Published Nov 11, 2013
twinner05
62 Posts
Does anyone work at one of the select speciality hospitals in the united states? If so ,what position do you hold and do you like it?
Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN
20,908 Posts
what do you mean specialty hospital?
Its a long term care speciality chain of hospitals across the united states.
nrsang97, BSN, RN
2,602 Posts
They are a chain of LTAC hospitals that typically rent space inside a hospital. Where I work they rent out a floor have their own staff, and use out radiology, lab, transport, and other services. So they are a hospital in a hospital. There are a few in our area. I have no idea what it is like to work there. I did meet one of their admissions coordinators and she really liked the flexibility.
What do you want to know about them? You mean a Long Term Acute care? I have supervised.managed/worked at one
They are long term acute care. They do trachs, vents, lines, bedside dialysis, and wound care, and patients on cardiac monitors as well.
Been there,done that, ASN, RN
7,241 Posts
I have done agency work @ 2 local Select facilities.
They are a joke.
7 patients on day shift, 2 vents, all on tube feedings requiring crushed meds.
You wait in line at the Pyxis to dispense your own meds ( hour wasted there).
22 dressing changes and a charge nurse sitting @ the desk reading the paper and eating donuts.
Need I say more?
westieluv
948 Posts
I am an acute dialysis nurse who provides treatments in one of their Regency Hospital locations. One thing I have noticed is that in the Med/Surg area, the RNs are made to utilize something called pod nursing where each nurse has their own set of 4-5 patients (on day shift), but also has to provide either wound care, meds, or some other specialized area, to an entire hallway of patients along with their own, which often times means passing meds on 13-14 patients on day shift. The idea is that if one nurse passes meds, another dresses the wounds, etc., etc., then the work is divided up evenly. The reality, though, is that the nurses absolutely HATE it and talk constantly about quitting. Morale seems to be rock bottom. OTOH, over in ICU, the nurses each have 2 patients max, and spend much of the day sitting around talking. It's a real feast or famine kind of work environment, depending on which area you work in. And the ICU? Wow. I have gone into too many dialysis patients' rooms and set up my equipment and then when it's time to put them on, realized that the blood pressure cuff on their bedside monitor is lying on the floor somewhere, nowhere near the patient. I'm not sure how "intensive" this care is.
I don't mean to imply that these conditions prevail in all Select Specialty Hospitals, and hopefully this location is the exception, but from what I have witnessed in this one, they can have their jobs!
CharleeFoxtrot, BSN, RN
840 Posts
I worked at one and the experience was excellent, high acuity stay-on-yer-toes census and I learned a ton. Money was good too. Got my experience and I left to go into a position outside the hospital scene. The corporate culture was one of "the beatings shall continue until morale improves". My coworkers for the most part were great, the charges worked their Keisters off but the strain of doing more with less got to me. They had an awful time keeping the CNA schedules at full staff and that tripled my workload some days.
Almost all of the patients are in full isolation for one thing or another which added another layer of difficulty. Telemetry monitors, trachs, dialysis, critical drips, multiple IV AB therapies, complex wound care...yeah it was all that and more. An average shift was chaos broken up by sheer terror on occasion. I loved it.
Why did I go? All of the above stress plus my body just couldn't handle the "turn team" concept where at least once a shift -twice on weekends- you would partner up with another nurse or RT and go and turn half the patients on the floor, 20+/- patients. You lost an hour off your own patients and it was back breaking. Oh yeah, and of course you turned your own people to do wound care or hygiene PRN too during the day
Yeah, I loved the complexity of the patients and am proud of the work I did there but I am far happier and healthier where I am at now.