I have a dilemma. I have received a job offer and I am having difficulty making a decision. I currently work in a cozy office job in informatics for the second largest hospital system in my state. I am well paid, have a nice desk by the window, can come in and leave when I want, every weekend and holiday off. But....I'm halfway through grad school to be an APRN. Next year I start clinicals and will need to have a flexible schedule, and right now I work Mon-Fri.
I applied for a job in the top ICU in the #1 hospital in the state on a whim, and I applied one afternoon and they literally called me back the next morning. I had the interview, went well, liked the unit but then when I got home figured I may not take it and just stick out my current job until clinicals. However, they called me back yesterday and offered me more money than I asked for! I'm just feeling apprehensive about giving up my very privileged position and going back to the grind, even though it's better paid. The thought of working every other weekend, absolutely having to get there at a certain time, and never getting to sit down and drink a coffee is playing with my head. I've done that for 23 years and I'm tired. I know that working in this ICU will look really good on my resume, expose me to the top medical teams in the state, and put me in a really good position to get hired right out of school. Am I crazy? What they're offering is basically just a couple thousand away from 6 figures. That's a heck of a lot of money and I feel like I can't turn it down. I am bored by my current job but it's so comfortable. I also feel like the longer I'm there the further away I get from keeping my skills and relevancy current. Of course I always planned going back to clinical, which is why I'm in grad school, but I wanted to do so as a provider. I have a lot of credentials and experience and I know I have what they need, but what do I need? I feel like taking the job would be a strategically correct move.
I miss clinical and I literally watch every single medical program I can, and if I watch something like Boston Med I am on the edge of my seat with tears in my eyes because I know in my heart that I want to do that again. I just want to do it as an APRN not an RN and I'm only hesitating because I was sick for over a year and am finally well again but worry that my body won't be able to handle it. I don't know what to do. I know they want me or they wouldn't have called me so immediately and offered more than I asked for.
Current Job:
PROS:
It's easy
No holidays/weekends
Nice office environment
Well paid
CONS:
Boredom
Don't really like the people
Not passionate about it
Won't have time for clinicals eventually
Losing my skills
New job:
PROS:
LOTS of money
Prestige
Experience
Exposure
Learning opportunity
Possible $10,000 sign on bonus
CONS:
Every other weekend and holiday
Hard physical work
Stressful
Rotating nights
Just about every other negative thing you can think about on a clinical floor
I know I will need to make a change eventually as I don't want to stay where I am forever. I feel like this new job is a huge opportunity that I may not get again but after being away for 2 years I'm apprehensive. I guess I got comfortable and lazy. This isn't like me!
Thanks for all your input. I really do appreciate it. I've had some time to think over the holiday period and it looks as though I will probably accept the new position. I am going to try to negotiate a couple things first however. My main concern is that I have a chronic disease that causes me a lot of problems once a month and I finally got a job where I can sit down, or work from home if I don't feel good. I've been dealing with it for years, and I can deal with 12 hour shifts again if I have to. I just got spoiled that's all, but at the end of the day, I am not passionate about my current job. It's just easy and comfortable. Not bad things, obviously, but as I'm in school I know that a change is going to come and it's time to prepare. I feel pretty good about it, except for all the usual negatives...working weekends and holidays, driving in snow etc. The job itself excites me. Yes, I will be working similar shifts as an acute APRN, and I'm prepared for that, but we all know being an APRN is a very different animal. Thanks again.
But finally I realized it didn't have anything to do, really, what each one of them was like.
>>>>It had to be about me.
What did *I* need?
What did *I* want?
It was only then that I 'knew' which guy was more aligned with what I needed from a relationship.
We are still together 28 years later, 26 of them as a married couple.
Looking back from this distance I can see what was attracting me, yet holding me back, about the other guy.
Since you are, as I was, caught up in the thrills and the fear of changes, it's hard to see clearly.
I know what I would do, were I in your situation. I had 3-4 job offers when I graduated nursing school. In that case, what I NEEDED was to NOT feel scared, being a newbie nurse, back out in the real world. Since I didn't want to feel timid and frightened, and since "the only way out, is THROUGH".....I chose to face my quivering fears, and chose the job offer from the biggest, scariest hospital (which also had a long history and an awesome reputation.) It wasn't the money, it wasn't the schedule. It was wanting to shake off that feeling of being just 'adequate' and getting by. If I was going to do this I wanted to be ready to rise to any challenge and I wanted to be REALLY GOOD AT IT.
The job where you are 'coasting' is not doing you any favors.
I love this. Thank you! This is how I feel. I want to feel challenged and interested and fascinated and excited. I want to have pride in what I do and to learn more than I ever thought I could. You captured the essence of this. I too want to feel fear and look it in the eye. Honestly, i feel like taking this job will really prepare me for the scary ride of being an acute APRN in an ICU. It will give me a huge opportunity to ask a ton of questions and work closely with the APRNs that are there. I know I can learn so much from them. Thanks for your input.
Just curious...who decides what the "top icu" and the "top hospital the state is"?
When you work in a small state like I do, it's quite obvious, especially when you've worked in most of them. This is a nationally recognized specialist center. Not hard to figure it out.
It does matter to me that's it's the top hospital. I want to work where they strive for excellence. I want to be in a place that recognizes and appreciates excellence in others. My days of working in Podunk General are over.
LOL thanks for posting. Yeah, I hear you on the comfort thing but I'm cursed with this Type A personality thing and I'm always looking to move forward. At least my brain is. My body, not so much.
I can relate. I have the same problem. I'm always looking for the next challenge and opportunity. Despite me telling myself that "tomorrow is never guaranteed" and to live for today. Good luck with your decision. Sounds like a tough one.
I'm tending to lean toward you taking the ICU job. It's there right now.
I can relate. I have the same problem. I'm always looking for the next challenge and opportunity. Despite me telling myself that "tomorrow is never guaranteed" and to live for today. Good luck with your decision. Sounds like a tough one.
I'm tending to lean toward you taking the ICU job. It's there right now.
Yes, I tend to agree. My favorite saying is: "when you get to a fork in the road, take it". Opportunities are not to be ignored.
Rocknurse, MSN, APRN, NP
1,367 Posts
Thanks for all your input. I really do appreciate it. I've had some time to think over the holiday period and it looks as though I will probably accept the new position. I am going to try to negotiate a couple things first however. My main concern is that I have a chronic disease that causes me a lot of problems once a month and I finally got a job where I can sit down, or work from home if I don't feel good. I've been dealing with it for years, and I can deal with 12 hour shifts again if I have to. I just got spoiled that's all, but at the end of the day, I am not passionate about my current job. It's just easy and comfortable. Not bad things, obviously, but as I'm in school I know that a change is going to come and it's time to prepare. I feel pretty good about it, except for all the usual negatives...working weekends and holidays, driving in snow etc. The job itself excites me. Yes, I will be working similar shifts as an acute APRN, and I'm prepared for that, but we all know being an APRN is a very different animal. Thanks again.