Please!!!!!Need some advice

[tx esrun]

Hi everyone,

I need some advice. I'm wanting to re-enter the workforce after having stayed home with kids. Here's kind of a synopsis of my situation.....I received my license in 1991 from a nursing program affiliated with a large healthcare company. I went straight to work at a hospital (in the ICU setting) owned by this healthcare company per a contract for the payoff of my tuition ($8,000). A couple of years later the healthcare company was being split from the hospitals which were subsequently sold. In order to continue to receive the benefit of having my tuition paid I had to stay with the healthcare company. By doing this I entered an adminstrative setting as a nurse. I ended up loving this and went on to be very successful in a management role. The only reason I left was because of an ill child that needed my care up until this last year or so. I am wanting to re-enter nursing but not sure what approach to take. I no longer live in that big city with all of the various nursing opportunities, instead, I live in a small community with limited opportunities for nursing (ie, no hosp., 1 HH agency). However, there are several very reputable Nursing Homes and plans for a small hospital in the next year or so. My thoughts were that I would apply at a Nursing Home and if hired it would give me an opportunity to get back in the swing of things until the hospital is opened. I have no experience in a Nursing Home setting and I haven't worked in 5 years. I'm looking for your thoughts on what chances I do or don't have with getting hired. And, if there are any nurses out there who are in a position to hire can you please give me some advice. Thanks!!!!!

[EricJRN, MSN, RN]

There's only one way to find out what the nursing homes will say. :)

[pyrolady]

I am a DON in a SNF and there is a huge shortage of nurses so you won't have a problem getting hired. HOWEVER, you need to keep this in mind: Hospitals have an approx. ratio of six patients per nurse. Nursing homes have approx. 22 - 28 patients per nurse and don't let anyone kid you - it is NOT what it used to be. Our facility handles stage 3 and 4 wounds, tube feeders, trachs, people in physicala therapy, dementia mixed in with all of the above and people are still coming for IV therapy or recovering from surgery. I honestly believe a SNF nurse can hack it in the hospital with minimum assist - visa versa might be a problem because the rules for SNF's have not changed with the acuity of the patients. LOTS of work and TONS of paper....