Does LTAC count as critical care?

cathys01 · Mar 8, 2009

I think the best way to find out would be to contact the schools you want to apply to and ask them.

What kinds of drips? Titrating inotropes and vasoactive drips? I doubt you'll see those in an LTAC, but maybe I'm wrong.

nurselizk · Mar 8, 2009

Doubt it. Vent experience will be helpful, but you won't see unstable patients in LTAC. When they tell you they want drip experience, they mean pressors. LTAC by definition doesn't take pts on Levo, neosynephrine, etc. Find an ICU, preferably a SICU or busy cardiovascular surgery ICU.

Jo Dirt · Mar 9, 2009

I was under the impression that those in LTAC are basically the old people they don't want clogging up the ICU yet their families don't want to give up and make them DNRs so they dump them in LTAC.

Someone on another thread said these were unstable patients, you and a RT were their rapid response/code team and that is why these patients are called "trainwrecks." Acute doesn't necessarily mean unstable, but in a way, aren't they there because they are not stable?

If they were stable, wouldn't they be on a med-surg floor?

But if this isn't critical care experience, why the hey are they going to spend 3 months sending me through critical care courses and training me on codes?

I wonder if it will put you at the front of the line to get transferred to ICU to get critical care experience?

Jo Dirt · Mar 9, 2009

Doubt it. Vent experience will be helpful, but you won't see unstable patients in LTAC. When they tell you they want drip experience, they mean pressors. LTAC by definition doesn't take pts on Levo, neosynephrine, etc. Find an ICU, preferably a SICU or busy cardiovascular surgery ICU.

Are "extended care" and LTAC the same thing?

Summitk2 · Mar 9, 2009

Knowing what experience to have for anesthesia school is not that complicated... You want the sickest patients you can get your hands on. Sick, sick, sick. Hovering on the edge of life and death, with you entrusted as someone with the skills and knowledge to keep them alive for another shift. I don't think LTAC fits this description. :twocents:

It's not what "counts" as critical care by definition, but rather what gives you the skills sought by the anesthesia school (and to a greater degree edges out your competition).

cessnadriver · Mar 9, 2009

In a word... NO.

Jo Dirt · Mar 10, 2009

In a word... NO.

Thank you for such a compassionate answer.

Jo Dirt · Mar 10, 2009

Knowing what experience to have for anesthesia school is not that complicated... You want the sickest patients you can get your hands on. Sick, sick, sick. Hovering on the edge of life and death, with you entrusted as someone with the skills and knowledge to keep them alive for another shift. I don't think LTAC fits this description.
It's not what "counts" as critical care by definition, but rather what gives you the skills sought by the anesthesia school (and to a greater degree edges out your competition).

Yea, well, if this doesn't describe sick patients I don't know what a sick patient is...this is how another poster described LTAC:

working in a long term acute care hospital is challenging......I just started working in one...this is my second job...graduated in june 07...passed the boards July... my first job was not challenging. I love this one......its rehab with med surg and some telemetry. I get at the most 6 patients but 5 is the norm....and our patients stay at least 2 weeks....

some folks confuse LTAC with long term care..........no comparison

Here is a great description of what you will encounter as a nurse in a LTAC:-

LTAC stands for "long-term acute care" hospital. LTAC hospitals treat critically ill, medically complex patients who suffer from multiple organ system failures - active disorders of many parts of the body. These conditions include cardiopulmonary disorders, wounds, kidney diseases, complex infections, and neurological disorders such as head and spinal cord injury and stroke. Because they are medically complex, our patients often are dependent on technology, such as mechanical ventilators, total parenteral nutrition, respiratory or cardiac monitors and dialysis machines for continued life support. At our hospitals, we strive to help our patients recover through a carefully orchestrated multidisciplinary team approach.

great place to gain experience.

First, to correct some common misperceptions:

LTAC is not chronic care.

LTACs are not skilled nursing facilities.

LTACs are not rehabilitation facilities.

LTACs are not short-term acute hospitals.

Voodoo7 · Mar 10, 2009

If you really take that much offense to what cessnadriver wrote, you are gonna have a long road ahead of you in anesthesia school. He/She answered your question, no frills attached. Sorry if the answer wasn't what you were looking for. No matter what others have told you, LTAC is NOT acceptable. If you think they are "sick sick" then you really have no idea. I'm not saying working LTAC is easy, far from it! The kind of experience you need is the kind where the patient is trying to die every 5 minutes, and having 1 nurse to 1 patient is sometimes not even enough. I suggest you shadow at some (real) ICUs, and pick with one has the highest acuity. Forgot LTAC.

Jo Dirt · Mar 10, 2009

I can't see where anyone took offense at anything. Please show me.

Voodoo7 · Mar 10, 2009

OK, maybe offense wasn't the right word. But your "Thanks for your compassionate answer" reeked of passive aggressiveness. It seemed a strange thing to post to someone who succinctly answered your question.