Nursing homes are becoming the new customary. By the year 2050, the elderly population of the U.S. would double and hence, the need for nursing homes and nursing home nurses would certainly increase. Additionally, there is a nursing shortage all across the country. This means the job opportunities for nurses in nursing homes will be brighter in the future. So, if you love to provide care for others, you may want to consider working as a nursing home nurse. Continue reading to learn about the life of a nursing home nurse.

What is it like to work as a nurse in a nursing home?

The first thing you should know is that working in a nursing home as a nurse is special. This is because you will be part of a team that works together towards a common goal – providing care for your residents. And here, your residents will be in long-term care and hence, you will get to know them very well, and you will be well aware of their conditions. We could say that this is not the case in any other type of nursing position. In a nursing home, you and your co-workers will work together to offer the best care for these specific residents. In a hospital for example, your patients will come and go in short-terms.

Being in a nursing home, you will have opportunities to play a significant part in an interdisciplinary team, which may include the following:

• Physical therapy
• Occupational therapy
• Speech therapy
• Social work
• Case management

The thought that working in a nursing home would be boring might have crossed your mind. But, you might not be aware of the activities that will be conducted there. In nursing homes, activities play a big part in keeping the residents motivated. There is often musical entertainment. You will be excited to see the 80s and 90s returning you to your teenage years if that is when you grew up, and you can enjoy the creative activities like singing, painting, and so on. The nursing homes will also likely invite pet therapy dogs to make the residents joyful. So, if you like dogs, this can be a treat.

Often times, you can hear from the residents about their families, how they were brought up, how they raised their pets, and how they accomplished their goals personally, as well as professionally, and so on. These things will give you the opportunity to honor their legacy and contributions to the society and community.

Now, let’s talk about the most rewarding part of the job. Whenever you go home, you will go with a smiling face because you have done your best. You would feel proud about keeping your residents safe, and having them eat and stay clean, comfortable, and hydrated. Thus, a job in a nursing home would award with the satisfaction that cannot be attained easily in other job types. Above all, you will get appreciation from your residents’ relatives for what you are doing. The happiness and fulfillment you will get from this job will be just wonderful.

What are the skills needed for nursing home nurses?

Nurses in nursing homes would need a different set of skills when compared to the nurses in a hospital or clinical setting. These specialized skills would allow you to focus your care on the requirements of your residents. In general, the things like hospice, rehabilitation, and therapies would distinguish you from the conventional nurses. Also, you would have more focus in the case management of your residents here.

In addition to all these, you must be in a position to deliver quality health care with solicitude, nobility, and respect. Some of your residents may not be able to see, speak, or hear. These would make them specifically vulnerable and so, it’s important for you to notice non-verbal communication signals.

So, what are the important skills you would need to shine in this position? Well, patient care, home health, treatment planning, and case management are the most obvious skills that are required for a nursing home nurse. In addition, you would also need to have hospice, patient education, acute care, and patient evaluation skills, too.

What are the perks of working as a nursing home nurse?

Every job position would have its own set of perks. In a nursing home nurse position, you can enjoy the perks such as the following:

• You will get to know the residents better. Thus, it would offer the chance to foster relationships with them.
• You will be able to sharpen your pharmacological knowledge as you will hand out a lot of medications here.
• You will work as a team in which your team members would include people from different fields. Thus, you will not feel as stressed.
• As the nursing homes will be a generalized internal medicine unit, you will happen to see almost all types of diagnoses here.
• This job will be less physically demanding when compared to the other nursing careers.