nursing home

Your last sentence about sums it up. If you have to work in LTC to have a job, then that is where you will be, along with a lot of others who are lucky enough to get a job. I wouldn't worry about your future jobs. The future will take care of itself along with some help from you in terms of additional education and effort. Right now, you have to take the job that is available. Good luck.

That is a good post. You will have a job. You can always keep applying at hospitals, while you are working if that is where you want to be. I am sure you have heard it here many times on here. It is tough out there. If you can get a job. Take it!

A job is a job.

We have staff on our floor that only worked LTC prior. We are an ortho floor though. I'd think it would be easier to go LTC to rehab/general medsurg as opposed to LTC to ER/ICU/OB, etc. However, once you get in the hospital then you can transition to where you want. Just may take time.

So working at a nursing home for a year will generally fulfill the one year med surg requirement that a lot of hospitals and agencies want??

thanks so much!

I agree a job is a job. We all gotta make some money and get experience. Seems like experience is the only thing that is going to get you a hospital. So if you have a job offer, I'd take it, even if it isn't what you want. At least you are getting experience and you have a place to start. Now you can keep applying to hospitals and I would say your changes of getting in are better since you have experience!

Good luck!

I am in the same boat. I am currently applying at hospitals and I hope to have a job in a hospital by summer at the latest. The main thing is to continue with certifications, any in-services that may be offered at your LTC, and other opportunities outside of what you are doing. Good luck and hang in there!

I graduated in May 2008 and got my license in Aug 2008. Icould not find hospital employment so I worked for 5 months in LTC. I kept applying to hospitals and got hired to an ortho/neuro floor for 16 hrs a week. I was able to pick up many shifts during the week so I worked the equivalent of 40 plus hours a week. I did not have benefits and only got 3 weeks of floor training but I took the job knowing I had my foot in the door. I have now been upgraded to full time and have benefits. I have been at this facility for 8 months now.

I would definitely take the LTC job. It is very rewarding and there is much to be learned in careing for our geriatrics with dementia. I would say that I get at least one patient every shift who has dementia/alzheimers.

Just be careful not to get too attached to the residents. These people are easy to get attached too and it breaks your heart when one passes.

I do not regret for one moment working in a LTC facility. You may not use your "technical skills" as much as in a hospital but you will definitely use all of your "people skills".

Best of luck to you

You will learn to manage your time in LTC, problem solve, and some units are becoming pretty acute. So, you will gain skills you can take with you :)

So working at a nursing home for a year will generally fulfill the one year med surg requirement that a lot of hospitals and agencies want??

thanks so much!

No. Absolutely not.

I'm finding employment very hard to come by these days!

It sure is.

I didn't want to start my healthcare career at a nursing home either, but hospitals would not touch me with no experience and the defense barrier between the local hospitals' HR department and CNA hopefuls was impenetrable.

So I walked into a local nursing home, filled out an application and was hired almost immediately. Against the wishes of some, I started on the day shift of the TCU floor. It was incredibly demanding and challenging and I did very well - or so my superiors say. It turns out that nursing home was published as one of the worst in the country a year before I started; even doing your best it is nearly impossible to provide quality care.

However, I learned an incredible amount working there and was able to apply that knowledge during first semester nursing school clinical. As my education grew, my ability to function as a CNA grew also. At some points it has progressed to comedy. Due to my age and communication skills, new residents often mistake me for a supervisor type. One nurse told me, "Hey Dan, the patient wants me to check with you before I change anything or call her doctor!" This is kind of funny, but the managers got a bit sore at me when they heard about it. I said, "Hey, it's not my fault I speak english!"

Finally though, hospitals are answering my application submissions and I am looking at changing jobs for a 35% pay increase. Without my nursing home experience, I would still be at square one and I owe my screwed up facility a huge debt of gratitude.

I will miss the residents at my nursing home and I will miss a few of my coworkers, but I will not miss much else. If I end up a staff RN at a nursing home instead of a hospital after graduation, that will be just fine with me and I will once again bide my time and work on my nursing skills while looking for a better position for my career.

Good luck.