In Praise of Long Term Care

[CapeCodMermaid, RN]

Yes I know you're probably wondering what I of all people could have to say in praise of LTC. I worked in long term care for more than 10 years -- left and now I am doing home care.

Long term care,especially the subacute floor, has prepared me to deal with just about anything. At home, you're on your own...your skills, your assessments....LTC?? Same thing. Many times the nurse in LTC is alone and has no one to rely on but herself(or himself as the case may be.)

Wound care....do we have experts come help us out in LTC? Nope..we do it ourselves.

IV's....ditto

Insurance hassles? Ditto.

I was nervous to leave my secure, though highly stressful, job to venture out and try something new, but this is a cake walk compared to what I did in the nursing home.

Don't belittle what you all do. If you love LTC and want to stay, that's great. We need good nurses taking care of our sick, elderly people. If you want to change, don't think that because you've been working in a nursing home, you have to stay there forever. If nothing else, you've learned wonderful time management skills.

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all y'all!!!

[dmb219]

Happy St Pats day to you too! You are so right about LTC. It makes you a very independent person. I'm thinking about moving on after 10 years to move to a warm climate. I've been the nurse, the lab, the IV team, the scheduler, passed meds, did wound care, counseled residents and family. The docs ask me what the people need because they don't see them. You know how it is. It will be tough leaving a good facility but it makes you a very capable nurse and that is what you need to realize.

Thanks for your time and for sharing your experience, it is greatly appreciated.

[jadedRN04]

Thank you for posting this! I have recently left the hospital after 10yrs..med/surg, CCU. I can't handle the stress, long hours, lack of staff, and lack of respect anymore. The LTC facility I am going to has a great reputation and I had a really good feeling about it when I toured with the DON. I am still very nervous about the change of environment. I am also afraid of losing the clinical skills that I have learned over the years, but I know that I need the change. I took a HUGE pay cut as well. I know that LTC has it's own stresses, but I can't imagine it will be as bad as what I have encountered working in the hospital this past year.

[adrienurse, LPN]

Well thank you.

I think us LTC nurses are so used to getting blamed and dumped on that we kind of expect it from people. No one holds us up for praise.