Why can't I get a LTC job??

Published

Sorry so long!

I have been an LPN for a little over 3 years. Nursing is a second career choice for me (I am 39 years old). I always wanted to be a nurse but I got married at 20 and had my son at 21...and had to wait (for multiple reasons) to go back to school. My husband worked 1 FT job and 1 PT job while I was in nursing school, and I worked PT as a CNA.

When I went back to nursing school, I never wanted to be a doctors office nurse (not that there is anything wrong with that...it's just not for me). My first choice was LTC, and my second choice would be hospital. Guess where I've worked the last 3 years??? In a doctors office...and I hate every day of it!! I'm not happy with the nature of my job, my duties, my pay, my coworkers, or anything else for that matter. I absolutely love the elderly! I didn't grow up near my grandparents...so I always "adopted" elderly in my church. I would cook meals and visit with them for hours. My heart is in caring for them, and making sure that they are well taken care of.

The problem is that in my area there are hardly any LTC jobs posted, and when there are...I can't even seem to get an interview! I have had my résumé "reviewed" by a resume service and have been told that its excellent. I don't know what else I can do to try to get an interview. I don't know anyone that works at the facilities where I'm applying...so i don't have anyone on the "inside" that can pull for me.

Any advise would be appreciated!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

My work no longer hires LPNs. It may just be that, not you.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Star cold calling all the LTC's in your area. Ask to speak to the HR person.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
My work no longer hires LPNs. It may just be that not you.[/quote']

The positions that I am applying for are advertised as LPN positions...but there are tons of applications for only 1-2 open positions. I don't know how to get my application/resume noticed.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I had the same issue. I think a lot of places don't want to hire without any ltc facility experience.

Make sure you list all of your clinicals from nsg school on your resume, esp ltc facilities/places where you worked with the elderly. Just keep applying and applying..i was lucky enough to get into assisted living and out of a doctor's

office!! The care is so much better and you get to do a lot more hands on stuff than in a doctor's office.

Good luck!! :)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in LTC, Hospice, Case Management.

Have you thought of volunteering at this facility doing non-nursing things. This might give you an opportunity to rub elbows with the DON and others - when a position does open they will already know you and you will come to mind first.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ER, Trauma, Med-Surg/Tele, LTC.

Network! Do you still speak to anyone from your classes or from your job as a CNA? This has been the best way to hear of job openings or get my foot in the door some where.

EDIT: I just read the part you don't know anyone where you want to work. But still ask around. They may not be in the facilities you're applying to, but people you know may know people. Nursing is such a small world. Whenever I've started a new job, or whenever I've gone to a new clinical site in my bridge program, I find out there's always people there that know people I know.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Have you thought of volunteering at this facility doing non-nursing things. This might give you an opportunity to rub elbows with the DON and others - when a position does open they will already know you and you will come to mind first.

Thanks! Good idea! I'm going to check into some volunteer opportunities tomorrow!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Or maybe prn at a facility to get ypur foot in the door.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Or maybe prn at a facility to get ypur foot in the door.

I will be calling around to all the facilities in my area today to ask about any PRN opportunities! Thanks!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Yet at the same time there are posters in here claiming their place goes through a dozen nurses a week, yet you can't find a job in LTC, and actually WANT to work LTC? I worked LTC for decades, in the 80's/90/s. Then, it was common for nurses to walk off the job, and start a new job the next day- with MORE pay. Fast forward, nurses pay today has dropped hugely, fewer SNf's offer any benefits, the workload in LTC is even nastier, yet still- in here, the personal observations are so widely varied (can't get hired, can't wait to quit, etc.). For people new to nursing, all of these wildly varying observations must be confusing, and they are. Are nursing homes all he=l holes people make them out to be? Are there jobs in LTC? If so, where? I know of many nursing homes that have shut their doors in the past decade- even as the population ages faster and faster. This topic would be a good research issue for a thesis. It just seems to be all over the place. I do know one thing, there is a subtle push and decrease by to offload more and more people to home health, and the budgets show that clearly states are saving money that way. Meaning fewer nursing home patients, and more old people staying at home with HHA. That would mean the people remaining in the SNF are older, sicker, require more care..even as those places cut staff, add patient loads, which means more nurses quit....yet? OP can't get a job in LTC? It's all rather bizarre.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I finally got a call for an interview in LTC!!! I am so in shock....I've got until Monday to prepare!! Excited and nervous!!! Any advise for the interview is appreciated...plus any questions I should ask or not ask the interviewer. Thanks!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion