Nursing home to hospital

[grace567]

Hello everyone! I wanted to ask for your opinion. I've been a RN for a little over a year. Currently work in healthcare/assisted living at a nursing home. I love working third shift. I don't work at a bad place and I love the residents. The facility keeps admitting people to assisted living that don't even know how to get back to there own room and 2 weeks ago I caught someone escaping. There are always med errors happening. I'm one nurse over 45 people in assisted living (we call it healthcare overflow.) Now, they keep admitting hospice to assisted living and I don't have enough staff to keep an eye on people trying to escape and those coming to the end of their life. S ome of the staff members don't want to work as a team. But I know that happens. I honestly hate coming into work to the point my stomach is in knots. I feel like I want to experience the hospital nursing. But scared to make the move since I'm comfortable here. When I had clinical, I was not a fan of med-surg, peds, or OB. Just looking for a little guidance. Thank you! Sorry, this is a little mixed around. My thoughts are all over the place right now

[guest52816]

Unfortunately, the issue you highlighted regarding your current employer, will also be found in a hospital.

When I worked in med-surge (seven months), patients were routinely admitted who shouldn't have been admitted, or were kept at the teeny-tiny hospital, when they should have been sent out to the large, nearby teaching hospital.

I have been a nurse for almost two years. And during that time, I have held FOUR jobs. I have yet to find one that I like, and treats patients in a way I feel good about.

Well, let me say that my first job, did treat patients appropriately, but as a new grad, the unit and work required was above my education level.

I currently work at a sub-acute rehabilitation hospital. They routinely take in folks who are too sick to do rehab. We have one on our unit now, on a trach, who loses her oxygen level with the least bit of movement. She can't do rehab!

Believe me, I understand your angst. And there are lots of folks on this Web Site who have found their niche as a nurse. I am envious.

But I learned that healthcare in the United States is nothing more than a business (even when working at a non-profit), with little regard for actual patient care.

Best wishes, and I hope somebody has some good advice to offer you.

[Renell]

I agree with Lil Nel. The hospital has the same issues. I work on a cardiac stepdown unit, and I've had patients that should be in Med-surg. And I've had patients that really needed to be in ICU (which are scary). I even had a hospice patient at one time. My unit gets a hodge-podge of patients, often not cardiac related. It makes my anxiety go haywire, but I DO learn alot. I will say that you'll have a much smaller patient load in the hospital, so you'll be able to watch your patients more closely.

I've only been a nurse for seven months, so I can't give you the best advice. But ask yourself what you enjoy. You already have Peds and OB out of the picture, as well as Med-Surg, it seems.