New (soon-to-be) Graduate RN Looking to LTC

[redot]

hi! i graduate in just over 3 weeks from an adn program. i am giving myself an ulcer currently worrying about what area i would like to work in. we've had med-surg drilled into our heads from the first semester of school. i can honestly say that i just don't like med-surg. it's not that i can't do it, because i've excelled in clinicals. i think that a ltc facility would be the best place for me.

i wonder if i will get the experience i need, or will starting as a new nurse at an ltc limit me in any way? it seems like good experience to me, and i think it would be nice to actually get more involved with the pts instead of just having them for a day or so. i do love geriatrics. i just figure if i really don't want to work on a med-surg floor then why do it, since i really feel that an ltc is right for me?

guess i just want the opinions of nurses who are living the life, & can knock some sense into me about the whole thing. thanks for everyone here at allnurses being so gosh darn wonderful. i've learned a lot on here. :) aimee

[suebird3]

welcome to allnurses.com!

i, too, work ltc....first as an lpn, and now as an rn. i have also heard the chant of "med/surg....med/surg!" know what? not for this chick. i find that i see "the rezzies" over a long period of time, and can "tell" when things aren't right. you will see it, too.

so, if you want ltc, go for it. :)

suebird

[Marylou1102]

I work in LTC and love it! This is what real hands on nursing is all about. The downside, and trust me, I am not trying to scare you away, is the amount of rules and regulations we have to follow. We are far and away more regulated than hospitals. The work is difficult but ever so much more rewarding. Personally I would never work anywhere else. In our facility we just hired a couple of brand new grads and they are doing very well. Go where you feel the most comfortable.

[Bird2]

Just like Suebird I have only worked LTC. First as a LPN and now as a RN. I knew deep down that Hospital nursing was not right for me. I love LTC. It is very rewarding. I did not allow myself to become stagnant. My priorty was learning the skills needed and learning the regs. Good luck to you.

[PeachPie]

Good luck. It takes a special kind of person to work LTC, and I'm not one of them.

[HeatherLPN]

It aggravates me how they push med-surg when there are so many areas of nursing. I've only worked LTC and MR/DD. I still get to use my skills, and have the opportunity to learn new ones that I didn't get to do in clinicals (for example, put a g-tube back in). I still get to do catheters, IV's, tubefeeds, dressing changes, ect. I don't feel that med-surg is for me. I like having the same residents, getting to know them and their quirks, and listening to their stories.

[suebird3]

I do "Living History" circa the Rev. War/French Fur Trade era. The way I see it, today's elders are "living history books". Many were alive before the Polio vaccine, before PCN was refined.....I have learned soooo much from them, and am glad to be an LTC nurse.

True, LTC is NOT for everyone.

Suebird

[aandersonrn]

I also love LTC and knew that during my clinicals. The only warning that I have is that the signs and symptoms in the books are not always what the residents show you, but some of the MDs will take your gut feeling when they just don't act right. And research what nursing home you want to go to, check out what citations they had with their last survey, and compare it with local homes not all regions of surveys are created the same.

But go for it we need more nurses that are excited about LTC

[doodlemom]

I think that you become much more competent in your clinical skills if you work in a hospital for a while. If you go straight into long term care and decide later that it is not for you, you are limited in what you do. Many other jobs that you may want to pursue may require that you have med-surg or hospital experience - and then you'll have to start over again. I started out in LTC and later I wanted to do something different. I tried agency nursing but was so limited in where they could place me. I wound up doing hospice for several years -which I loved, but then had to quit because of circumstances in that particular hospice. I was stuck with agency nursing again which was horrible. I bit the bullet and went to the hospital to work for nearly 2 years. Unfortunately when I started they offered me lousy pay because I had no hospital experience. I have to say that when I left the hospital and came back to work in hospice, I felt like a much more competent nurse. Of course, this was my experience and my opinion. Whatever you decide to do, you can always change your mind later.

[BrendaLeeRN]

I too am a new grad. I graduated last May from a RN-ADN program. I worked at a subacute/LTC facility as an aide for a couple of years while in school, and work there now as an RN. I too heard the push for med-surge, but after doing clinicals in a variety of settings I decided that I was interested in psychiatric nursing or geriatric nursing. Hospitals push people out so fast, that you don't have time to know your patients. LTC offers that. You will use a broad range of skills - assessment, psychiatric, pharmacology, wound care, catheters, iv's, gtubes, etc. I love it and if I decide to leave I'd probably pursue psychiatric, not med-surge. The work is hard, long, but the most rewarding I've ever done.