what is meant by experience?

Blee O'Myacin, BSN, RN · Mar 12, 2009

You are not a new grad and have 1 year experience in a subacute setting as an RN. Talk that up - especially since you are responsible for quite a bit in the LTC setting - and I'm sure your time management skills are great. Good luck with the job search & don't discount your experience as an LPN too.

Blee

Flare, ASN, BSN · Mar 12, 2009

You are experienced. One year as an RN takes you out of new grad status.

fathertod, ASN, BSN, MSN, APRN, NP · Mar 12, 2009

If you havent worked in a hospital hospital setting (like on a medsurg floor) for lets say a year or so... it is likely that you would be grouped with and get similar starting pay to new RN grads in most cases. This is due to working home health and LTC and not in the hospital setting.

Aneroo, LPN · Mar 12, 2009

You are not a new grad and have 1 year experience in a subacute setting as an RN. Talk that up - especially since you are responsible for quite a bit in the LTC setting - and I'm sure your time management skills are great. Good luck with the job search & don't discount your experience as an LPN too.
Blee

I agree.

While you might be on the same page as new grads in terms of skills (things that are performed inpatient that are normally not in a SNF), you're way ahead of them in terms of time managment and critical thinking.

fathertod, ASN, BSN, MSN, APRN, NP · Mar 12, 2009

LVN's are great to delegate to. RN's critically think...

smartnurse1982 · Mar 12, 2009

i dont think i am on the same page as a new grad in terms of skills- i know things that some hospital nurses dont know ex:i know how to replace gb,trachs, and know how to adjust settings on vents in peds and adults and about broviac nutrition in peds

starryi79 · Mar 12, 2009

I agree with you. Hospital only nurses generally think of the home care nurses as not qualified or enough exp. Home care opens many opportunities to gain exp in ways you never will in a hospital and generally get the opportunity to work on many skills at a time rather then in one unit doing the same thing. Not sure there is a way to show anyone that- just stick with what you know and keep your heasd in the home care game. Many opportunities,making your own hours- why go hospital?

SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN · Mar 12, 2009

actually some places consider new grads under 2 years of nursing work experience.. not 1. i do not understand rns or lpns who deem themselves experienced after 1 year. i keep running into travelers who are clueless and make really crazy new grad mistakes. yet, when i ask him/her if they are new grads they respond “no.” later i find out they only have 1 year of nursing work experience and in some cases it is not a full work year… (they may have taken off between jobs..). scary!!! i plan to call myself a new grad until someone more experienced thinks i am putting myself down... i highly doubt that will be before 2 years. :twocents:

back on topic … op: i would not consider you a new grad because of your years of experience working as a nurse in ltc and home health. i think most managers will throw you in the experienced category but will train you similar to a new grad to get you up to speed on the floors. i have seen this for nurses who worked outside of the hospital for 15 years get trained similar to a new grad. however, their time on orientation was less then that of a new grad unless he/she requested otherwise and none of them attended the rn residency program. the only ones i have seen attend my hospital's program are rns who worked outside of the hospital with less then 2 years of nursing work experience. gl!

Aneroo, LPN · Mar 12, 2009

LVN's are great to delegate to. RN's critically think...

I realize this is a whole 'nother debate, but really? Critically thinking is something that cannot be taught- it's like nursing common sense. It's gained with experience, and while the state BON might not say that LPN's do critical thinking in their assessment, I'm pretty darn sure they do anyways.

i dont think i am on the same page as a new grad in terms of skills- i know things that some hospital nurses dont know ex:i know how to replace gb,trachs, and know how to adjust settings on vents in peds and adults and about broviac nutrition in peds

I understand that, and did not mean to imply you didn't have any skills. I think it would depend on what area you are applying for- if you're in the ER, chest tubes, level one infusers and giving blood probably might be totally new. If you're applying for a medical type floor, then it might be totally different.

lpnflorida · Mar 12, 2009

I believe as you state your background you would be considered an experienced nurse rather than the new grad status. Hey fathertodd, deligate to me and I will use my own critical thinking skills to assess why you are not doing it yourself.

( sarcastic humor that I have )

twistedpupchaser · Mar 13, 2009

Experience is different for every nurse from their first clinical placement to their retirement. Saying that someone has 1 year or 2 years experience is in my opinion worthless. State what sort of experience you have when applying for a job and illustrate this by what skills you have learnt.

I had a classmate who we called the "Gucci Catcher", she caught all of the "Gucci" skills while the rest of us never got a chance to even see a Pt who required the interventions that she had learn't. In my first year placement I was allowed to conduct "complicated dressings" and suction dressings under supervision, there were students from my cohort who graduated without seeing a suction dressing, because they worked different floors.

Even after working for a while, I have seen things that are unique to my learning experience and not known by many nurses very senior to me, vice versa, they have seen things and done things that I may never experience. You just need to state your experience and let the decision be made, then work within what you are given.

Good Luck.