going from LTC to hospital

[Guest871380]

Hi all,

I recently graduated with an associate's degree in nursing last spring, took my boards over the summer, and started working per diem at a nursing home in August. I am currently going to school full time to get my bachelor's degree, and I will be finished with school in May. By that point, I would like to find full time work, since I am only per diem right now. I really enjoy my job, but since I work at a very small facility, I don't think there will be any full time positions available for me once I graduate.

Many people have told me that when you graduate from nursing school, you need 2 years of med surg experience, and then you can work where ever you want. I applied to many different hospital jobs over the summer, but I didn't get any offers. I did get several offers from LTC facilities, and that is where I ended up. I am worried that I will need to work in a hospital after I graduate, and I might be "un-hireable."

Has anyone went from LTC to acute care with success? Does anyone have any advice for me? I'm feeling nervous that I will be left jobless and have a lot of difficulty finding employment....

[Corey Narry, MSN, RN, NP]

Hi and welcome to allnurses!

I'm gonna say that in the 20 or so years I've been a nurse, I've seen colleagues transition to an acute care setting from LTC. There are certainly nurses I know who made the transition smoothly and stayed in acute care since and there were also others who took the plunge and found out that they preferred the LTC setting better for its pace and the long-term relationships they were establishing with the LTC residents they were caring for. I think this just proves that it is highly dependent on individual personalities, likes, and career goals.

As far as being "un-hireable" in an acute care setting after being in LTC for a while, I think that is also dependent on fluctuations in nursing workforce supply and demand. I started my nursing career in the 90's when there were very little opportunities in acute care hospitals and many new grads did end up working in LTC not by choice but out of necessity to remain employed. As years went by, nursing demand increased and that was the time when these colleagues were able to transition to acute care.

The situation I experienced in the 90's seem similar to yours now but unfortunately, it is hard to tell how long it will take for nursing demand to pick up again. If and when it does, I'm fairly certain that nurses will be able to pick and choose settings they want to work in.