Consider Unit Demographics (Nursing)

00:01 Healthcare is an in demand profession that can take you around the globe.

00:06 When you are deciding the best health care environment for you, you should understand some of the nuances of different health care systems that could impact your day to day interactions as a health care provider.

00:21 Here are a few factors to keep in mind.

00:24 First, you should consider the acuity of care in the unit and organization.

00:30 Units have general acuity levels measured one to four.

00:35 With one being a more stable patient, and four being recognized as a more high risk patient.

00:42 Some floors, such as the intensive care unit, inherently have a higher acuity level on the floor.

00:50 Some hospitals and health care systems go through additional training and resourcing to specialize in certain types of diseases, trauma, and acuity level.

01:01 You might join a hospital that specializes in brain trauma, cardiac, obscurities, or specific diseases.

01:09 This could impact the level of training, orientation, and patient acuity that you could see in your patient care.

01:19 You should also consider geographic location.

01:22 For example, I was working with a healthcare system that was in a more open space near a farming country.

01:30 A great deal of the ER and ICU injuries were farming related.

01:36 This was a different experience than when I worked in a city health care system, where the injuries were of a different nature.

01:44 In the city, there were more opportunities to specialize.

01:48 While in the country hospital, there were more opportunities to practice general medicine.

01:54 Lastly, you should consider the resourcing and funding of the health care system.

02:00 If the newest tools, latest resources and shiniest new equipment are non negotiable to you, then you need to be mindful of the funding and resources in your prospective health care system.

02:14 If you are working for a government hospital, city health department or a local school health center, then your resources and funding will likely be different than a privatized healthcare system.

02:28 There is no way to rule out the incredible impact need and opportunity in a lower funded system.

02:36 This does mean that you need to adjust your expectations.

02:40 A new machine is probably not going to be as frequent.

02:44 No to healthcare opportunities are the same.

02:48 This is what makes the industry so exciting.

02:52 Take a moment and consider the acuity, location and resourcing of your preferred healthcare opportunity to better identify where you want to make an impact through excellent patient care.