Almost done with nursing school and a couple interviews/job prospects

Nurses Job Hunt

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Okay, so I know I may be getting ahead of myself here, since I haven't even had the interviews yet but let's look at this more hypothetically. I still have about 6 1/2 weeks left in my nursing program (accelerated BSN). Right now I'm in my last clinical in the ICU and have made it known to the staff and managers that I would love to work there. The supervisor has said that they usually have a 2-year rule as far as RN experience goes, but that she would consider a new grad that did their internship/clinical synthesis on the unit and did very well. I am finishing up my second week there (about 30 hours/wk) and I, as well as my nurse preceptor, feel that I am doing very well on the unit and picking up on things quickly. This job would be my DREAM JOB, not only as a new grad, but as an experienced RN as well (future CRNA hopeful). My predicament now is that on Monday, I have a phone interview with a very prestigious nurse residency program at a state teaching hospital. The pay, as well as the benefits, would be a little better than the ICU job. However, there is no guarantee that I will get a spot on a critical care unit. That being said, I'm not too worried about the timeline for the residency program as the process from phone interview to actual job offer is quite lengthy, so it would give me time to try to get hired in the local ICU.

My biggest worry at this point, is I just got a call from another less-attractive, but still very respected hospital, about setting up an interview for a position in surgery. I like surgery and all, but the ICU and critical care is really where my heart is and it would get me the needed experience for CRNA school. My problem is that my interview is next week and I'm worried that if it goes well and I get a job offer, I won't have enough time to see if I can get hired in the ICU or the nurse residency program before having to give them a decision.

The order of my choices is:

1) ICU by far (love critical care, love the staff and the unit, and I wouldn't have to move)

2) Nurse residency program (good pay, great benefits, I would have to move but it's a great area)

3) Surgery (not really where my primary interest is but it's a job as a new grad nonetheless which I know is hard to come by, not sure about pay/benefits, decent area but not one I would move to for anything but a job)

Like I said earlier, I know I'm getting way ahead of myself but I want to be prepared going into this surgery interview just in case they do offer me a job before I have a chance to find out about the others.

Thanks in advance, your advice/thoughts are appreciated.

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