LTC to hospital.

Hi all, I wanted to know if any nurses have found it difficult to get hired at a hospital after working LTC for a few years. I am currently a LVN working LTC and I love it. I am taking my pre reqs towards my RN and ultimatley want to work oncology or wound care in a hospital. Some of my peers have told me to work as an aid in the hospital because I will not get hired only having LTC and Homehealth under my belt. I have looked into those positions but since I pay for school out of pocket it wouldn't work for me. So to my original question will working LTC, hurt my chances of getting hired by a hospital? All info is appreciated. Thanks.
Our hospital is happy to hire RNs with who come from skilled nursing facilities. If your current employer receives monies from medicare and is accredited, they will even give you credit for years of experience. If you bridge from LVN to RN, you are also eligible for our new hire grad program straight out of school. I would look at the hiring policies or union contracts at your nearby hospitals as the best way to gauge what your options are. Good luck with your studying!

I went from a snf to ltac hospital and am now on acute care. It's possible. If you have a rehab hospital in your area you might have more luck there.

It seems there are different theories on this topic here on AN. I think it just depends on the hiring manager's opinion. Many acute care nurses and NM's look down on you if you come from a LTC, which was my experience.I think there are many transferable skills and LTCs have higher acuity patients than they used to.

Quote from hope3456It seems there are different theories on this topic here on AN. I think it just depends on the hiring manager's opinion. Many acute care nurses and NM's look down on you if you come from a LTC, which was my experience.I think there are many transferable skills and LTCs have higher acuity patients than they used to.

I believe you need to do research around your areas you want to potentially work at. There are hospitals that will accept nurses from LTC. But is the hospital you want to work at accepting nurses with only LTC experience? Talk to HR....talk to the unit managers and find out.I was a new grad who started at a LTC. I desperately wanted to work at the hospital b/c I love acute care. Unfortunately for me, none of the hospitals accepted RNs with only LTC experience. How do I know? I talked to everyone, from HR....to calling the unit managers directly.....to asking ppl who worked at the hospitals to help me get in. They all said the same thing...I had to start as an aide b/c LTC experience would not translate into experience taking care of acute care pts. Because of my pride, I only kept applying for RN positions to no avail. I made the decision to swallow my pride. I worked as a nurse tech for seven years struggling to get into nursing school. Once I got in, I only wanted to move forward. Starting as an aide again was a sting b/c I worked so hard to get my degree only to start as an aide again. I also had to sacrifice a pay cut. But.....with all the struggles, the decision I made was the best thing I could have done. I got into the new grad program and work at a top rated hospital that provides the best care for patients here. And.....the staff I work with are the best colleagues I have ever worked with. So my advice is to do your research and find out what the hospitals you are applying for are looking for. Best of luck to you!!!

I worked in LTC first. It really shouldn't be a big deal. If that is the only job available right now then take it and then keep applying for acute care jobs. You can also network and find people that work in hospitals through your LTC job and use that as an in to get your hospital job. I hated LTC but it was very good experience for me...trial by fire.

Two RN's I went to school with and myself all started out working in LTC. One got a job on a med-surg respiratory unit after a year, one got a job on a telemetry floor after a little over a year, I got a job at a LTAC hospital working on their acute care tele unit where I worked for 6 months before landing a job in the ED. So it is possible. I think I good resume showing your transferable skills really helps.

As a new grad got a job whereever they would hire me....it wasnt pretty, a SNF with a vent unit with a high turnover rate. Stuck it out for a 11 months, got hired into a pediatric LTC, worked there 2.5 years. Now for the last year have been working in acute pediatrics in an awsome facility.I never gave up, I knew I wanted to work in the hospital. I started out as a CNA in an ED so I knew I wanted the pace that a hospital can provide. I kept applying to any position that I felt I was quailified for, never gave up

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE!! Great advice and you all gave me the hope I needed. Thanks again!

Thank you for the advice, I will start to ask the hospitals HR. If I have to start at a lower position it will be worth it in the end. Thanks again.

I've had some bad luck with this, mostly because I am visibly disappointed when the person interviewing me tells me there are no CNA's to do all of the ADLS I don't want to do.