Working in acute care after long term care

[Nurse_CrystalRN]

How difficult is it to get a job in a hospital or other acute care setting after working in long term care? I am a new grad and I've been having a miserable time finding a job in a hospital. I literally would have taken a job at any hospital on any unit within a 50 mile radius of my house. All I've been getting are offers in a long term and rehab facility. But I'm scared of taking a job in ltc and then being stuck there forever because I don't have "acute care experience". I have my heart set on entering emergency and trauma nursing and getting my specialty certifications in that area. Did anyone who started off in ltc ever make it to eventually do what they wanted to do?

[Hoosier_RN, MSN]

Some experience is better than none...if you don't land a job, you will lose skills and become unmarketable for hire in acute care. Start in ltc, you don't have to stay there

[LPNtoRNin2016OH, LPN]

I am an LPN, currently in my bridge program, but have worked and am currently working in LTC/Skilled. Besides age, I will tell there is not much difference between the patients I have on my skilled unit compared to many patients I see in medsurg during clinicals, I just have the double the amount a RN would have in a hospital. Although physically exhausting due to the amount of patients I have, I get do quite a bit in LTC. Wound vacs, PICC lines (my state allows LPNs to flush and administer ATB), IVs, inserting catheters, post op patients that could no longer stay at the hospital due to insurance (but really should have stayed), amputations, and while rare, I have taken care of a patient with a lung drain and vent patients. I know you see more in the hospital but this is a good place to start if you can't find a job. Just be weary of ratios in LTC. For example, I will not take a job with a ratio over 1:25, anything after that is impossible. 10 of those are skilled, the rest long timers. The hardest thing in LTC/skilled for me is knowing I can't do everything I would like to do for my residents because there is just no time. If I get my meds passed, treatments, charting, observe for any change of conditions all done in one shift, I consider it a success, oh that and keeping them off the floor! I have worked with many RNs before who started out in LTC and then transitioned to the hospital after a year or so.