Stay in the know.

Join our free nurse community to get updates on trending questions and the topics you care about

Which is better choice for new grad nurse: LTAC (longterm acute care ) or hospital? Got offer from LTAC but haven’t gotten any offers from a hospital yet.


October 18th, 2022

Hospital would be a better choice for a new grad. It would be better to put all the new skills to work on a Med/Surg unit. These days there are a lot of older patients in the hospital. Longterm acute care is not for young nurses. You will not be learning much if you are looking at advancing to specialty areas. If the only job you can get is in longterm acute care, go for it.
But move on as soon as you can.

February 18th, 2024

As a new nurse. Pls go to acute. I started with LTAC and now that I know better , and now in acute setting, I knew that was a mistake.

September 15th, 2023

I am an RN of 30 years, now retired. I believe if you can get experience in a med/surg unit (or other acute care settings) for at least 1-2 years, it will give you an excellent background to branch out to whatever type of nursing job you want to end up with. You need a broad range of different types of nursing care in order to handle whatever may present itself to you. There's nothing wrong with an LTAC, but your experiences will be limited to more stable types of patients. Yes they are still sick and some are very sick, but the acute care setting will help you to build your skills and give you a great background wealth of knowledge.

July 8th, 2023

Hospital! Look for one with a new grad program
Or new grad internship. Long term care will only teach you how NOT to be an excellent nurse. In California it is stunning what happens in these facilities. Stay with the hospital. Look for one connected to an academic setting. Good luck! Don’t give up!