Transitioning From LTC to Hospital

Nurses General Nursing

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After working for almost a year in LTC I have an interview next week for a possible position in a hospital. I attended a job fair a few months ago and had an initial interview there. The interview went well and the interviewer recommended that I might be a good fit on a surgical/medicine floor. While I am excited I am also nervous. I have never worked in a hospital setting but I did have clinical placements in hospitals. My past nursing experience has been in home care and LTC. I was wondering if anyone has tips, suggestions, advice or words of encouragement that would make the transitions as smooth as possible. Even though I do not have the job yet I would like to be prepared in case I do get the position or I may obtain a hospital position in the future. Also if anyone has suggestions on how to prepare for a hospital interview or things that I should ask during the interview it would be most appreciated. Thank you in advance.

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You are going to love it! You have all resources at your fingertips. If the doctor wants a Stat CBC, it is literally stat and chances are somebody from the lab will be on the floor in 10 minutes to draw it. If you need a Stat chest x-ray, it is STAT and you better believe the radiology tech will be there in 10 minutes to obtain it and there is no waiting hours for the report because the in house doctor (which you will have 24/7) will be the one who reads it. Need a Stat med? Pharmacy will deliver it within 15 minutes. So no more waiting 17 hours for lab work or x-ray results or meds to be delivered by pharmacy. My advice to you is get your IV insertion skills ASAP as many as you can and become good it, because EVERY BODY in the hospital has an IV. Even infants. Get familiar with the crash cart and ACLS, it's a hospital and people are sick so codes happen a LOT more frequently than LTC. You're going to be doing a lot more medically invasive procedures like inserting NG tubes, caring for patients with chest tubes, some hospitals I've worked at have even made the RN's do things like ABG's. My advice is pay close attention during your orientation, ask your preceptor questions, lots of questions, even if you think it's a dumb question these people are sick and their lives depend on you. And also, do as many things that you have never done before with your preceptor. I'm not trying to scare you, there will always be veteran nurses, nursing supervisors, charge nurses, etc who will be there to help you if you are in a bind but you have to let them know! Don't just expect them to know LOL. I worked in a hospital for 9 years and went to a LTC/SNF for 2 years and hated it. I'm now working in the ICU at an LTACH and am glad to be home again LOL.

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Also a typical med/surg unit you have up to 6 patients. Instead of 50. LOL. But remember they are acutely sick patients.

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I literally wanted to burn my nursing license after 2 years of working LTC/SNF. I went on like a 3 hour rant about it on this forum a few weeks back. The responses were absolutely hilarious one lady made a response about it that made me laugh so hard I was crying. Her response really made my day. And if you have any questions you can always post on here. There are so many nurses on here with years and years of experience. It's a good place whether you have a question or just want to vent. Good luck to you!

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First of all I would like to say thank you to everyone for the positive advice everyone's been giving. I have spoken to my friend and other people I know who work at the hospital. Some are saying good things and some are saying bad things about the unit, however mostly about the staff. They are saying that the staff are not as friendly as you would think. I am trying to not pre-judge the place, Im not even hired yet, before I get the position. Right now Im trying to prepare for the interview, trying to anticipate what they might ask. Anyone have any suggestions on how to prepare for a hospital interview.

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Also a typical med/surg unit you have up to 6 patients. Instead of 50. LOL. But remember they are acutely sick patients.

If I do get the job, that's the one thing I would be looking forward to. I rather look after 4-6 acute patients than the 50, lol.

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Just an update. I got the call and was offered the position and I accepted. I start my corporate orientation and my unit orientation soon. As previously mentioned I am excited and nervous at the some time more so now that I actually got the position. I just want everything to go as smoothly as possible. I know there will be bumps along the way but I just dont want to screw up majorly that I get fired or worse. I have thought about possibly taking an IV course, like someone mention its a hospital people will either have IVs plus blood work done.

I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions on being less nervous and what I can I expect on surgical/medicine floor. Any tips or advice would also be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

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Specializes in Varied.

Ask TONS of questions!!

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