Confused: Residency program or nursing home?

Nurses Career Support

Published

Hello all! 

Just want to preface this, I am a newly licensed nurse with no previous hospital experience other than clinicals.

I have a job lined up in a nursing home that is very close to my house. The pay is $31/hr which is more than I expected to get. I've researched them online and they are a bit old fashioned and the reviews are average. The other job is a Nursing Residency Program in a hospital that is 35 mins away from me and will be paying me $23/hr with average reviews as well. (also they are both fulltime). I don't really know what path I want to go into, it'll help once I really get out into the field to know. 

 I want to be realistic with my expectations. I don't want to jump into something just because the pay is better. One of my friends from school recently transferred from PCT to RN in her floor but ended up leaving and took a paycut to move jobs because it was too much. I'm afraid of the same thing happening to me. 

Any knowledge is very much appreciated.

You may find yourself stuck in the SNF due to not looking as desirable to acute care with only that experience, and with the added high pay.  If you like SNF nursing, then that is a goldmine--good pay, close to home.  But if you think you want to do acute nursing, getting the experience is more important as a new grad than money is.  The money will come with experience.  You can always do SNF with acute experience but going the other way is much harder.

 

3 Votes

What did you end up choosing? 

Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.

SNF nursing is a specialized niche. You will find it difficult to get into acute care if you go the SNF route, so you need to look at your future goals and not just the $$. Most positions away from the bedside require 2-5 years of acute care experience or more. 

I personally would choose the residency, but that is just me. Only you can decide what is best for you. 

Specializes in Adult/Gerontology.

I am in a similar boat. I have had my RN license since 2017. I have always worked in long-term care, which is okay depending on where you work. I am now trying to get the acute care experience that I missed out on, but everyone keeps turning me down citing that I have no previous acute care experience. The thought is that long-term care experience doesn't mean anything. There are 2 advantages to working in acute care:

1) You can get into most specialties after you've had at least 1 year of acute care experience. You won't become limited.

2) You learn so much in acute care and this really translates well to long-term care.

If you really are dead set on working in long-term care, then go for it. But if you have doubts or are interested in other fields, then "suffering" through that acute care experience is worth it.

+ Add a Comment