What would you do? Selecting the right job!

Specialties NP

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Fellow NPs, I am in a predicament as to which job to chose. New grad. FNP trained.

Job 1: With community health. 1-1.5 hours travel one way. Pay 104k. Benefits are so so. CME $1500, 7 days. Will have good support. Will see 18 pts/day. Work M-F, 8-5.

Job 2: With Neurosurgery team. 15 minutes away from home. Pay, waiting to find out. Benefits are great. CME $2700+, 7 days. Will also have great support. Will be paired with a neurosurgeon. Will have to cover clinic, inpatient, and OR. Work M-F, 7-4. Some weekends and holidays.

I have already accepted Job 1. Haven't signed the contract yet. The Same day, I accepted the Job 1, I got the second offer. Another hesitancy with Job 2 is that I am primary care trained. I have neurosurgery experience as an RN only. In some ways, I do not even know what I need to know for this job. But I am positive that I will have great guidance. I will definitely get first assist and acute care cert for Job 2 to stay within the scope, but after starting the job. That's additional 2-3 years of continued training and education + full-time job.

I just want to think about all the pro and cons. And I know all of you have some great experiences and insights on this kind of decision making. So, I would love to hear your thoughts.

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Specializes in DHSc, PA-C.

I would just consider if you want to continue to learn to practice medicine and expand on what you learned to become an FNP or do you want to become very specialized in neuro? Jumping right into a specialty like that can be exciting and the right choice for some, but how will it be if you need to switch jobs and look for something in primary care without any primary care experience. Might be tough findings a job. My opinion is that doing a couple years in FP/IM/ER to really learn how to practice medicine is always beneficial before specializing.

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Congratulations to you! What a wonderful dilemma to have!

What does your gut and/or heart say to you? They both sound like excellent opportunities. Trust your instincts.

Good luck! Please let us know what you decide.

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Thank you. You make a great point. I should focus on learning general medicine while given a change. I can always chose specialty down the road.

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Congratulations to you! What a wonderful dilemma to have!

What does your gut and/or heart say to you? They both sound like excellent opportunities. Trust your instincts.

Good luck! Please let us know what you decide.

Right! I should be grateful I have these offers. My gut says I will feel very fulfilled working in community health. But I will most likely be miserable due to the commute time. It also says I will most likely be miserable in Neurosurgery trying to keep up with everything I will need to learn. But may be very happy with compensation and commute time.

Leaning toward community health at the moment :)

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

I would take the neurosurg job myself and go back to school. I went into a specialty right out of school and cover primary care for my pts as well.

However, sometimes (at least in my case) being in a specialty still makes you marketable.

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Specializes in Psychiatry, Community, Nurse Manager, hospice.

I think the neurosurg job sounds fantastic. I think if fear is holding you back from that opportunity you should do it anyway. You say you can always specialize later, and that may or may not be true. But you can always go to community health later, that's for certain.

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Specializes in FNP.

With your experience the neuro job should pay more. Not to mention you'll be in your comfort zone. Post what the base will be when you find out.

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Specializes in CTICU.

I would only take Job #2 if you plan to do a post-masters in acute care. FNP does not train you for that job.

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Specializes in Ortho.

What city are the jobs in?

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I would take ANYTHING other than primary care. I totally burned out on primary care in two years. 18 patients per day is a big bucket of patients. The more contact you get with your MD, the better, and the more you will learn.

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Specializes in allergy and asthma, urgent care.

The commute alone would kill the first job for me. I did 3 years of being a PCP in community health, and like Tammy, burned out. I doubt you'll ever get out on time, and that's going to make a long day even longer. I much prefer specialty practice.

Can you shadow for a day in both jobs?

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