hospital or nursing home

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comparing these two setting, where do you like to work the most? what are their advantages and the disadvantages? :nurse:

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I have never worked in the hospital, but I am currently working in a nursing home, connected to the hospital. I love it. My last night of working, I had only 10 residents. I was able to visit with them ( they love it) and had extra time to assess my residents from head to toe. I am very lucky to work where I do.

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I have worked in hospital, Long Term Care, and many other settings. I like working with people with dementia so for me Long Term Care had its advantages. Hospitals have many options so it is hard to compare the two. I now work in a hospital and enjoy the rapid turn over of patients. In LTC it is easy to get really attached to patients/residents.

No matter where you work you need great assessment skills, good communication skills, and lots of patience with others. In LTC it is for patients/residents, and hospital it is working with so many departments and communications can easily get lost.

There are few limits in nursing. There are opportunities in many areas. Look at all the specialties listed just at this site.

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Specializes in LTC/SNF, Psychiatric, Pharmaceutical.
comparing these two setting, where do you like to work the most? what are their advantages and the disadvantages? :nurse:

Hospitals are best if you want higher acuity of care or greater variety of care. Long-term care seems slower, but it is challenging because you have fewer resources and a heavier patient load to work with.

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

I like the hospital because you always have the opportunity to change departments and gain more experience. That is if you work in a big hospital like I do. Little hospitals probably work differently.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Would also consider what your own experience as a nurse is. In homes you have more patient responsibility than a hospital and the type of work is different. If a foreign trained nurse looking for work then would choose hospital as you will get more support than you could get in a home.

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Specializes in Med/Surg.
In homes you have more patient responsibility than a hospital.

I would have to disagree with you. In the hospital we deal with life and death and sometimes it's minute to minute and sometimes more than one patient at a time. Having multiple IV drips, blood, major surgeries and that's just the begining is more responsiblity than nurses have in nursing homes. I'm not saying their work is any easier it's just generally more predictable day to day than working in a hospital.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
I would have to disagree with you. In the hospital we deal with life and death and sometimes it's minute to minute and sometimes more than one patient at a time. Having multiple IV drips, blood, major surgeries and that's just the begining is more responsiblity than nurses have in nursing homes. I'm not saying their work is any easier it's just generally more predictable day to day than working in a hospital.

I didn't mean that what I meant was more patient responsibility in 30+ patients instead of 5-10 patients. I am aware of the differences

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The pay is definitely much higher at a nursing home:nurse:

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Specializes in Med/Surg.
I didn't mean that what I meant was more patient responsibility in 30+ patients instead of 5-10 patients. I am aware of the differences

Excuse me :rolleyes:

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Specializes in Med/Surg.
The pay is definitely much higher at a nursing home:nurse:

Not where I live. The hospital pay is much higher. I think it's best to check in which ever area you plan to end up in. Best of Luck!

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