New Grad - Offered Nursing Home Position but want to work in hospital, advice?

[circularstaircase]

Hello,

I will be graduating from RN school in 2 weeks. For the past month I have sent out applications EVERYWHERE (well primarily hospitals in the area anyway) and so far have gotten the "thanks, but no thanks. Come back when you get hospital experience response". So I started applying at nursing homes this week (my inital thought was that it might be a good idea to work somewhere at least in the meantime? ....and I am in DESPERATE need of a job and $$ ). I got a job offer luckily, but I'm wondering or not if I should take it since I really want to work in the hospital? I hate jumping from job to job so would feel bad about quitting this job as soon as I find another? What does everyone think? Should I take the job or try and wait out to find a hospital one?

Thanks for the advice! Any is appreciated :)

[circularstaircase]

Thanks for replying!

Actually the reason I am so desperate to find a job is because the doctors office I work at only has 1 day a week available for me to work (all the nurses there work part time, so unfortunately that's all that is available....plus the money is not that great... the nursing home is almost offering me double what I was making plus full benefits). With all the expenses coming up (my boards, licensure, not to mention my regular monthly expenses) I feel the pressure to find a job as soon as I can.

I see what you're saying though. I'm going to have to make some serious decisions on whether I can make this work or not :/

[circularstaircase]

Thanks Esme12! I will definitely look into that :)

[psychnurse51]

Most every new grad wants to work in a hospital. I too, wanted that, but ended up in LTC. It was the best way to get experience while learning to prioritize, learn meds and treatments. The elderly are like working w/ grownup children. I work in a Dementia/Alzheimer's unit. I planned on leaving after a year, but have remained for many more years and plan on staying. It has been a wonderful experience so far and I look forward to work almost every day. (I do have my'not so good' days, but they are few and far between) Choose a place you know you can stick with for awhile in case you don't find your "dream job" right away. It is no fun going into work when you don't like what you're doing...and your patients/residents can sense when you're not happy. Good luck. You'll get there sooner or later. =)

[MyMystudentRN]

"...the nursing home is almost offering me double what I was making plus full benefits"

This seems like it'll help you ALOT!! especially if you are in desperate need also if you can i would keep the doctors office job (for longevity..looks better on a resume) and take the nursing home job. the job market is extremely tough out here and you'll be racking up your experience while still waiting and looking for a hospital job and who knows you might actually love it and not want to leave for awhile...i know people who wanted to work in hospitals took nursing home jobs and has never looked back they have been working there for at least 10years now. so to each their own goodluck! im sure you'll make a rational decision. it may not be something you want but as of right now it sound slike its something you need

[PMFB-RN, RN]

First the very BEST time to look for a job is when you already have a job. When hospital positions open up you will be miles ahead of others. You will (hopefully) have good references from your LTC boss, or at least from fellow RN co-workers, charge nurses etc. You may also have recieved letters from greatful patients and their familes. Such letters are very impressive to nurse managers. You will also have a record of showing up on time, working hard, and not abusing your sick calls (at least you should have those things). You will have gained valuable time managment and priortization skills as well.

These things count. When faced with a choice between the nurse who has all the above and a new grad, or one of your fellow classmates who chose to work at Subway until the perfect hospital job came along who do you think a hospital nurse manager is going to choose?

[LynnLRN]

In this economy if you are offered a job TAKE IT (unless you have another offer). Plus, experience goes a long way, taking this job might help you get your foot in the door somewhere else.

[sealeast]

I feel you should go for it. Just look at it this way.. You are making money and gaining experience/knowledge while u are waiting.

[OnlybyHisgraceRN, ASN, RN]

I actually made more in LTC then anywhere else. I'm going from 32/hr to 26/hr by working in a hospital. I'm thrilled to have a hospital job but I would have stayed in LTC if I had no other options.

[Piggles]

I am a nursing student who will be graduating at about this time next year, and I am anticipating having to make the same decisions soon. Last week I spoke with a 2009 graduate of my nursing school (Santa Rosa Junior College, about an hour's drive north of San Francisco). He had some advice to share that I would like to share just because it is so different from what I am hearing in this thread. I am curious if it is because of my location or if he is just wrong.

He said that if you get a job in LTC, you are stuck there because hospitals will assume that you are not trained to function in a higher acuity environment. You need hospital experience to work in a hospital and you had better get that experience as soon and you can, even if it means commuting 2 hours for your first job.

[mikeicurn, ASN, RN]

You have to take in advice from all sources, then make your own decisions.

I worked as an LPN at a LTC facility while in RN school. I went to work in a small ICU after I graduated as an RN. My manager picked out my resume because she used to work at the same LTC facility that I did. She felt that LTC experience is very beneficial for ICU nurses. Time management is important in both environments. And the majority of our patients are elderly people from nursing homes, or from home, but in the same age group. While you are treating the reason they are in ICU (resp distress, cardiac issues, etc...), you still have to deal with more routine issues such as crushing their meds, incontinence, fall risks, dementia, sundowners, family, etc... Who better to handle these issues than those with LTC experience. Most of the ICU nurses I work started out in LTC.

I have heard that nonsense about hospitals not hiring you with LTC experience. You have to understand hospitals don't hire you. Managers hire you, or at least tell HR who to hire. Every single manager has their own ideas about who they want to hire. You cannot make generalized statements like your friend is making. How could he know what any particular manager is looking for. Put yourself in the manager's position. You have a hard working hustler who took a LTC position out of school, worked at it for a while to learn the craft of nursing, then wanted to move into a hospital environment to try something new. On the other hand you have new grad who has been unemployed since graduating, because they say they don't want to settle for a LTC job. Who are you going to hire.

One last thing. When interviewing, keep in mind that the manager across from you has very likely worked LTC at some point in their life, and you may want to be cautious about what you say about LTC. You might unknowingly offend them, and lose you chance at job. Wherever you work at, make the most out of it, and learn as much as you can. That good attitude will take you wherever you want to go.

[Piggles]

Thanks, for your comments Mikeicurn. What you say makes a lot of sense!

[circularstaircase]

So I found out a little more information about the facility....here are some pros/cons.

Pros:

One of the best rated nursing homes in the area

20:1 patient ratio (while that seems like a lot, from what I've been reading on here, thats pretty good for a nursing home)

Electronic charting

Clean facility; the patients seem to like it there

Cons:

Since it is a small facility it would just be me and one other nurse (LPN) who would be working on the 3-11 shift; I guess what I'm concerned about is that I would be the only licensed RN present during these hours. If an emergency occurs, am I correct in assuming that the RN present in the building is then responsible? While I do have two years working experience as an LPN, I worked at a doctors office so it's obviously totally different. I've never done LTC.

What do you guys think? Should I still just take it even though I will be the only RN at the facility during those hours? I guess I'm just a little concerned about the fact I have no one to go to if I need help :/ They said they are always available by phone, but still....