In dillema

Keep both going as long as you can juggle it.

Can you do the LTC facility that you like so much, and look into agency work for a hospital, where you can work once a month or something?

Can you do the LTC facility that you like so much, and look into agency work for a hospital, where you can work once a month or something?

I agree with this advice. If you love LTC, stick with it! And do agency or per diem work a few times a month to "keep a foot in the acute care door". :)

You will lose some skills and enhance others, same as any nurse who switches specialities. If you eventually decide you want to return to the hospital and are concerned about not having the necessary skills there are refresher courses offered throughout the country to help nurses brush up on skills before reentering practice and you might find something like that useful. Then again, if you enjoy LTC, you might never want to return to a hospital at all! Life is short, do what you love when you get the chance.

i think everyone in nursing likes to find their comfort zone and a place where they literally love what they do. you may be gifted with a true love of working with the elderly as a geriatric nurse. nurses can even seek certification in geriatrics now. long term care needs nurses who truly love what they do and appreciate the wisdom they can present. working part time or casual at the acute care facility would help maintain your skills so i would keep that position and possibly not work as frequently.

Personally I do not see why making a career out of long term care is a bad thing. Good luck with your decision.

Just do what you love!

A nurse is a nurse. Work somewhere you enjoy. One field of nursing is no more important than another, and they all require a certain degree of "special acheived knowledge" to work there.

Hello,

I am relatively new in nursing. I graduated in 2008.

After working in a big city for about a year, I had to move to a small city due to family issues.

Here, in the small town, it is hard to get a full time job, so I am a casual nurse.

To make sufficient income, I got another job as a casual RN at the longterm centre.

Surprisingly, I find myself enjoy working at the longterm centre very much. More than acute setting in the hospital, and they are offering me permanent part time job...

However, I am so afraid that if I go into longterm nursing care area now, I might loose all my nursing skills that I have built up during the consolidation and clinical....

I really don't know what to do...

Any suggestions??

Each area of nursing requires "nursing skills" relevant to that job. ICU nurses have to know more about CC nursing than a med/surg nurse. OR nurses, Er nurses, OB........

If you decide LTC is what you love, work there. LTC is not a second class nursing job, or the dumping ground for nurses who can't find anything else. As far as I'm concerned, it takes just as much skill to juggle 30-40-50 residents, as it takes to start IVs , drop NGs, or give IV meds.

All nursing skills get rusty when you don't use them. If you decide to go back to a hospital setting you'll just have to pull those skills out, dust them off, and relearn how to use them.

Good luck, My vote is for the job you like the most.

Also, the patients entering long term care are much sicker than they used to be- and younger! You might not lose as many skills as you think! Best of luck!

When I was in school I didn't like any of the rotations we did during clinicals and wondered if I'd like nursing at all. When I started working in LTC, I found my niche. I enjoy caring for my mix of residents. Sometimes I pick up shifts on our SNF wing, this gives me opportunity to utilize more skills. I intend to stay in geriatrics and LTC/SNF after I get my RN.

So do what you enjoy :)