Hey nurses. I'm graduating in May with a BSN and having (like most GNs) a heck of a time finding a job. My current employment, a nursing home, has offered me a nearly full-time position. However, I really don't want to work in a nursing home. My career goals are/were to work in an inpatient psych unit and go back to school for a DNP in psych. (I worked on a inpatient psych unit as a nurse extern and fell in love.)
The nursing home knows my heart really isn't into it, but they offered me the job anyway. However, they are requiring that I commit to at least a year there. And I need to give them an answer pretty soon.
I know I should be thankful to have a job when many don't. However, I don't want to be in long-term care. As soon as the year ends, I would be right back to applying to hospitals again. At that point, though, I wonder if I'd be even less attractive as an applicant, since I'd have been away from acute care for a while.
Should I take the job and wait a year? Would I be labeled as a LTC nurse? Or should I take my chances and keep applying to hospitals?
I'm actually planning/hoping to do much the same thing. I'll be able to get my LPN next summer, then I plan/hope to get an LPN job at a LTC while taking my RN courses the following year, and hopefully I'll have an "automatic in" for an RN position the next summer. After I have a year under my belt as an RN (plus the year of LPN experience), I'll be in a much stronger position to get a "dream job" placement.[/quote
If you plan on taking RN classes while working at LTC be sure to allow yourself plenty of time before you have to arrive at your RN class. For example, lets say you get off at 7am and your class is at 8am. Not a good idea. My experience was that I was forced to work overtime many times. I was suppose to leave at 7am but then my patients always decided to have their "medical emergencies" and "falls" at 6:45am so I got stuck a lot.
Specializes in Cardio-Pulmonary; Med-Surg; Private Duty.
If you plan on taking RN classes while working at LTC be sure to allow yourself plenty of time before you have to arrive at your RN class. For example, lets say you get off at 7am and your class is at 8am. Not a good idea. My experience was that I was forced to work overtime many times. I was suppose to leave at 7am but then my patients always decided to have their "medical emergencies" and "falls" at 6:45am so I got stuck a lot.
Thanks for the heads-up. I'm *hoping* to just work weekends so it won't interfere with school. I'm also realistic about the fact that these are just hopes/dreams, and reality may end up being extremely different from what I'm thinking!
Hello! Just started a full time job at an assisted living facility and I feel really good about my decision to take the position. I am a new grad and was worried that my medical nursing skills may get rusty. Well, maybe they will, but I am optimistic that technical skills can be fine tuned with time. For sure I am constantly asked to use my assessment skills. Also spend a lot of time each day with residents and their families, which requires lots of patience, flexibility, education and clear & open communication. I can tell you for sure that already there are many obvious psych issues, and honestly, I haven't even MET half of the residents yet! Best of luck to you.
Blackcat99
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