Looking down upon LTC nurses?

[vicki429]

I'm starting nursing school in a few weeks, so I'm still new to all of this. I read a thread where someone mentioned that nurses in long term care are looked down upon. What does that mean? I'm looking into various areas of nursing that I might be interested in and that comment surprised me a bit. Also, what do you think about assisted living facilities? Are they slightly less stressful because people there are more or less well? I'm not necessarily looking for a low stress job, otherwise I would not have chosen this profession...more out of curiosity. :)

[nyteshade, BSN]

It's been my experience that hospitals also look down on LTC nurses regardless of how many years experience you've got. If it ain't "acute care" it doesn't count! Granted, I did do hospital nursing...but it took A LOT of trys to get in.

[Jules A, MSN]

Personally I ignore this kind of thing. I'm a former LPN, not exactly nurse gratis in some arenas, and now work as a Psych Nurse, sadly not what some consider a "real nurse" so I have heard a few of these type comments. I've always been professional and proud of what I do which I think sets the tone for respect.

The truth is that most of the time when I tell a nurse that I'm in psych I hear "God bless you, I couldn't do that", which to me is a compliment. That is how I think of LTC and med-surge. No way could I do either of those jobs but I have the highest admiration for the nurses that do. It is always interesting to me that when a psych patient turns up in med-surge they can't get rid of them fast enough...sure makes me wonder just how easy my job is.