Nurse Phase

Nola009 · Nov 21, 2013

I sympathise with you. I started my 1st RN job at a LTC a few months back and couldn't stand it either. Yes, you should be able to get a hospital job with 6-12 months working experience behind you. I made the mistake of taking a full-time job with a long commute and it didn't work out for me (ouch). Don't give up. Ask if you can cut back hrs. if that's what you need to do for your own well-being. Just to make things easier for you when you apply to a hospital, I would stick it out and start looking after month 5. Sucks that we 'have' to work in places we really, really don't want to just to get a start. Oh, how I hate LTC.

philliesfinest · Nov 21, 2013

Yes same here, the hostile environment, incident reports, skin tears and bruises, body checks,etc.. I'm trying but it's affecting my well being

Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN · Nov 22, 2013

Yes, you will. My situation is a bit different, but hope it will encourage you. I worked in the hospital for a few years and then took some time off. When I went back to work, my priority was something-anything-as-long-as-it-was-8-hr-day-shift; by this time two of my kids were in school so I couldn't work PM's (I'd never see them), and my husband wasn't on board w/ overnights. So anyway, that meant LTC. I did that for about 3 yrs before I needed a change. By this time though, I'd been out of the hospital for longer than I was in it, there wasn't a nursing shortage anymore, and most hospital jobs were requiring 1 year of *current* experience. I got hired at an LTACH though...toiled my tail off...but I gained needed current experience w/ vents, tele, complex medical, sepsis, wound care, etc. A year an a half later I was offered my dream job in the SICU of an urban level 1.

The market is tough right now. Keep your head down, keep looking, do whatever continuing ed you can. It'll happen eventually!