Asking for help and some good opinions please

[akurnbsn]

I need some advice for a friend. She is a new grad in a state where it is very difficult for new grads to get jobs. She graduated in May 2011. Anyway, she had some contacts at hospitals where the HR people were telling her that nothing would open up until October or November. She got nervous about waiting and took a job in an acute care unit for a group of four nursing homes. She just started yesterday. She loves the nursing director, her fellow RNs and said everyone was very very nice. The pay is $28 per hour. She did have an opportunity to job shadow on the peds unit (of a large metro hospital, where she was hoping to work) the week before she got this job and had a very good experience. Yesterday, late in the day she got an email from the nursing recruiter at this hospital saying the nurse manager had come to him and asked him to contact her as she wanted to interview her for a nursing position opening she just received. My friend is literally heartbroken. She has always wanted peds, really connected with the nurse manager, etc and the hospital is her dream hospital. She is getting mixed advice on what to do should she go ahead and interview and then receive an offer. Is it completely wrong for her to interview, accept the peds position if offered, and leave the nursing home high and dry? She is a very conservative 22 year old young lady with great morals and the best heart of anyone I know. I need help in advising her. Can you all give us your PROFESSIONAL opinion? What should she do? What is the right thing to do?

[Double-Helix, BSN, RN]

If it's hard for new grads to get a job in this area, I'm sure there are many nurses who can take her place at her current job. If she has an opportunity to work in her dream specialty, she should take it. Ultimately it's about her career and her happiness. Would she rather stay in a position she isn't satisfied with because she feels obligated and spend the next couple of years regretting her decision and looking for something better? Or take a dream position now and spend the next few years happy and satisfied with her job?

[akurnbsn]

Thanks for the opinion, Ashley. I feel that same way, but is it ethical to leave someone high and dry like that? I mean her heart is completely with the peds position, but she is wrenching over what is the professional nurse thing to do? She is very honored to be in this profession and doesn't want to do the wrong thing professionally. Her personal choice is a no brainer. Also, when she was hired the Nursing Director told her she was the youngest person they have ever hired and they don't usually hire new grads. She said she impressed her and had confidence she could do it. I know she is really struggling with this. Do you really think it is okay to back out? We'd welcome any other opinions, as well.

[Double-Helix, BSN, RN]

I think it would be better to leave sooner rather than later, before the facility spends the money orienting her. The facility might not be extremely pleased, and I understand why this would be a really tough thing to do, but I do think that she needs to take the job that's best suited for her. Tell her that tough decisions grow our character. She won't be the first person to leave a job soon after beginning and she won't be the last.

[Bonnie86]

I agree, she should get out now. The opportunity to work in peds may not present itself so easily next time.