New Grad RN offered Hospital Position & Dr.'s office Position Need Advice :-)

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Hi everyone. I am a recent new grad BSN, RN in NJ. I've applied for well over 300 jobs and finally got 2 job offers and now do not know which one to accept. The first is for a large Pediatric group that is about 30 minutes away from my home and all of the staff seem really nice and willing to take on the responsibility of training me for my 1st RN position. It is a 9-5 position Monday - Friday with the occasional Sat. (no nights, weekends, or holidays) and it pays pretty well for a dr.'s office ($24/hr) with full benefits. The 2nd position is for a hospital that is about 50 minutes from my house for a Cardiac Rn position. It is full time (36hrs/wk) and pays $26.75/hr for the day shift which I feel is kind of low. I feel extremely lucky to have both offers because I know how difficult it is to find a job out there, especially in NJ. I always saw myself as a Pediatric nurse but I am afraid that if I take the dr's office position I will never be able to get into a hospital for lack of acute care experience. On the other hand, I am afraid if I accept the hospital position I will be stuck in Cardiac and stressed out. I know in nursing school we are told to take any hospital position we can get our hands on, but what if we are offered a dr.'s office position in the specialty we really want? Any help, comments, suggestions, advice would be really appreciated :-) Thank you in advance!

Specializes in Peds.

Just wanted to thank everyone again for their advice. It is very appreciated :-)

Specializes in ICU.

That's about right for Toms River. Wait, is it a Barnabas hospital?

I worked at one in Northern NJ (loved the hospital, BTW) but as a new grad in 2006, I started at $26.50/hr. Which is a bit on the lower end for northern NJ.

Look at benefits also, retirement, 401K, heallth coverage..... they may help your decision.

If you like peds, that really does sound like a great opportunity. The nurse in my daughter's office has been doing it for 30 years and she is awesome, she couldn't imagine doing anything else.

Me, I could not deal with kids in doctors offices. Or kids in a medical capacity for that matter. But if you like peds, this is a great opportunity.

Specializes in Med Surg.

Doctor's office. Go where your heart is!!

Specializes in Medical Surgical-Oncology.

Go for the doctors office! The team is willing to train you to become a peds nurse and this is the experience you need! A peds position is also hard to come by nowadays, the pay is good, and it's closer to your home! Go for it and congrats! :yeah:

Specializes in nursing education.

I was once given the advice to take the job where you have a supportive manager who is best able to help you grow.

But! I would ask whether you can shadow for a day or even half a day in both areas you are considering. Find out which environment you would you see yourself fitting in, learning, and really liking. Ambulatory nursing is a challenge as well. I love working in a primary care office. Many of our nurses- and we have some excellent nurses- have (GASP) never worked in a hospital. Don't fall into the trap of thinking hospital nurses are smarter or better. I don't come home completely drained anymore like I did working the floor- after a day "at the office" I feel like I really made a difference and helped someone.

Specializes in PICU, ICU, Hospice, Mgmt, DON.

New nurse starting out? No brainer....Hospital! You will never get the varied experience and the chance to become as well rounded in a doctor's office. Put some time in at the hospital then if you wish, go to a doctor's office down the road.

Also, there is definitely something to be said for working 3 days a week and being off for 4...think of that!! I would go back to my 12 hour shifts in a heartbeat.

For a new grad..the hospital is the Gold Standard.

Specializes in Pediatrics.

I also want to be a peds nurse, but I would take the hosptial position in a heart beat.

I am finding that now I am no longer a new grad, I do not qualify for the new grad programs for the hospitals in my area, but I do not have the experience that they want to get hired into acute care.

With the hospital experience you can later transfer to other units

Specializes in Wound Care, LTC, Sub-Acute, Vents.

wow, you are lucky to have two offers in new jersey. i cannot even get a hospital interview in central new jersey. i have been trying to get acute experience but no one calls me. they all want bsn.

if i were you, i would take the hospital job. it is hard to go from non-acute to acute but easy to go from acute to non-acute.

in any case, compare the cons and pros and decide. good luck!

e.t.a.

if you take the clinic job, please give me the cardiac hospital job, please? :D

Specializes in Cardiac Care.

If you want a Peds position in acute care it would be a greater benefit to do the hospital job and transfer when you can. Unless the Peds practice is some advanced specialty and you will see greater acuity cases like cardio, gi, pulmonary?

Specializes in LTC, Med-Surge, Ortho.
Docs office without a second thought. No holidays, no nights, you know your hours.....your not working 12+hr shifts, stressing yourself out. Plus, you can always get experience in peds and then apply for school nursing....even better.

Best of luck either way! Hospitals are over rated in my opinion. You don't have to work a floor to get experience and be paid what you are worth.

You can say this again !!:)

Specializes in Rehab, critical care.

It all depends on what you want to do with your career, but if you want peds, then take the peds office position. Yes, it's not hospital experience, but you may be able to get into a hospital peds position after having this experience. Or maybe you decide you like that position and don't want to leave for a while. I mean...the hours are really good there, and it's low stress. You could list it on your resume and then really market yourself to the peds area that you would like to specialize in..general m/s, heme/onc, picu, etc. If you do well there, I'm sure you could snag some glowing references (once you've given them a few years of your time to make it worthwhile for them).

It seems like telemetry has a high burn-out rate...Most telemetry RN's seem to transfer to a different specialty within 2 years. It could be something to do with having 6 patients when there are times you really shouldn't have 6 patients lol...maybe I'm wrong there lol. I've never been a telemetry RN, did some clinicals there in school, and it definitely wouldn't be an area I would choose (for a long term position); I personally would probably take the telemetry position for the hospital experience, suck it up for a year or 2 lol, and then transfer into the ICU, but our goals are different.

Good luck to you! Doesn't sound like you can make a wrong choice.....either experience will be valuable. You will learn more in the hospital position, but if you don't like adults lol, then what's the point? May as well take holidays off while you can, and I just got home from work, long night, falling asleep now while writing this lol. You won't have to mess up your biological clock if you take the doc's office position. Congrats on having a choice to make! That's awesome!

Specializes in Managed Care, Onc/Neph, Home Health.

My 2 cents is that being that you are a "new grad", be blessed that you are offered a position in a specialty unit!!! or a job at all. There are many new grads out here, that have no jobs. by all means, accept that hospital position for at least 6 months to 1 year, then branch out. Did you go into nursing to work in a peds office??? You are already talking about "stress" and haven't began in the "battle field"? Good luck and BE A NURSE!

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