Feeling unsure about settling down?

Specialties Geriatric

Published

I'm a 23 year old nurse. I make decent money being a charge nurse for a rehab and long term care job. The company i work for is not based in the state I work in, and things have been a bit shaky. We have a new director of nursing and a new administrator who are determined to clean the place up figuratively and literally.

My mother has been urging me to try and start finding "better jobs" such as with the VA or in a hospital. But I'm not really sure if that's what I want.

In fact I'm pretty happy right now. I feel confused for being complacent. I have a brand new house, a brand new car and I'm getting married soon!

I'm not sure if I'm worried I won't enjoy something else, but every time I've tried to see what I would like beyond this it just doesn't seem to work out.

I thought school nursing would be my dream job but I didn't like it at all! Med/surg wasn't my thing and it doesn't seem like anyone wants to touch me unless I have experience in something other than LTC/Rehab which is what I've been doing for almost a year now. I came right back to the place I'm still working at now, luckily with all my benefits and vacation time in tow after two months of trying another kind of nursing.

I'm just conflicted regarding my comfort zone. On one hand I feel badly because I'm not making effort to move to opportunities. On the other hand I'm really happy right now and I'm worried I won't be at all if I do decide to jump ship.

Any suggestions? And please no rude/unhelpful comments regarding how selfish I might be or how I'm not smart for not trying different things. I'm just looking for someone who might feel the same way or who has stayed somewhere they enjoyed.

For all the stress and staffing problems, I really think LTC is where I belong.

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I say if you are happy where you are, then why change? Sounds like you're experiencing some big life changes, might be smart to stay put until you settle into things. You can get leadership experience as Charge, which I would think is valuable anywhere. You've tried other specialties and didn't like them...and now you're happy! Sounds great to me, don't worry about what other people think :yes:

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I think it's great that you're happy where you're at! I wish that was the case for more people in LTC, myself included. Too many glorify the hospital setting I think. It sounds like you gave it a try and prefer LTC. Why worry about it? And you're so young, if you're interested in management I'm sure you can have a long career in it. Or continue being a LTC floor nurse if that's what you like- still a great career.

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You know the saying "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"? It applies here. If you are happy where you are, stay where you are :)

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