Subacute rehab vs. acute care medsurg/telemetry

[kmend11]

If you don't enjoy subacute rehab, would a medsurg/telemetry floor in the hospital be any different? I have a 6-12 patient load depending on the day at the rehab job which is a decent load, and i like that the patients are stable for the most part....I know hospital medsurg tends to be around 5-6 but i feel that the work will be similar, if not more difficult in the hospital, can anyone comment on their experience btwn the 2? I was considering going into home health after i gain enough experience in subacute rehab rather than doing hospital nursing. A friend of mine suggested ICU or ER but i don't think that will be for me b/c ER is unpredictable and u have to enjoy the rush which i don't, i like working as a slow steady pace plus not knowing what will pop in the door scares me. As for ICU, I like you only have 2 patients but their clinging to life in some cases and requires a very long orientation and i feel it wouldnt be for me either. One of the biggest problems i have at my current workplace is the low pay, the hospital would pay me more.

[Sour Lemon]

If you don't enjoy subacute rehab, would a medsurg/telemetry floor in the hospital be any different?

There are many reasons one might "not enjoy" a particular specialty or specific job. Without knowing what you find undesirable, it's hard to guess what might be a better fit.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

If you enjoy stability, MedSurg is not for you. These settings have a high level of admissions/discharges and a constant barrage of orders to deal with. Patient stays are only ~ 3 days, which gives rise to an accelerated pace in order to accomplish everything that must be done for each patient. Frequent MedSurg gripes include high workload, LOTS of paperwork requirements and never enough time for adequate patient education.

If you're looking for a bit more money, you may want to investigate LTACs (at lease in my part of the world). They have higher intensity patients, but they do have longer lengths of stay.