I received a job offer for LTC. Should I take it?

[nurse1045, BSN]

Here's some background: graduated nursing school Spring 2020, got a med-surg job at a hospital, was fired after 3 months due to not being able to handle workload, have been unemployed for 3 months now.

I received an offer from a LTC facility today and I'm unsure if I should take it or not. They told me that it's 25 patients per nurse. While these patients are stable and not acute, I was unable to handle 6 patients on the med-surg floor. My family is telling me to take the job and quit after a few weeks if it's too much for me. I honestly would feel kind of bad doing that. They said the orientation at most is usually 2 weeks (6 days total). So they aren't spending too much money on orientating me. I guess I could also just not include it on my resume if it's for a short time. I'm unsure if my next employer would see it in a background check though. What do you think I should do?

[Lynker, LPN]

At this point, what do you have to lose? I would try it. A big patient load on an LTC floor can be overwhelming at first, but it gets easier. Currently my first and only job is in LTC, and I love going to work and interacting with my coworkers and residents! After awhile you'll feel so at home. I personally love LTC, even on the hard days.

It'll never always be easy, but it'll always feel worth it, y'know?

Worst case is that it doesn't work out and you leave. Nothing wrong with that.

[JKL33]

1 hour ago, nurse1045 said:

My family is telling me to take the job and quit after a few weeks if it's too much for me.

While it's good to realize that a decision like this doesn't have to be permanent (I.e. you can leave at any point, pretty much), if you take the position you should do so with the mindset that you are going to stick it out and that it's going to be uncomfortable for awhile--as it is for nearly all new grads universally. It'll be a learning curve, but if you want to work as a nurse you're going to have to go through it in one setting or another.  At some point there has to be some determination that you are going to accept a challenge and try your very hardest to see it through (barring exceptions like exceedingly unsafe conditions).

Good luck! ?

[SilverBells, BSN]

I would say consider it.  The workload/type of work will be a little different, and the patients will be less acute.   After a bit, you'll learn to understand each resident's preferences and what works for them, so you'll get in a bit of a routine.  Once you get to know your resident's a little bit, it will seem more reasonable.  However, just realize that the workload can be heavy even for nurses that have done it for awhile, so expect to be busy.   Also, keep in mind that acute issues do come up from time to time and they actually aren't as rare as one might think.  Many facilities are now starting to accept residents with more comorbidities who are at higher acuity levels.  With that said, this isn't to scare you--you will probably find that you are more competent than you think.  If your coworkers are supportive, it can be a great job.