I Love My First Job

[PennNurse]

Hello!

I just graduated with my RN in December. I recieved my first job offer 2 days after graduation and accepted immediately, knowing that I was super lucky to have a job offer so soon. The unit I am on is considered a 72 hour observation unit that is technically outpatient. We get patients from the ER who are on the edge of a full admit, and overflow if the hospital is full. I see EVERY different kind of patient you can think of. Stroke, cardiac, renal, surgery, you name it. Its a fast paced unit with 5 patients at one time, but you could end up having 10 different ones with discharges and admissions. I honestly could not love my unit more. All the nurses are awesome and really care about their patient's and its just a great environment. I also work three 12 1/2 hour shifts for full time and the hospital is a 2 minute drive from my house. This is awesome because I have kids and like to be close to home and the travel time is so incredibly low.

I don't know if I am in the honeymoon phase or what, but almost everyone who works there thinks that our hospital is the worst hospital to work for, and can't wait to leave, and has a reputation of having a high turnover. Pay is lower at ours (24.50 days, 26.00 nights and weekends) the two others around us start at 30-34. Those other 2 hospitals are 45min-1hr away from where I live.

I have an opportunity to work at one of the other hospitals, the one that starts out at 34 an hour after shift diff. This hospital is known for being amazing. Everyone wants to work there and every person who I have met who works there can't find anything wrong to say. Its somewhat hard to get your foot into this one, so I feel like I am making a bad decision staying where I am and not persuing this opportunity. It is also 5 days a week vs 3 days a week, I love working 3 12s and having the opportunity to get overtime whenever I want.

Has anyone been in this situation? I REALLY love my job. I am excited to go into there everyday and see what kind of patients I am getting. I love the people I work with, everything.

[Ben_Dover]

PennNurse, I'm so happy for you! :)

ER/ED/"Observation" unit for me is one of the bests floors there is when it comes to floor nursing. All walkie-talkies and mostly rule outs: COPD exacerbations tx with nebs, CH-eFrs simply requiring diuretics, Costochondritis, MDs playing to be safe, requiring trop. level checks. When all else are ok, they are good to be dc'd in less than 10-23 hours, it is a fast paced environment and the next thing you know you're getting off soon.

ER/ED/Observation, depending on the unit can be considered, as a-go-to-unit for, as the OP mentioned, r/o "strokes", hyperglycemic/cemia, patients, ETOH patient's who simply requires IV hydration s/p fall and banging their heads, simple head/finger lacs with elevated INR levels, Epistaxis, plug some rapid rhino or balloons and most of these patients can go once everything is under control. I can name a whole bunch more of admitting dx or problems. Bottom line and the true beauty is, you do see a little bit of everything in this unit. Yet, not as critical as majority of the ER patients.

OP, you will appreciate more how fortunate you are to be in this unit. Wait till you have completed your "probationary period" and when permitted, they will start floating you to a higher level of care/acuity. I bet you, you will see a big difference.

I get approach a lot by nursing students as to where the best place is to start, I always recommend, the "Step-Down" AKA "DOU", to some establishments. At least here in California, the ratio typically is 4:1, but once you have a vented/trach'd pt. the ratio becomes 3:1(Depending on the facility). The great thing about this unit is, you get a heck a lot of experience; and give it 2 years or so and once you have developed that critical thinking/time management/"common" sense skills, you have control over as to where you want to be, may it be ICU, ER, GI, OR, IR... man, it's endless! However, I also do recommend to follow to what their brain is telling them and not just their "hearts."

SNFs are great but it will not be my first pick, unless it's been two years and you still haven't *******' landed a job!

Again, that's just my opinion and it truly is obviously subjective.

P.s. Don't worry about the management changing "this and that", best you can do is to acclimate!

I think I said quite a mouthful, got carried away there for a minute! Next time, I'll try to be short, brief, and concise!

[doune]

are you in south FL? i would like to work at your hospital.

[lavenderskies, BSN]

Unless you have an electric car.....just the fuel costs alone and vehicle wear and tear could put a big dent in the pay difference between hospitals. With that said...you could not pay me enough to spend that much time driving if there was a job I loved 2 min from my home. I say stick with it if you love it and continue to be a positive influence where you work. It makes a difference in retention to have coworkers who like being there sticking around. You can be that person....so long as you do love it.

[pmabraham, BSN, RN]

Has anyone been in this situation? I REALLY love my job. I am excited to go into there everyday and see what kind of patients I am getting. I love the people I work with, everything.

I also appreciate my first RN job even though I'm only a few days out of orientation. Every employee/volunteer on our floor is very nice. While some days are rough from a patient load perspective, it works out. I appreciate the experiences. You are not alone.