Advice on which job to take

[georgia6]

I am a new grad with a BSN and I have had 3 interviews and 3 job offers(!!!) but there are pros and cons to all of them and I'm getting stressed out trying to decide.

Job 1 is in the OR at an okay hospital with a 6 month AORN orientation. It pays the most hourly and there is a 5k sign on bonus. I was interviewed by my future boss/clinical educator and I know we would get along great. Weekend on-call is every 6 weeks. Im being hired for 3-11p shift. The major con is that the only way to get there is to drive on a route that always has traffic.

Job 2 is in the OR at a renowned childrens hospital (top 10 in US). The training program is an 18 month internship. At my interview they explained the surgeons are nicer than most (lol). It pays a little bit less than job 1. I'm being hired for 10a-630p shift. Weekend on-call is every 4 weeks. I could easily hop on my bike, take the train or drive to get there.

Job 3 is a med/surg position at the same childrens hospital. It would also be an 18 month internship (I would rotate through all areas of the hospital even though Im being hired for a specific floor). It pays the same as job 2. I had role transition on this floor and the night nurses usually never get more than 3 patients and they have really nice amenities like a computer in every room and they are well-staffed. I was told it would take 5+ years to get seniority to get off night shift which I don't love but it would be 12 hr shifts.

In both ORs I would scrub and circulate in all specialties during orientation. Is is difficult to swtich from peds back to adult if I wanted? Someday I would like to do travel nursing and I'm not sure if starting out in Peds would limit my options for that, although I do love peds. I know this is a good problem to have but it's such a hard decision! Any advice?

[quazar]

Job 2 or 3 for me personally. Their training is longer, and even though it's not always a sign of anything bad, sign on bonuses make me leery. That's my own personal bias, though.

[rearviewmirror, BSN, RN]

I am an ER breed so I don't know whole lot of OR, but being in the healthcare and nursing for few years, I would recommend option 2. Here is why and correct me if I am wrong folks. Between ER and OR, if I chose to stay at bedside, I would have made move to go to OR (I am doing desk job now) because of the specialization pros you would get. Medical field really really likes and praises specializations, not just in nursing; take a look at sonographers. Those who have cardiac sono certs get well treated and loved by doctors. Same goes with OR nurses. Pediatric specialized RN assist? You would be a huge asset! I highly recommend since it sounds like that position is very competitive and hard to come by. Specialize yourself, that is my advice. Of course, night shift sucks, but hopefully you can soldier through little to be awesome. Stay cool!

oh and just side note, do not go to medsurg, and this is coming from previous medsurg nurse. The least specialized field is medsurg, basics yeah, but for what it's worth, for me it was all med passes and ant work tasks. Don't go to medsurg.

[Courtney Nurse Writer, BSN]

I like job 2!! OR plus peds specialty = highly desirable by future employers if ya ask me!! Also the lower pay will be a second thought when you are not sitting in traffic (which I do daily blah!!). I did an OR externship and there were mean doctors and some nice doctors. I think that applies anywhere you go to be honest. Congrats on so many job offers! So exciting!

I agree with previous poster. I hated med-surg!!!! I don't know how some of those nurses stayed for as long as they did. I did both nights and days and felt like I was a pain pill dispenser.

Specialize specialize specialize!!

[georgia6]

Thanks for the responses! The sign-on is given because my university is affiliated with the hospital.