Is it worth taking a pay cut for experience?

Nurses Career Support

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I'm 18 months into nursing now still in SNF still on nights, I've been interviewed a few times but couldn't get the job due to low census at time of hiring or statewide hiring freezes. I've always complained about not getting the experience I needed for grad school but now I'm not too sure.

Now, I was given a lead by a family friend who I never knew is now an Assistant VP at a hospital. It's a strong recommendation and I even got a call from HR within an hour when I applied, for a position in a cardiac step down unit. I asked a few of my classmates about the place and they said it pays pretty bad $22 I would be expecting. Currently I earn $23 an hour and I work another part time job to help pay the bills. Should I even dare to ask about how much nurses are being paid in the first interview?

If I feel like I'm at a netloss.

I feel like I lose:

Money

A VERY secure 2nd job

More financial stress related to student loans

What I gain:

The coveted "acute care experience"

My mom keeps telling me to wait it out because right now the hospital she works at is suffering from low census, but is a lot more open for orientation periods and pays significantly more.

Am I being greedy for taking an opportunity for granted?

Specializes in Leadership, Psych, HomeCare, Amb. Care.

Why not go on the interview, see if you want the job, and if offered you can find out the salary & bennies. Make an informed decision

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So I went to the interview......it was completely different from what I expected.

The commute is pretty bad though it seems an hour and ten minutes. However, I go I get interviewed there the HR Generalist showed me the salary and bennies. $26.30 was the base rate and since I have my BSN I get $1 more plus a $3 shift differential for all hours worked from 3PM-11PM. I interviewed with the director there seems pretty demanding and firm. The unit is Progessive Care cardiac step down full telemetry heavy patients. 6 to 1 ratio and that never changes. It's high acuity and a high skill set is needed. 6-10 week orientation. The director seemed impressed that I could handle 28-35 patients every night, but the patients are of varying acuity so I don't feed that proud about it. The Assistant VP me there told me that my interview went well and are hiring me. So it went a lot better than I expected. 3 12 hour shifts a week, every other weekend. So my classmates basically....lied to me about pay?

I'm pretty happy then after that...I got a phone call saying they wanted to interview at another hospital I applied to almost a month ago. I accidentally said next Friday would be good, my mom told me you should have asked for an earlier date. This is for the operating room.

So now, I'm sorry for being spoiled, what do I do next? What gives me the best prospects for career advancement. I eventually want to be either an NP/APN or in administration.

Regardless I'm still scared to transition from LTC/SNF/Subacute to wherever I go.

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Specializes in TELEMETRY.

Go to or... I do tele step down and it's good for experience but or is a great specialty

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Hey good news. You know it's never ever what you expected - interviews that is.

So, did you get a formal offer, extended in writing? Sounds like it's coming, but as they say, it didn't happen unless it was charted (little joke...) So, you could hurry and call the other place and tell them you are in the final stages with another position, and had hoped they would call. Ask can an interview be expedited so that you can meet with them quickly? Who knows you might get an interview before you get your formal offer from the first place.

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It's not a written offer. The director that interviewed me reports directly to the Assistant VP that is well my "sponsor" so to say. But yeah in the world of nursing it didn't happen unless it is written down. HR called me so late so they need to speak with the director to schedule things. As soon as I get the confirmation email I'm going to try to schedule the interview to something ASAP. A person I precepted is backing me in the OR, they are also in need of nurses.

My mom said though, right now the PCU/Step down is a strong reality, but take it one step at a time (she said though the current state of nursing she would recommend the OR due to the slightly less stressful nature). Right now my head is running circles around me. I love how when I at one point almost gave up searching for a job I get two strong leads. I'm thankful to be working in a nursing job and to even have these kind of first world problems.

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Congratulations on all the opportunity! From the outside looking in, it appears you need to answer a few questions for yourself. 1. Do you want to leave your "super secure" job.

And if you do then:

2.. Are you more interested in or or cardiac? They are very different, which one is more interesting or seems like a better fit for you? Do they both offer adequate orientation? Is the commute comparable? Is the pay comparable?

Also, don't count your chickens before they hatch, until their is an offer in hand, it does not exist.

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Congratulations on all the opportunity! From the outside looking in, it appears you need to answer a few questions for yourself. 1. Do you want to leave your "super secure" job.

And if you do then:

2.. Are you more interested in or or cardiac? They are very different, which one is more interesting or seems like a better fit for you? Do they both offer adequate orientation? Is the commute comparable? Is the pay comparable?

Also, don't count your chickens before they hatch, until their is an offer in hand, it does not exist.

1. My LTC job is pretty secure but I can drop to Per Diem no problem I'd assume. My 2nd part time job is a faculty assistant at a local university. They are very flexible with hours but if I leave I am not getting that job back, they are trying to cut down on the department.

2. I am more interested in OR and honestly very scared of cardiac step down/PCU. But I am more focused right now on career advancement and my mom tells me that the PCU would be the stronger bet if I wanted to pursue an APN/NP, though she tells me that the OR is also good but I'll be very tempted not to advance due to it's a specialized area. I was very scared of LTC/SNF/SAR but now I deal with it all day.

The OR pays only like $2-3 more but it's 7-3 and I have on-callls but no weekends and the commute is like 30 mins away. The PCU pays 4 dollars more and after 3PM it pays a whopping $7 than my current job. It's a 72 per pay period job 12 hour shifts but it is an agonizing hour and a half away.

I'm scheduled to have an appointment for the OR position Friday but just this morning the HR generalist from the PCU left a message on my phone saying: "They wanted to follow up on my interview". Any idea what that means?

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Specializes in Emergency, Trauma, Critical Care.

I would take the PCU job.

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