LTC. I know people have had bad experiences, and sometimes group all facilities and nurses into a big category, but I'm truly an AWESOME LTC nurse! I even had an instructor in school say LTC was for nurses who couldn't "cut it in the hospital". I briefly went to med surg, and I tell you, other than the fact the computerizd documentation was giving me a fit (used to writing a novel by hand every day), I found it to be a lot less work. (not knocking MS nurses, that would just be doing back what people do to me). I know it's a unique monster all its own. But I've noticed you can say you work in MS, public health, home health, a doctors office, psych, etc, and that's OK. But say you work in "a nursing home" and people look at you like they feel sorry for you??????????
