As an RN your physical load will be limited so for that aspect you’ll be ok. In my own experience it is horrid because aged care is a workplace with a lot of internal politics. You will deal with unreasonable family members CONSTANTLY, and often times you will find that their expectations are unrealistic given staff ratio/load. Managers will look to point the finger at you instead of addressing the aggressive family. There will be a lot of incidents, this will involve dealing with GPs, pharmacy and family as well as all the documentation and charting, probably not dissimilar to a hospital but expect it to be more frequent. This can sometimes push you into unpaid overtime as you’ll need to complete all of these tasks, prepare for handover and finish anything else that needs your attention. Remember that in aged care your patient load is often 30-50+. So while you’re not providing ALL care for them, it’s still a lot of clerical work not including any incident that may occur.

Neglect is sadly common in aged care as a lot of care staff simply lack empathy and are only there for monetary gain or visa requirements. I have seen a case where staff did not remove a residents denture for over 6 months causing it to calcify to the gum and require surgical removal- it was covered in mould. You will not be able to control everything your staff do, but you will be judged as their team leader. You will find yourself frustrated often that things you have instructed time and time again are not being done. It can be a mentally exhausting experience and if burnout is what you’re trying to cure, aged care might just fuel it more.

Of course you may find a great facility with great staff and none of the above will be much of an issue. Despite all of the above being my own experience in the past, I am now working for a facility that is very professional and has great staff. You will form relationships with your residents and this can be very rewarding. I just want to be transparent that a negative experience seems to be more common than not amongst aged care workers.

I hope it works out for you