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Howdy folks! I hope you are all doing well amid these times. So I got a LTAC infection control/employee health interview but it is at a LTAC. As a RN, I worked at ER, medsurg and currently in Utilization Management, but never at LTAC. I'm sure lot of things are different like culture and interaction. What can you tell me about infection control nurse as someone who works at a LTAC? I want to have good knowledge of how LTACs roll before going into an interview. Thank you in advance!

If you did, then I owe you an apology but if you put yourself in my perspective, it appears from your first post you were talking me down and saying I'm insecure, which I didn't understand since that was uncalled for. If you didn't direct that to me, then we have a miscommunication problem and I owe you an apology.

it's only logical step to think it's strange to have a bachelor degree, then have a post-bachelor degree that takes minimum 4 yrs, not even accounting the yrs that OP was not in school for due to work. You mention my thought is d/t insecurity, but it's a rationale path of thought especially given the situation that this is online where anybody can say literally anything without proof, which by the way tells me judging by your post, that you're quite young, naive and immature.

Really? You went to nursing school, worked as RN AND got your MD at age 26? hmmmmmm

Simple. If your employer doesn't do anything about it, admit yourself as a patient (preferably psych in the ED) and punch the CNO in the face. Double points if you get the president.

Hot dang, are the dishes and plates paying you tips?

I didn't work at LTACH so I can't say too much in this area, but from what I know, most "office jobs" require 2-3 yrs of experience. It took me at least 3 yrs grinding at the bedside to be considered for care management job, and most employers do. Not sure how many yrs you need for MDS coordinator, or non-direct care at long-term facilities. Have you looked at much job postings for these positions?

You might want to try going off bedside altogether which is what I did. Work life balance is pretty awesome. You did mention that you would stay prn at current ICU gig to keep up your bedside skills, so in case if you hate office work, you can always go back. I work at home for a hospital care mgmt dept and M to F 8 to 5 no major holidays is a huge bonus, and I get paid way more than if I would have stayed at bedside. With your experience you can start at insurance companies doing UR or CM or even do education or quality mgmt. Good luck!

Been using it last two renewals myself and no trouble, but I've never been audited yet. I did have nurses more seasoned than myself use it a lot so I wouldn't worry. Just for your safety please do read the content just in case... I know it's tempting to just click yes.

In Dallas, that means a float pool nurse who gets paid twice more than regular staff because they are hired to float every shift. The pay is ridiculous. Not sure if that's same job as you describe though

100% agree with those who said to follow medical model. We will get nursing education so it won't be the same, but I find stuff like holistic nursing, therapeutic touch, "nursing research" (Look, if you wipe the pop, it reduces skin rash), and all these filler classes that nurses have to take so that what can be taught in less than a year is extended to 2. I remember classes like community, research, and few more utterly useless in my career. Medsurg, pharm, family, competencies should just be fine. Basically, don't try to over complicate

Was this topic too "ugh, not this paper-pusher off the bedside" type? I know bedside nurses hate management, myself included, I guess that didn't work out...

Good day nurses! I am a UR nurse who's been off bedside 3 years doing utilization review, and currently in a hospital setting. The longer I have been in this setting, I am getting to feel that the career advancement is very restricted as UR is confined to only what it does, and not many opportunities for leadership roles. What are the next big things for nurses in healthcare? For example, I believe IT nursing and informatics, telehealth has been quite big lately because of expansion of technology in hospital and charting systems. Also focus on compliance and quality because of stronger regulations hasve been on the rise. Please let me know what you think about different areas of nursing that you recommend for young nurse who is thinking about furthering the career and making myself marketable: quality improvement, risk management, compliance, CDI, performance improvement, patient safety, and so on. I am sure as many of you have been in this longer than I have, you have insights that I do not have. Thank you!

You will get it!!! I probably applied close to 100 openings over the span of year or two nonstop before crossing over. It's game of timing and luck

I'm there with been there done that. I do UR for hospital system but work at home. Anytime it gets even slightly stressful, I remind myself of the crap working at bedside. Honestly, this is the easiest money I've ever made. I work in pjs for crying out loud. I'm more surprised the cm/ur firld is not super saturated.

Thank you for the replies. I would pursue PA but of course finaiancally and from time perspective, NP makes more practical sense. On top of that, my goal isn't being in the OR assisting surgeon, but more like working outpatient basis for better work life balance. It's a catch 22 situation for me: I don't want to pursue FNP because I am not interested in women's health or peds, rather want to work with mainly adults, plus the AGNP being more specific that may help in equipping me for the population I want and make me more "marketable," but also FNP being more versatile and able to broaden the options.

Hello sirs and madams. I know this is quite frequented topic by aspiring NPs so I had to ask. I am a RN in Dallas TX and made decision to pursue NP, but unsure which specialty will fit my goal the most. I prioritize my family, so I don't want to work 50-60 hrs and some more, though I can if required. I will be happy with 40hrs and quality time with my wife and kids, so I am fine with outpatient, but I also want to work with procedural specialists such as orthopedic and do preop/postop, assessment, etc instead of primary care settings like family clinic. With posts concerning FNP saturation and what have you, would pursing more specialized AGNP be better suited for my career preference, or would FNP be fine and better due to higher versatility? Thank you.

Sorry to tell you this but almost, if not all nursing jobs that are office based with regular hours only consider if you have bedside experience. Case management or utilization management are typical non-bedside jobs nurses typically cross over once they get enough bedside experience, and usually requires minimum 2 to 3 years just even to apply. Unless you want to get masters or change career, there's not really a way around it; you have to get bedside experience. Some people are lucky like me and do 3 years and get out to push papers, some pay their dues until you see the dust of their bones on the floor since they grind them out on the floor and finally made to switch. Either way, you can't escape bedside experience to get off the bedside. You will be able to broaden your options after initial 2 to 3 yrs, so hope you find a specialty you can stick it out

Hello good nurses. I will cut straight to the point. I am at UR department at hospital and I like getting hospital paid. I think there are so many entities that are ready to pounce on hospitals and say "Gotcha!" And smack them on the head with a hammer (think CMS, insurance, hcap scores, etc) and no entities that advocate for these hospitals, so I dont mind siding up with these guys. Main thing is, I want to go the direction where hospitals value you the most: where the money is, and the one who brings it in (i.e hospitals love revenue generating providers like interventional cardiologist). What masters do you recommend then? MSN, MBA, MHA, what service or department should I be looking into? Quality, risk, revenue cycle, infection control, patient safety, etc. Thank you!

Almost 3 years off bedside... when things got bad at desk job, I thought about going back to ER. I had a dream that night, taking care of an elderly lady who walked into the ER fine, and when time to d/c, she complained that she can't walk and needs to be wheeled out of ER. I woke up sweaty and yelling pissed, then thought about the idea of going back to ER.... then said "yeah, screw that," and went back to bed.

I remeber hearing about some nurse in my early career, that she was fired after whistle blowing. I questioned my preceptor if that was possible due to protection and she scoffed and said administration came up with couple of things like not writing her name on all the boards or something of those caliber to let her go. Not sure how true that was but saw plenty of times admin throws people under the bus, which is why I never trust the whistleblower protection, and yes if you must, do anonymously. Some people tend to think their hospital is on their side.... pfff not. They give me money, and I give labor.

I am an oddball in cases like this. I believe that one does not owe anything to an employer, just as the employer owes absolutely nothing to the employee, especially at-will states like where I live. Hence you see employers throwing staff under the bus like lukewarm pancake. You don't owe anything to them unless you signed a contract, and believe me they do not give 2 cents about you. An employment is mutual trade between two parties. You provide labor that they need to generate revenue and profit, and they provide you with benefit and compensation that you accept; it is nothing more than that, and nothing less. I will say at least staying a 6 month before giving up is a good practice, but if you don't find interest in it and you hate it, you are free to go. Don't let anyone hold you back. You don't owe them anything, and they don't owe you anything. Just don't do that too often, since that will look terrible in your resume if possible employer sees the pattern.

Answer: apply apply apply, and then apply some more. If you have at minimum 2 years of bedside experience, preferably 3 to 5, then you can find these your/CM jobs on indeed or simplyhired or whatever and apply. Key is applying again and keep trying. I just got a hospital your job and I had at least 6-7 interviews before landing this one, and I probably applied to close to 50 likely more in last few months I had been looking. These opportunities as you can tell don't come easy especially if you are trying to step into it. Don't be afraid to get your feet wet at smaller third-party companies. You can get experience and then leave on your terms. Good luck!

the only times I saw administration worked like their pants were on fire to get ER extra help is when charge decided to call divert. County hospitals did divert all the time... must have some financial negativity if hospital diverts *shrug. Anyway, looks like Ms. Pugh will be out of job anytime now with some bogus reasons that admin makes up.

Oh wow, thank you, didn't know that!!! I guess one benefit of working at payer side is that we got to enjoy relaxing major holidays. Yes, no kidding, I would have Thursday and Friday off for Thanksgiving so everyone had 4-days off including Saturday and Sunday; same went for Christmas, and 3 days off for New Years. I don't regret changing over, just will have to adapt to the hospital UM culture.