Alright to leave new nursing position for a better one elsewhere?

[Lo-Hud]

Hey all!

So I was offered a full time registered nurse position in an ICU this afternoon which I am excited about because I have been searching for employment for the past year. However, my first interview was a successful phone interview with a much better hospital that I would rather work for.. I am currently awaiting a response from the better hospital to be brought in for a formal interview. My question is.. Is it alright to accept the job I was just offered and then leave the brand new job if the better one comes through? Additionally, if the better job calls to bring me in for an interview.. do I tell them that I just started a job elsewhere, but am still interested in the interview and position?

I need help quickly... thanks in advance to all who can give me their input!!

:heartbeat

[Da_Milk_of_Amnesia, MSN]

Honestly, I think you'd burn a bridge if you did that. But hey it's up to you, do what you want. With things the way they are I'd take what you can get, but I don't think doing that would be 'business appropriate' I'd just tell them that you'll get back to them in a couple days.

[nohika]

I would take the position offered. There's no guarantee from the hospital that's "more" - you may not even be invited back for another interview.

Take the guaranteed position. Not taking it would very, very likely bite you in the butt.

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

If the interview with "better" went so well, why haven't they contacted you yet? Are we talking only a period of days since that first interview...or weeks?

If it's been only a day or two since the "better" interview, tell the job offer that you will let them know in a day or so and give "better" a chance to call. But if it's been longer than a few days, or if you decide to wait and "better" doesn't call in the next day, cut your losses and take the job offer. At that point, there's no guarantees from "better" that something will come through. Also, if you're a new grad (I don't know if you are), having a year's experience will put you in a better position for job hunting at the "better" hospital...though you might find that where you're working can turn out to be better than you think :)

Good luck in your decision!

[canesdukegirl, BSN, RN]

Is there any way that you can ask for a few days to think about the first offer? They will usually give you a timeline in which you can think it over. I was in your position once and asked the first HR person to let me discuss it with my husband first, and then politely asked when they needed a response. I think that this is usual business practice. I was given a week. If they are willing to grant you some time, go ahead and do your interview with the position you really want. I would disclose to the second interviewer that you have been offered a job and that your acceptance is time sensitive. This will do two things for you: it will let the second interviewer know that you are in demand, and it will also expedite their process so that you can in effect kill two birds with one stone.

It is perfectly fine to let one prospective employer know that another is interviewing you, so I see no reason to keep it hush hush.

All of that being said, I think that if you accept the first offer and then bail if you get the second offer, it will not bode well for you. It's funny the way NM's remember things like that, and the circles in the NM world tend to be small.

I wish you luck! This is a GREAT dilemma to be in, although it does sort of keep you biting your nails, doesn't it? Please let us know how it works out.

All the best to you, Canes

[green nurse lpn]

i am facing kind of similar situation... i think i will be burning bridges soon. i accepted 2 offers since i thought i could work at both places cause one is per diem position and one is full time. the per diem position is asking me to make myself available for more than the usual days required since they're going to train me. the other job already gave me the warning that the nursing world in socal is very small and no good things will be said if i make a mistake of letting one offer go. my schedule doesn't allow me to work at 2 places, so i am also confused as to what i am supposed to do... um, help?

[beba/rn]

I wish I am in similar position because I am new graduate withouth any offers

good luck to you

[Lo-Hud]

Wow.. Thanks to all of you for your input. It honestly truly helped a bunch.. I have decided to go ahead and accept the job offer. I don't begin my orientation until mid January-so I figure I should ask you smarties for a bit more advice. If I get a job offer elsewhere in the next month, would it be alright to bail on the initial job since I haven't started working?

[NickiLaughs, ADN, BSN, RN]

I think it's fair if you get an offer elsewhere and are able to provide more than 2 weeks notice prior to starting that job then there should be no hard feelings. Such things happen all the time. When nursing was much more stable, it was easy to get a job and decide you wanted to work somewhere else. In that instance, you would have been able to reject the job offer. Things don't happen like that anymore

[caliotter3]

It was recently sugggested to me that I might be asked to resign from my other employer by the new employer. Guess what? It is now obvious that the new employer can not give me 40 hours a week. Now that would have been shooting myself in the foot, had I followed up on the suggestion. If you believe you need two employers to be gainfully employed, keep both. If you are offered a position, accept it. Don't hold your breath waiting for something better. When and if, something better makes the offer, is plenty of time to leave the first job offered. Always assume that you need to make the best decision for you at that one moment in time, because you might be operating on wrong assumptions.