bravesfanRN

Thanks Everyone for the comments, advice, and encouragement! It has been very helpful!

Thanks for all the input, i'm an RN working on a skilled nursing unit at a LTC facility, and i've felt like there is a stigma attached to being an RN in LTC, when i first started working it seemed like every week someone would come to me and say "you're an RN? why are you working here" i'll admit LTC is not what i had in mind when i went to nursing school but i don't want to feel like i'm less of a nurse for doing it!

I've been working on a skilled nursing unit for about 8 months (first job) i don't hate my job but i don't love it either! I love the residents but I dont feel like I have time to give adequate care/ assessments because the bulk of my time is spent passing meds and charting! I also worry that my skills are not being well-developed and if in the future i want to transition to a hospital setting, i'm going to be far behind. The schedule is brutal (work 2 off 2 work 3 off 2 work 2 off 3) I work night shift and i'm constantly flipping between nights and days and its exhausting! ( i have a husband and young child too) Does it get better with time and experience? Is it much different in a hospital? I wonder if i made the right choice by taking this job or if i just should have held out to see if anything else opened up? I needed to be working and i thought this experience would be better than no experience. But i also know that i'm a loyal dependable person and i hate to dissapoint or wouldn't want to leave the facility in a bind by quitting... Any advice??

We just completed our 2nd week of school.... Right now we have 10hrs of lecture/week and a 3 hour skills lab,once clinicals start we will have only 5 hrs of lecture per week. During skills lab we spend about have the time going over the skills the why when and how... and then the other half is practice time, the instructor is on hand during this time to assist and then we can schedule additional time with the instructors if needed. The skills labs are pretty much open for practice as long as it is not being occupied by a class. Our SNA also was successful in getting a Nursing Student Lounge and it is available for use anytime as well. I certainly do understand, though. It's a lot to take in at one time.:)