transitioning from LTC to Hospital Setting.

[preezy_]

hello nurses,

I have worked in a long term care setting for 2 years and I want to apply to a hospital.

I m aware I need to brush up on my knowledge and skills to apply to hospitals. I was looking to apply to a med surg floor.

I wanted to ask you all, what material do you think I should focus on?

[vintagemother, BSN, CNA, LVN, RN]

I transitioned from SNF/LTC to an acute med-surg hospital after I obtained my ADN.

As far as what to study...if it's truly med-surg and not tele-onc-ED or other critical care, you already know a lot about your basic pt interventions and typical disease processes.

The biggest difference, I think, is that while you'll have fewer pts, you will need to know more about them: e.g. Discharge planing, asking for and receiving new orders daily, etc.

im not sure how one would study for this, except to learn to be super organized because there's so much info to know on each pt.

Every so often, we get a pt with something going on that requires me to research. However, the nurses who've worked there a long while tell me it happens to them to, that they have to look up the policy for managing the issue.

Examples include: blood transfusions, chest tube mgmt, IV ATB infiltration, TPN administration.

Common issues I come across that I'm not as familiar with, coming from an LTC background, include: hanging multiple IV fluids to 1 pt, management of central lines, giving a super detailed report 2x per shift (including discharge plans and important interventions, as well as typical report info).