Skilled nursing care provides temporary rehabilitative care to patients who are stable enough to be discharged from a hospital yet require too much care to return home. At a skilled nursing facility, these RNs provide wound care, administer medications and deliver IV therapy.
All registered nurses (RNs) are skilled in providing patient care, but not all nurses work in a skilled nursing setting. What is skilled nursing? It is the specialized care provided to patients who are recovering from surgery, an injury or an illness and need extended yet temporary rehabilitative care. This nursing specialty can be ideal for nurses who enjoy building relationships with patients and helping them regain independence and health.
If you are considering switching careers to become a nurse, Harding University’s accelerated Bachelor of Science in nursing program can help you achieve your goals fast. If you have a non-nursing bachelor’s degree or at least 64 credits, you could earn a Bachelor of Science in nursing in as few as 16 months after completing the prerequisites.
When it’s time to choose a nursing specialty, you may want to more closely examine the skilled nursing definition. Get the answers to common questions, such as "What is a skilled nursing facility?” and “What qualifications are needed in skilled nursing care?” Then, explore the career pathway.
Skilled Nursing Definition: What It Means in Patient Care
Patients may need skilled nursing care for a variety of health issues. Some may be recovering from injuries, such as a hip fracture sustained in a fall. Others may need specialized rehabilitative care as they recover from surgery or a stroke. Acute illness, slow-healing wounds and poorly managed chronic conditions may also benefit from this type of nursing care.
What Is a Skilled Nursing Facility?
A skilled nursing RN most often works in a skilled nursing facility. This is a facility similar to long-term care facilities like nursing homes but with notable differences. While a nursing home provides low-level care focused primarily on assisting residents with activities of daily living, a skilled nursing facility provides more intensive nursing care.
Another difference is that residents of a nursing home generally do not return home again; they expect to live in the nursing home long term once admitted. In contrast, a skilled nursing facility serves as a bridge between the hospital and the patient’s home. Patients stay temporarily to receive rehabilitative nursing care until discharge.
Not every patient who needs rehabilitative care after surgery, injury or illness must stay in one of these facilities. A decision will be made based on the level of care the patient needs and the amount of assistance they can receive at home from their family caregivers and home health professionals. Patients without a strong support network, including family caregivers, may be more likely to be transferred to a skilled nursing facility.
Skilled Nursing vs. Long-Term Care
Although both skilled nursing and long-term care seem similar, there are significant differences. One difference lies in the goal. The goal of skilled nursing is to help patients recover so they can return home safely. In contrast, the goal of long-term care is to provide support with ADLs and low-level nursing care around the clock without the expectation of a discharge.
The services provided are also different. Because patients in skilled nursing facilities are typically recovering from surgery, illness or injury, RN care often includes wound care, intravenous medication and patient monitoring. In long-term care, patients typically cannot live independently, so the most common nursing care revolves around activities of daily living, such as bathing, dressing, eating and medication administration.
What can you do with a nursing degree beyond skilled nursing? Discover more options.
The Role of Nurses in Skilled Nursing Settings
Skilled care nurses handle a wide range of responsibilities. Like many other nurses, they assess patients and develop or contribute to nursing care plans. They also coordinate care and monitor patients’ vital signs and their progress toward recovery.
Other responsibilities of skilled nursing RNs include:
- Chronic condition management
- IV therapy
- Medical equipment operation and management
- Medication administration and management
- Patient and family caregiver education
- Wound care
Why Skilled Nursing Is Essential to Patient Recovery
Skilled care fulfills an essential need for many patients. Once a hospitalized patient is stable and no longer needs in-hospital care, they are often discharged to return home. However, not all patients are ready to return home, as they still require nursing care. Skilled nursing facilities bridge the gap between the hospital and the home, enabling patients to continue making progress toward a full recovery while receiving the support they need.
Other benefits of skilled care for patients include:
- 24/7 monitoring: Patients in a skilled facility can receive care around the clock, which is ideal for those at risk of complications.
- Intensive rehabilitation: Patients recovering from injury, illness or surgery often require a combination of rehabilitative therapies, such as physical, occupational, respiratory and speech therapy, along with nursing care. At a skilled nursing facility, patients can receive all the care they need in one place.
- Reducing readmissions: After returning home, some patients are later readmitted to the hospital for infections, fall-related injuries or post-surgical complications. Transferring at-risk patients to a skilled facility may reduce the risk of hospital readmission.
Is Skilled Nursing a Good Career Path?
This nursing specialty can be a good fit if you’re interested in working with patients on a long-term basis compared to the time you have with patients in a hospital setting. Although the work environment in skilled care facilities can be fast-paced, there is generally more time to form connections with patients and their families.
As the U.S. population ages, the demand for nurses to care for elderly patients, such as skilled care nurses, is expected to increase. This nursing specialty also provides opportunities to strengthen a diverse skill set, as skilled nursing RNs work with a wide range of patients, from stroke patients to those with chronic lung disease and beyond.
Find out how to become an RN, including degree options and a general timeline.
How to Become a Skilled Nursing RN
The first step toward pursuing this career path is earning a nursing degree, such as a BSN. It can take four years to earn a BSN through a traditional nursing program; however, if you have a non-nursing bachelor’s degree or at least 64 college credits, you may be eligible for the accelerated BSN program at Harding University.
An accelerated BSN program builds on students’ academic history and applies it toward earning a BSN, so students can graduate much faster than in a traditional program. At Harding, our ABSN program offers the same quality of education as a traditional program. Students complete online coursework for greater flexibility while attending in-person labs at our ABSN program site and clinical rotations at nearby health care facilities.
After graduating with a nursing degree, you can take the NCLEX-RN licensure exam. Upon passing, you can obtain a state-issued RN license and begin applying to nursing jobs. If you don’t land a position in a skilled care facility right away, consider gaining experience in a related specialty, such as medical-surgical nursing.
As your career progresses, you may decide to pursue professional certifications. Some options for skilled nursing RNs include the Certified Rehabilitative Registered Nurse credential from the Association of Rehabilitation Nurses and the Gerontological Nursing Certification from the American Nurses Credentialing Center.
Pursue Your Career in Skilled Nursing at Harding University
Harding offers values-based nursing education for community-minded students. Our accredited university has received the full approval of the Arkansas State Board of Nursing. It’s an education you can trust to help prepare you to tackle the challenges in modern nursing care, no matter which nursing specialty you choose.
Contact an admissions counselor today to request more information. They will review your eligibility for the ABSN program and help you decide if the program is right for you.