If I want to work in long term care/home health/hospice, should I work in a hospital first to get more experience in acute setting ?
Yes. A nurse who has experience in acute settings will be able to recognize a failing patient in long term care.
Some of the long term care patients are unable to articulate their concerns or issues. We must be vigilant and use our knowledge of what some conditions look like to help these patients.
Additionally, something like a urinary tract infection or dehydration can be viewed as dementia or bad behavior by an inexperienced nurse.
It depends on the company/facility whether you need experience. I did have experience but some of the home health care agencies i worked for are now offering new graduate programs so you could always still apply. I do work home health pediatrics, high acuity- tracheotomy, ventilator dependent and GB feeding.
Even for home health the employer might look for experienced nurses. It’s all about your assessment skills since patients at home need to be assessed. The same for hospice. It might be helpful if you had a year of hospital experience.
Whether you should work in a hospital first to gain more experience in an acute setting before transitioning to long-term care, home health, or hospice largely depends on your career goals, personal interests, and the specific requirements of the jobs you're interested in.
Working in a hospital can provide valuable experience, especially in dealing with acute medical conditions and emergencies. It can also offer a fast-paced environment that exposes you to a wide variety of patients and conditions³.
However, each of the areas you mentioned - long-term care, home health, and hospice - has its own unique set of skills and experiences. For example, working in hospice care often means providing greater monitoring than you would in a hospital⁵. If you've lived in a nursing home or long-term care facility for a while, you may choose to stay and receive end-of-life care there⁴.
Ultimately, it's important to research and understand the expectations and qualifications for the specific roles you're interested in. Speaking with professionals who are already working in these fields or seeking advice from a career counselor or mentor can also provide valuable insights. Remember, there's no one-size-fits-all answer, and the best choice depends on your personal career path and goals.
Source:
(1) Medicare and Nursing Homes: Your Questions Answered - Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/medicare/does-medicare-cove....
(2) Hospice and Palliative Care - HelpGuide.org. https://www.helpguide.org/articles/caregiving/hospice-and-pal....
(3) Different Care Settings at the End of Life - National Institute on Aging. https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/end-life/different-care-settin....
(4) Frequently Asked Questions About Hospice Care. https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/hospice-and-palliative-care/fr....
(5) How hospice works | Medicare. https://www.medicare.gov/what-medicare-covers/what-part-a-cov....
Hospital experience allows us to have the basis for management, but at the same time, if the area where you want to work already has personnel with extensive experience, it would be good opportunity for new personnel to be trained by those with more experience.
Yes, get cute experience first, by all means. You will use a somewhat different skill set in long-term care, but will still be expected to do accurate assessments on all of your patients, something you will become adept at in acute care. In emergencies, depending on your facility's policies, you might be called upon to do certain procedures which you will become accustomed to in acute care. It's always a good idea to do acute care and really solidify your skills and critical thinking after school.
