Published
As someone who's been a charge nurse in a nursing home for some time now (as first RN job) I must admit that I was wrong and many on here have been wrong as well.
The position is looked down upon but I can assure you there is a lot of critical thinking, decision making and responsibility in that position. As the lone RN in charge of 8-10 Aides, 3 LPN and 65-70 residents it is a huge task and responsibility. Not to mention when things go south for a resident, you might as well be a nurse in the rain forest or Kenya (as far as supplies are concerned). All you have is your critical thinking skills.
Nursing home RNs are in fact real RNs.
For me, LTC *would* be a job of last resort, not because I look down on LTC nurses but because of the insanely bad working conditions. After my last LTC job, I swore I would sell my body on the street before I worked in another SNF. Now I will only go back if my family is facing immediate homelessness.
Only being a DON, again, would be a downer, I've done that three times, while rewarding both financially and clinically, the 24/7 gets old, for me it was not the resident and families, it was mostly employee work ethics....which I really understand....
GaleSRN, BSN, RN
76 Posts
I have never looked down on any nurse. There is a place for everyone of us. You just have to have the courage to go with your heart and do what you want. I have done every kind of nursing in 40 years. The last 15 have been in dialysis. Nurses usually can figure out what their heart wants to do. Geriatric nursing is a specialty. Some of those people have nobody else except the staff at the home. What a gift you give them if you truly love what you do.