Nurses, what would you do...?

I am a new nurse (LPN), and I was offered a per diem job (even though I applied for full-time) at the local hospital, known for its bad reputation. After months of confusion and run-arounds, I finally signed an offer letter. The next week, however, I was called in and told that I actually could not have the job, because LPNs can't work per diem without a year of experience. That was it, they sent me away with nothing!

Needless to say, I am irate with them. But I live in a small town and sadly, there aren't a lot of other options. I am looking at a rehab/long-term care facility, but will I get the kind of experience there that the medical/surgical floor at the hospital would have given me? What to do?

I should also add that I am starting my 2nd year of nursing school in August and I have a 3 year-old, so I wanted to keep local if possible. If I didn't have my daughter, I would be all for it! There are some great places about an hour from here.

I was an LPN for 10 years before going to RN school. I found that the experience that I received was both beneficial and damaging. #1: Remember that Nursing school is just simply prepping you for Boards; NOT real nursing. #2: Long term care and acute care are two different areas of care. You will get experience in the long term care center that you can use on the acute floor. You will get better experience on an acute floor however it is much more stressful!! Long term care is stressful too with having more patients per assignment. Long term care doesn't change though...Acute care is ALWAYS changing. I would take the long term care job and get what I could get. Beggars can't be choosey, if you know what I mean.

You may need to look for work outside of the city or area in which you live. Millions of people do just that, and commute to work everyday. It is always far more challenging to find opportunities for decent work with decent pay in smaller towns & like areas.

You are either going to have to take the year of experience in the Nursing Home/Rehab facility in order to get a job at the hospital, or you will have to go outside of your small town to get you year of experience. If there is no other work in the town you live in, then it means you take what there is and suck it up for the year. It won't be the same as the experience you would get at the hospital, but you will certainly get experience. In the Nursing Home/ Rehab, you will be doing things that RN's don't even do in a hospital and you will get lots of experience. You have to decide what is right for you. Leave and work away for a year or longer, or stay???

I firmly believe that all nurses, regardless of specialty, can benefit from at least one year of hospital experience (preferably med-surg.) There is nothing wrong with LTC, but acute care is the way to go if you want to see and learn.
Obviously that hospital sucks. I'm sorry they did that to you, but I have to say at least you know now. Look outside of your community; the commute would be worth it, at least to get some experience. Good Luck!!!!