RN Jobs in the Geriatric Setting

Long term care facilities and nursing homes are continually seeking qualified registered nurses to staff their shifts. Skilled nursing facilities require the expertise of the registered nurse because the acuity of some skilled nursing home residents is very high.

The registered nurse working in the geriatric setting must be competent in many different levels of skills. Many people have the idea that nurses that work in the geriatric or nursing home setting do not require the same skill level as the registered nurse that works in a hospital setting. This is usually not the case because registered nurses who work in a skilled nursing facility must be proficient in clinical skills because many of the residents who are admitted to these facilities requires feeding tubes, IV's and tracheostomies. Some long term care facilities even have ventilator dependent patients.

The geriatric setting can offer the registered nurse a very flexible work opportunity. Working in a nursing home, or a long term care facility can be a great career choice for the new graduate or the older nurse who is returning to the field after years away from it. The long term care setting can offer valuable training and experience to the nurse who hasn't attained their clinical skills because of inexperience or because of not using them for an extended time period.

Geriatric nursing includes the staffing of certified nursing assistants, who assist the registered nurse in bathing, dressing, grooming and feeding of the nursing home resident. The nurse's main focus is not to perform routine care to the resident, but to administer medications and treatments. This work environment is often less stressful for the RN, as many times the acuity level of the resident is much lower than many hospital patients.

Many nurses may find that certain long term care facilities, especially ones that are not skilled nursing facilities may be a preferred career choice for them. Many registered nurses enjoy patient contact, and bedside nursing, however they might not feel confident in their clinical skills. For these nurses, who are no longer interested in attaining a high level of clinical skills, but still want to interact and help their patients, might find a long term care or geriatric facility right up their alley.

Nursing homes and long term care facilities also offer non clinical job opportunities for the registered nurse such as careplan coordinators. Careplan coordinators determine a resident's plan of care based on a variety of different needs. The careplan coordinator nurse confers with other departments such as Dietary, Social Service, Rehab and Activities to create a plan of care that addresses not only the resident's physical needs, but their psychological needs as well. This position offers flexible hours and can eliminate the requirement of working weekends.

RN jobs in the geriatric setting are an alternative to hospital nursing, and the registered nurse may even find that this job opportunity might even become a permanent career choice for them.