Vibra Travels provided this article.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this guest post belong solely to the author and do not necessarily represent the official stance of Vibra Travels or TGN.
Understanding LTAC Travel Nursing
LTAC travel nursing is a specialized field within the realm of travel nursing, focusing on long-term acute care hospitals. These hospitals, also known as critical care hospitals, are typically smaller in scale and cater to patients undergoing extended transitions between levels of care. While the source and destination of patient admissions and discharges vary, they commonly originate from intensive care or acute care hospitals and are discharged to skilled nursing facilities or home settings.
Similar to other travel nursing specializations, LTAC travel nurses have the opportunity to undertake assignments lasting either eight or 13 weeks with Vibra Travels.
Patient Demographics
Prospective LTAC travel nurses often inquire about the patient demographics before embarking on an assignment. Patients in LTAC hospitals present a diverse array of admitting diagnoses and acuities. Some LTAC facilities specialize further in areas such as burn units, neuroscience units, and ventilator/trach weaning (respiratory) units. Others maintain generalized units accommodating a mix of cases. Here’s a glimpse into the patient populations:
- Neuroscience Units: These units cater to patients recuperating from severe brain injuries, often leading to ventilator dependency. Admissions here include cases of anoxic brain injuries, drug overdoses, CVAs, and spinal cord injuries.
- Burn Units: Patients in LTAC burn units have endured extensive skin and inhalation burns, frequently necessitating ventilator or trach dependence during recovery. Travel nurses in this setting collaborate closely with wound care teams and respiratory therapists.
- Generalized Units: Other patient profiles encompass those recovering from conditions like Guillain-Barre syndrome, severe COVID-19 cases, septic shock, post-surgical complications, non-healing wounds, renal or heart failure, ventilator dependency, severe malnutrition, and deconditioning.
Nursing Skillset
Given the broad spectrum of health issues, LTAC travel nurses at Vibra Travels utilize a wide range of nursing skills. These encompass telemetry monitoring, administering tube feedings, trach/ventilator management, lab draws, IV insertions, wound care, and post-operative monitoring, among others.
Medications are administered via various routes, including oral, PEG tube, intravenous, inhalation, intramuscular, topical, subcutaneous, and sublingual.
LTAC travel nurses collaborate extensively with healthcare team members, including physicians, therapists, nursing aids, respiratory therapists, dieticians, wound care nurses, and management. They also engage with patients’ families and provide and receive reports during patient discharge or transfer.
A Day in the Life: 12-Hour Shift
A typical 12-hour shift in an LTAC setting may unfold as follows:
- Morning Huddle: Commence the day with a team briefing to discuss staffing, assignments, code teams, and facility updates.
- Handoff Report: Receive patient handover, review charts, and plan the shift.
- First Med Pass and Assessments: Administer medications and conduct patient assessments.
- Patient Care: Attend to patients’ needs, which may include wound care, trach care/suctioning, and assisting with activities of daily living.
- Rapid Response: Address unexpected medical events with prompt interventions.
- Giving Report: Provide comprehensive handover to incoming nurses at the end of the shift.
It’s worth noting that workflows may vary across hospitals and specialties.
Unique Fulfillment of LTAC Nursing
LTAC nursing offers a distinctive sense of fulfillment. Patients often spend weeks in these facilities, fostering deep connections between nurses and patients’ families. While the healing process may be gradual, witnessing patients’ progress, such as weaning off ventilators or improving mobility, brings profound satisfaction.
Securing an LTAC Assignment
Interested in pursuing an LTAC assignment with Vibra Travels? Reach out to a recruiter to initiate the process. The Vibra Travels team provides comprehensive support, from securing contracts to navigating licensure requirements.
About the Author
Meleah Kandoll has been a travel nurse for two years, with assignments in Portland and the San Francisco Bay Area through Vibra Travels. Passionate about travel, Meleah has visited nearly 20 countries between assignments. She specializes in post-surgical care and anticipates her sister, currently in nursing school, joining her in the travel nursing journey soon.
To explore more about Vibra Travels and the author’s experiences, visit www.travelnursemeleah.com.
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