LTC versus Hospital?

[critical thinker]

I became a RN in June of 2009, my job is working full time in a Long-term care facility, I previously worked there as a CNA before becoming a nurse for several years. My question is do you miss something as a nurse in you never have hospital experience? I ,at times, feel as though I need to do that 1 year of Med-Surg to get the skills down that I need, for example I have only had one patient that required IV antibiotics, so I have not used an IV pump since nursing school, and I have not done a sterile dressing change since nursing school, as you just do not always see this in my LTC facility. I spoke with a nurse that had 30 years experience who told me "you need to work where you are comfortable, and maybe a hospital isn't for you", my first love is geriatrics, and I enjoy my job, but, I am questioning if I should be looking for a hospital?

[Katie5]

If you can, look for a hospital. You will be more grounded with a healthy dose of experience.

[RNOkie]

I totally agree; plus you will get all the geriatric care you want in a hospital. If you are happy where you are, then stay. But it sounds like you are missing "getting your hands dirty". Look at doing Med-Surg at least for a year. You can lose so much knowledge and skills by not doing so directly out of school.

[sistasoul]

Hi,

I graduated in 2008 and worked in a LTC facility for 5 months. I wanted to work in the hospital but had a hard time finding a job as a new grad. I love geriatrics also. It is my favorite population. I now work in a hopital on an ortho/neuro unit and the experiences are not even comparable. In LTC I basically passed meds and that was it. Only had to do assessments when residents were sick. Really did not learn any skills. I was fortunate enough to get the job in the hospital so I could learn IV's and my assessment skills have greatly improved. When I worked in LTC I was so green that I had a hard time knowing when my patient was going downhill unless it was completely obvious.

I do not particularly like the craziness of the hospital but am glad to be able to get some knowledge and skills under my belt. I plan to stay in the hospital for 2 years and then probably go elsewhere. I agree with the person who told you to stay where you are happy/comfortable but I feel hospital experience can only make you a more rounded nurse. LTC and hospitals have completely different paces. LTC is much more predictable than hospital nursing.

Just my 2 cents

[misschiatia]

I have managed to work in geriatrics for 90%+ of my career. I choose the geriatric population because I have so much respect for them and I truly enjoy working with the same group of people every day. You can have a measureable impact on someones quality of life over time.

In any case, if you want to get that hospital experience, I recommend that you do it soon. You don't want to wait too long out of school to make that transition or it will be much harder for you. We get accustomed to the slower pace and slightly more predictable routine in LTC easily.

I got that year out of the way my first year out of school. I chose the geriatric med surg floor and ended up on telemetry when they eliminated the geri floor. I learned a lot. It was a positive experience, but i didn't alltogether enjoy it. I would much rather have been somewhere delivering and overseeing care to a demential unit somewhere. But it gives confidence in your knowledge base, decisions, and exposure to med/surg situations. I would not be in management in LTC today, but for the experience. I strongly recommend you get your year in med/surg. 2 if you can hack it.

By the way, i made it in the hospital setting exactly one year, to the day. And i put my resignation in in advance. I was very ready to return to LTC, in any capacity, and bring all this great new knowledge with me. It was cool, and you can't get the knowledge without going way outside your comfort zone. Good Luck!

[PAERRN20]

I'm going to go against the flow here and say stay at the job you love. If you love LTC and geriatrics, do it! Why venture to the hospital if you already have a job you adore. However, I will say it may be difficult to get in the hospital in the future should your circumstances change. I see no reason to give up a good job for the unknown. Do what makes you happy. Life is too short to worry about the what-ifs and other people's thoughts.

[SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN]

We're not going to run out of old, sick people. Stick with what you love.

And when we do get an IV in it's like riding a bike.

[GooeyRN, ADN, BSN, CNA, LPN, RN]

If you are happy, STAY. Don't risk your happiness! It isn't hard to work an IV pump or start an IV. You can learn that later if you want to switch.