[yanga82]

i'm a recent grad - saying recent because i graduated a year ago but have been traveling around and just starting to look for a job.

my future goal is either in diabetes educator or anaesthesia nursing..
however, either jobs require long years of experiences and hardcore specialization. i need stepping stones!!

here's my dilemma

i'm offered a couple jobs now.

one's in inpatient cardiac unit and the other in inpatient nephrology unit..

however, from my experiences as a student nurse, i realized that i really don't like medical units!!! i really loved maternal-child and diabetes clinic!! before i was offered these jobs, i thought i would even consider emerg just to fast track myself in getting emersed in nursing world. learn many different things in short time possible. however, never thought of inpatient bedside nursing!

however, considering all the perks the hospital's offering and from what i heard from my friends - that i can move to a different unit internally- i might consider taking one of those jobs. but then the thing is.... WHICH UNIT????

my only experience in medical floor was general medicine. not really specialized. so i'm not sure which one's more suitable for me. i'm nor really familiar with either one.

i've been told cardiac's got more beds, 42 to 30, busier, fast turn-over.
nephrology's smaller quieter less turn-over of patients.

i like the 'busier' part of cardiac, however, i'm just slightly worried about my back. i'm diagnosed of disc herniation from one of my trips, and just concerned busier might mean more strenous work on my back?? but then, long-term staying patients might mean needs more direct and physical nursing care (i.e. positioning, toilette assist???)? which job do you think is harder on the back??? the manager who interviewed me mentioned that nephrology might be better since i had experience in diabetes clinic and that's where i wanna head in the future. however, i really can't stand all quiet work... i'd rather be busy and feel the time flies while i work...

so thank you for reading my long long complaints... any suggestions and kind advices ladies and gentlemen??

[jamonit]

i say work the cardiac unit. you need to have the monitor/ekg skills if you were to decide to end up in anesthesia. dialysis, although it often has a lot to do with diabetes, would not be the strongest background if you decide to do either of your listed options. i would say do cardiac for a year, use aides and other nurses to help you move your patients to avoid further back injury, learn your acls and organization skills (time management is huge), then work icu for a year if you decide to go back to school, as this will be the biggest asset to you for either career choices in the long run.

i'm a new grad, and that's what i would do if i were in your situation.
good luck!

[WolfpackRed]

Did you work as a nurse during this year? Would YOU feel comfortable stepping on to a cardiac floor after this time off?

If not, I would advise you to find a slow, quiet general floor to reaquaint yourself with your skills and knowledge. Do this for a ~6-12 months then, move on.