2 Job Offers- Help Me Choose

[jnj731]

I am a new grad LPN and over the past few days I have received job offers from two different LTC facilities. Job A is in a 71 bed facility where I would be in charge of 10 patients at a time. This facility is rated 24/35 on the Nursing Home Report Card. Job B is a 108 bed facility where I would be in charge of 21 patients at a time. It is rated 27/35. Can anyone offer me some insight as to why the huge jump in # of patients between these facilities? I am really scared of making the wrong decision. Ten patients sounds like a much easier way to get my feet wet as a new grad, but there's gotta be a catch, right? Help!

[kcochrane]

It could be the medical status of the patients. In our facility each unit is different. My unit many patients have trachs, g-tubes, etc. and the rest are one step away from being hospitalized. On the other units most patients are geriatric in nature.

Maybe the higher ratio job had a treatment nurse and the other doesn't. Maybe the lower ratio has you doing a few AM ADLs? Just some quick ideas that come to mind.

Is it possible to get a tour of each?

[kstec, LPN]

I would try and find out at the LTC that says 10 residents, are they vented or unstable? And for the LTC that says 21 residents, are they all stable for the most part? They both could end up being the same workload. 21 residents may sound like a lot, but in reality if they are stable that is a real good number. I would ask how long have the DON, ADON, and some of the nurses been there. You can tell a lot about a facility in their turnover rate. Most LTC facilities have high turnover rates, but some are worse than others. Good luck in which ever job you choose. A piece of advice from a LPN with only one year LTC experience, you need to interview the interviewer as much as they interview you. If something seems to good to be true, it probably is.

[jnj731]

I really appreciate the suggestions so far. I did have a quick tour of each facility, and it seemed the residents were mostly just geriatric. I'm not sure about either place having a treatment nurse (don't remember it being mentioned). My sister works at Job B as an LPN also, and she really likes it there, although I remember her being incredibly stressed out and unhappy when she first started (due to several factors: "mean and lazy" CNAs, unfamiliarity with the job as it was/is her first nursing job, stuff like that). She's been there about 4 years now, and the place is rated excellent for employee retention, so that's a big plus. I guess I should also mention, in case it makes a difference, that at Job A all but 5 of the rooms are double occupancy, and at Job B almost all rooms are singles. Does that indicate a difference in quality?

Jenna

[ss07]

I would go with the one where my sister works. That's a huge plus as far as support and learning the ropes from someone who actually cares about you.