hating rehab unit

[Nursearaeg]

I have been at my facility 5 months. For the past couple months, I have been on an Alzheimer's/Dementia unit, and have LOVED it. I don't dread work when I'm on that unit. It's what I strived to work in upon graduating school. Recently, they have been putting me on the rehab unit and want me there more. While I can handle it, I hate it. I hate work when I have to go there. I can do the LTC halls, but rehab is not my thing. I do not enjoy anything about it, and I talked to the DON and told her I really don't like being on that unit and that it gives me anxiety and she didn't seem to care too much. Is it even acceptable to leave for a new job because of this? I understand I cannot always get my way, which is okay. Another girl told them she wanted the dementia hall full time or she would quit, and they gave it to her. I am crushed and just feel like crap about this job. But I am compromising my happiness and hate work at this point. Any advice?

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

It sounds as if you are doing skilled Medicare rehab inside a nursing home or SNF. I hated nursing home rehab, too. However, many doors will open for your career if you can stick it out one year. You do not want to be seen as a job hopper. Good luck to you.

[BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN]

Is there a reason they continue to schedule to a unit where they know you're not entirely happy---especially since there IS an area within the building where you thrive. My facility has a memory care/standard half of the building and a rehab side, most of us were hired to mostly stay to one area, but of course it does happen that most of us will fill in on "the other side" (save for two LPN's who do not stray from their hall or their shift. Ever.) It'd be interesting to know why they keep scheduling you to rehab, it can be hard to find a nurse who loves memory care, they should capitalize on that!

[VANurse2010]

I guess it depends on your goals. If you'd eventually like to work in a hospital, I would recommend you work on the rehab unit because those skills are more transferable and sell better to hospital managers. However, if you like LTC and want to stay there (which is fine - you can make a lot of money climbing up the latter in LTC), then I see no reason to stay in rehab - which is pretty tortuous when it's a true rehab unit where all your patients are skilled/Medicare. If you feel you can easily get another job, just tell the DON you're not doing rehab anymore. The above poster is correct that a lot of nurses hate dementia units (I actually liked them), so it's not like you're asking for a purely cake LTC floor.

[chicagoing, ADN, RN]

OP, I feel your pain. I am interested to see if your DON ends up granting your request. I am in a similar situation (except subacute is not my forte...have only worked there 2 times in the first 4 months...then twice in 3 days) and love the LTC side.

Most of my coworkers love having 8-15 patients in subacute, but I find LTC to be more fulfilling in many ways.

I hope they are able to work with you on this, especially since it is so hard to find nurses who want to work with this population.