LTC Director of Nursing spot to fill? Do not pick the hospital nurse.
Hospital nurses wanting to coast into retirement or slow down from the pace of acute care should never pick the DON job in LTC to do it in. Clinical is clinical, yes, but there is so much more to being a DON in LTC. The mere suggestion that they take the job to "slow down" shows they have no clue of what they are about to sign up for.
Whoever said that RNs working in nursing homes are the nurses that can't cut it in the hospital are dead wrong! LTC have excellent assessment skills (they have t0, as there are no MDs or NPs in house to do it for them or oversee). Additionally, they must paint an accurate picture of the resident in their charting to capture appropriate reimbursement, for the doctor's understanding of the clinical condition of the resident, for compliance and to pass the eye of surveyors on annual state inspection. There are no IV teams to call, no lab or pharmacy in house so they must be self sufficient and resourceful.
Facility administrators are often looking to quickly fill that hard to replace spot when the DON leaves. A warm body won't do it, but neither will a hospital nurse without recent LTC experience and management background. In fact, in hiring them, we set them up for failure. They are almost on the same playing field as a new grad. The knowledge base of the survey process, MDS, Rules and Regulations are the same for both, none.
It has been said that only 2 things are more highly regulated than LTC and they are nuclear power plants and NASA. So, administrators would be better off grooming internal candidates that know LTC, but has never been a DON, then to hire the hospital nurse with no LTC experience that is relevany and current.
Ecumen Consulting can both groom new RNs in their DON role and interview and place RNs in the role.
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