New Grad Charge Nurse for Rehab to Home Unit

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Specializes in LTC, Ortho/Med-Surg.

Hello everyone!

I just got hired as a charge nurse for a 20 resident rehab to home unit in a nursing home. I am a brand new graduate, and besides clinicals and a nurse externship, I have never worked in healthcare before. I am very excited and intimidated about my new position, and was just wondering -- can any of you tell me how the rehab to home units work? I have been in a nursing home before to visit a family member, but that's it. Before I got this job, I didn't even know that nursing homes did rehab to home.

I believe I am in a good facility. I have six weeks of orientation, and when I went in last week to fill out new hire paperwork, I noticed a really good 'team' atmosphere, between all the nursing staff (CNAs to DON), but also between the different disciplines (therapy, social services, etc). I feel like I'm going to be well supported there, but I also want to hit the ground running, and be the safest practicing new grad that I can be.

Any advice?

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Hello everyone!

I just got hired as a charge nurse for a 20 resident rehab to home unit in a nursing home. I am a brand new graduate, and besides clinicals and a nurse externship, I have never worked in healthcare before. I am very excited and intimidated about my new position, and was just wondering -- can any of you tell me how the rehab to home units work? I have been in a nursing home before to visit a family member, but that's it. Before I got this job, I didn't even know that nursing homes did rehab to home.

I believe I am in a good facility. I have six weeks of orientation, and when I went in last week to fill out new hire paperwork, I noticed a really good 'team' atmosphere, between all the nursing staff (CNAs to DON), but also between the different disciplines (therapy, social services, etc). I feel like I'm going to be well supported there, but I also want to hit the ground running, and be the safest practicing new grad that I can be.

Any advice?

Wow.

Being hired as a new grad into a charge role with six weeks of orientation does not equate with being the safest practicing new grad you can be.

Wow.

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Specializes in Med Surg - Renal.

Any advice?

Yeah, when they start positioning you over that trap door on the floor....jump!

My nursing home was a firing squad for new grads...and many went from new grad/new hire to charge nurse to fired in record time. Others made it through.

Good luck

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That's scarey. I could never go it.

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Specializes in School Nursing.

Six weeks? At least that is a lot better than what I was offered. 3 days! I really need the job but think I should decline

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Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

Rehab to home is just what it says. Person is in the hospital for whatever reason. They are too healthy to stay in the hospital but too sick to go home....so....they come to rehab. They have physical, occupational, and speech therapy and skilled nursing so they can recover and learn how to take care of themselves once they get home. That is a very simplistic explanation but.....

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Specializes in LTC, Pediatrics, Renal Med/Surg.

To be completely honest I think you should have ATLEAST a year working as just an RN before you go to a charge position. Not trying to preach to you, as I am coming up on only 2 years nursing experience myself but you would be putting yourself in a much better position if you did and you would feel alot better about things.

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I got hired at a SNF/LTC facility and all of their nurses are considered to be charge nurses, simply because they direct the CNAs, among the other nursing tasks. Technically I am a charge nurse and will be off orientation in a week or so. I have tried to assist the CNAs as much as I can, while still offering guidance and structure when they have shown they need it and all the other nurses say I have been doing really well and the preceptor I had recently has talked with many other staff and she reported back to me that she hears I am doing very well for being a new grad and such a short time on orientation. I do have a business management background so I don't know if I am relying on my nursing education and my business education to do my job, or what, but I seem to have fallen into the position fairly well considering its my first nursing job. Everyone seems surprised when they find out I haven't worked in a hospital or other facility before this, including the CNAs. My preceptors have been really good about explaining things and, in general, the diseases/disorders that are in this facility are things i have dealt with before either in clinicals or in my family. I know I have a lot to learn and I am the first one to admit when I don't know something and want to clarify. do I think this position is going to prepare me to be a charge nurse in a hospital... not from what I have seen charge nurses do in the hospital. This seems like a "simple" charge nurse or more of a formality than actual charge nurse position in my opinion. Although on all the shifts, the CNAs seem to be very good and do their jobs with very little asking or needing direction and the patients all seem to be happy. Now if this was a hospital and they wanted to call me charge nurse, I would have to politely decline... This place just calls every nurse a charge nurse because there is only one nurse per 15-25 residents with the team of CNAs that is anywhere from 2-5 per 15-25 residents.

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Specializes in LTC, Ortho/Med-Surg.

Arabstar, I think this is the case with my position, too. I think the 'charge nurse' title is more of a formality, as the only nurses on the floor are charge or med nurses.

I assume that on rehab to home, I will help residents heal from things such as joint replacements, strokes, possibly pneumonias... is this accurate?

Thank you all so much for your replies!

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in my facility, that's what the rehab unit does. Joint replacements, Trachs (no vents though), strokes, post ops that insurance wouldnt pay for more hospital stay but they aren't quite ready to go home yet, pre op stuff where people arent sick enough to be in the hospital but still can't have surgery yet for some reason or another and so they cant fully take care of themselves at home, etc. I like the rehab unit and the AD/Dementia unit at my place of employment, and I think I am going to request I be placed on midnights on the AD/dementia unit permanently as soon as I am off orientation. There is a floor that is strictly long term care, but I wasn't as excited to work on that floor and I don't fully know why, but the other two floors really drew me in and I was happy to be on them. I found it easier to get to know the residents on those floors and felt more comfortable and confident on those floors - I don't get it and cant explain it... maybe because on those floors the residents seemed like they needed more attention than the other floor? I dont know... but anyway, your rehab unit sounds a lot like my facility's. So far on there, I have seen stroke victims, trachs, joint replacements, dialysis patients, amputees learning how to take care of themselves again, and some paralysis patients learning how to redo things through OT and PT. Thats all been just in the two weeks I have been there orientating lol

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Specializes in LTC, Ortho/Med-Surg.

Thanks so much, arabstar!

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OP, what ought to start the alarm bells for you right off is that you are now hired, and you have to come here and ask people who can only guess what your job title means.

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