Transferring to inpatient physical rehab

[BlueSilver22]

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to get some perspective to help reassure myself that transferring to another floor in the hospital is the right move.  I currently work on the progressive care unit (PCU) in the hospital setting and find myself exhausted on my days off trying to recover from the physical and mental stress of work.  I enjoy the acuity of PCU and the skills I have developed, but find myself ready for a slow down.  A friend of mine works on the inpatient physical rehab floor and says it is a lot less stressful.  I have floated down there and the staff seems genuinely happy there.  The nurses seem to have downtime at night, which is nice.  Your patient load could be anywhere from 6 to 8 patients, on a rare occasion maybe more depending on the census and staffing.  But no heated high flow, chest tubes, critical drips like vasopressors, cardizem, insulin, etc., constant monitor alarms, and the constant hustle and bustle that is on PCU.  On physical rehab, they have the occasional IV fluid infusion or IV antibiotics and mostly po meds, insulin, etc.  There is no fear of the potential for me to get bored as I am in FNP school currently and could fill any downtime with homework and studying.  

While I am capable of the high acuity care and stressful workload on PCU, I am not a thrill chaser and wouldn't mind stepping down to a lower acuity unit to have some mental peace.  

Any thoughts or insights?

[barcode120x, RN, NP]

I have never worked in inpatient/outpatient rehab as a nurse (7 years prior tele experience as an RN), but as a current FNP that works in the rehab SNF setting, I think it will be a great experience especially if you are looking to pursue rehab in your future FNP career, which I highly recommend. This specialty field in medicine is actually called physical medicine and rehabilitation (aka PM&R) and you work with physiatrists. Long story short, this job is very accommodating, great compensation, and an amazing work life balance, though I am speaking from the outpatient (SNF) setting and not inpatient. As a FNP, there is no specialty programs, schooling, or certification to get into this specialty. You would be training directly under your physiatrist as I did for a few months before being on my own. If you do end up moving to this nurse position, this will open your your doors in terms of networking with potential physiatrists who may hire you when you finish FNP school. Hope this info helps if you are still deciding what you want to pursue as a future FNP!

[BlueSilver22]

barcode120x said:

I have never worked in inpatient/outpatient rehab as a nurse (7 years prior tele experience as an RN), but as a current FNP that works in the rehab SNF setting, I think it will be a great experience especially if you are looking to pursue rehab in your future FNP career, which I highly recommend. This specialty field in medicine is actually called physical medicine and rehabilitation (aka PM&R) and you work with physiatrists. Long story short, this job is very accommodating, great compensation, and an amazing work life balance, though I am speaking from the outpatient (SNF) setting and not inpatient. As a FNP, there is no specialty programs, schooling, or certification to get into this specialty. You would be training directly under your physiatrist as I did for a few months before being on my own. If you do end up moving to this nurse position, this will open your your doors in terms of networking with potential physiatrists who may hire you when you finish FNP school. Hope this info helps if you are still deciding what you want to pursue as a future FNP!

Thank you for your response, barcode120x!  I think the transfer to inpatient rehab will be a good opportunity also.  It would be nice to someday work as a midlevel in a specialty once I become an FNP, but I haven't put much thought into what specialty I will pursue.  The main benefit of the transfer would definitely be less stress which will contribute positively to my studying and focus in school.  I didn't think about the added bonus that the people I will encounter may help me in terms of networking, which may open up potential opportunities for jobs later on.  

[Corey Narry, MSN, RN, NP]

I worked briefly as an RN in an acute in-pt rehab unit and it was during the time I was also considering NP school. I was working at a very toxic Med-Surg unit in a hospital that was known for poor management and less than ideal employment practices.

It was a move that helped with my mental health for a bit...the pace was slow, the other nurses were fun and easy to get along with, the staff turn over was not as crazy, the afternoons especially are super slow and would have allowed me to read if I were in NP school at the time. In the end, as a young nurse, it made me miss high acuity nursing to the point that I left within 6 months to transfer to a different hospital...in the ER at a Level 1 trauma facility!

It did give me an idea of what it is like to work in PM&R and did a stint as an NP in PM&R for a little over a year after I became an NP. I know rehab is not for me but I can see how it is great for some people, they don't call it the quality of life specialty for no reason.

[barcode120x, RN, NP]

Corey Narry said:

they don't call it the quality of life specialty for no reason.

500% agree. After 7 years of bedside (worked on tele, charge nurse, and worked all through COVID), I am loving the position and the work-life balance/quality of life. I honestly can't help but boast that I'm done with work within 2-3 hours each day, plus maybe an hour for charting. I'm a huge proponent of going for rehab specialty whether its as a PMR provider, PT, OT, ST, etc.