Nurses who haven't been doing acute care

[jen42]

I was speaking to somebody (a manager) who said she would rather hire a new grad than a nurse who has not been working in a hospital for a few years.

Is this the usual opinion?

[lannisz]

How long counts as break? I have been out of the hospital setting for 9 months. I had 2 years experience working med/surg and when I entered the FNP program, I needed a position that worked better with my school schedule. Now I work 30 hours a week in an urgent care clinic...still do IV's, injections, admin meds, perform wound care etc.. I feel like I'm learning a lot and getting good clinical experience related to my FNP training. I have to say though, I worry about being away from the hospital. I'm actually wondering if I should do some PRN just to keep my foot in the door?

[lynnr_98, BSN, MSN, RN]

I graduated with my BSN in 2001 and only worked 4 months in acute care before I left for a public health nursing job I stayed with that for 2 years. Since then, I've done worker's comp case manager, laser hair removal, home health...anything to stay away from acute care.

5 years later, I've decided to give acute care a try again and attempt to learn what I was supposed to learn the first time. I had no problem getting a job in acute care (of course I had to start on med/surg). I just told the managers the truth... that I want to regain my clinical skills. I'm lucky in that they're treating me as a new grad (6 weeks orientation) but paying me at the rate of a RN with 5 years experience.

This is my 2nd week and I have to say...I went to lunch today and thought about leaving and not returning! I have forgotten sooooo much. I feel like a complete idiot. There were nursing students on the floor today who know so much more than me. There is so much that I should know that I don't (meds, diagnosis, labs, what's abnormal, etc.). It's so hard to return to acute care after having the cushy jobs that I've had but I'm determined to make it work as I want to eventually do travel nursing and need clinical skills to do that. If you really want to return to acute care, you can, but it won't be easy. Not only is it mentally exhausting...but my feet and back are killing me!!!

[jjjoy, LPN]

Best wishes to you Lynnr. I'm with you on your previous attempts to avoid acute care and don't envy your return to the floor. I tried that a few years back and made the final decision that I will not pursue acute care again (unless hospitals magically become well-staffed in the near future). It's hard to resist acute care because the opportunities are there and I have the qualifications for it.

For all of the talk that nursing is much more than bedside care, there is a lot of pressure from within nursing that if you can't/won't do bedside care you are not a "real" nurse. And the idea of travel nursing is very tempting... I'd love to be able to pick and work anywhere around the country, maybe even in a different country!!! One major drawback. I'd have to do acute care nursing. Sigh. So I went and taught English in Asia to get my travel fix. I really enjoyed that. I enjoyed teaching much more than acute nursing care! I even got to teach some medical personnel. Everyone's different with different goals and strengths. Good luck to you!