Hospital VS. LTC

[arismendez_LVN]

I am a new LVN and i have a question. I hve been working in LTC for years but only a few months as a nurse. I recenlty got a job at the hospital on the med/surg floor along with the ER (small hospital). I feel like i will be ok as far as pt to nurse ratio. im use to having 25-30 pts easy then to go to 6-8...i think ill be ok with that. im just worried because geri has been my profession for a while and i feel like that is all i know. any advice? will the hospital just chew me up and spit me out? HELP:banghead:

[R*Star*RN, BSN, RN]

Hey there. I worked in LTC for 8 years (7 as a CNA, 1 as an LPN) and then became an RN and recently started on a Surgical floor. About a month ago now.

From what I can tell so far, having 20 pts as an LPN vs 3-4 pts as an RN there is a pretty big difference! I work at a primary care hospital so we have to do all the cares as an RN from giving meds to doing bed baths and walking pts.

So far I think it is really enjoyable although very busy. I do miss certain things about LTC liike the dimentia patients that make you smile! But then there are things that I don't miss.

I don't really have any advice since I am so new to the hospital world myself! But it's good to have different experiances in life, and if you don't try it you won't know if you like hospitals better or if you like LTC better.

Good luck with your new job! Let us know how you are doing and if you like it :)