Hi guys Im new to all nurses! Im looking for some opinions regarding a job decision I have to make. I graduated in June as an RN and am one month into a fulltime psych nursing position. I was just called today for an interview at the hospital my school was affiliated with. There were no positions available when I graduated but now they have two. I really enjoy the tubes and lines part of nursing and was really disappointed when I could find a job at a hospital right away. Im going to write a list of pros and cons of what each job means for me! Let me know what you think...
Psych Center
Pros
Worked there as a tech before I was a Rn so familiar with staff and culture.
Right around the corner from my house.
Great pay in my opinion.. plenty of overtime.
Nice coworkers.
Get to use my undergrad psych degree and make myself feel better about paying off loans lol
Finally getting used to how nurses function there
28 vacation days a year
Fulltime benefits
Get to spend time with the patients
Cons
Not what I went to school to do and feel like Im loosing assessment skills
NO computers..i mean none..all paper kardexs for passing meds
No Iv therapy.. I only dress minor wounds, administer IM, subq and ppds
Small establishment, no chance to move up just move around
I dont really feel like a nurse sometimes bc the techs can do alot of the same things as the nurses and vice versa..only difference is nurses do meds, paperwork and dressings
Sometimes fear for my life when the patients are paranoid and think im talking about them lol
Hospital
Pros
Work on a Telemetry floor!!
All computerized systems
Tubes and lines galore
Use the skills I learned and love
Get to work where I trained and with some of the people I went to school with
Opportunity to get experience to get where I want to be... The ER!
Cons
30 min drive to bad area
Less pay (so i hear)..more work
The floor is notoriously known for dumping on new nurses
It smells horrible...no im serious.. the elevator opens and you beg for it to close!
Busiest floor in the hospital
May be a fulltime 40 hour a week, 8 hour a day evening position.. I might not make it
Wow very hard call. If some of the cons weren't there on the tele job I'd say go for it especially because that has been your goal. The longer you stay on the psyche unit the harder the transition will be to go back to a unit like tele. It will be harder for two reason, possibly harder to even get hired and then harder to make the adjustment to that kind of nursing care, and you will have lost some skills.
I work med-surg and an outpatient surgery job. Some of my outpatient surgery co-workers talk about going back to bedside nursing. When they have a tough day at day surgery and complain I just laugh as it no way compares to most days on acute care med-surg. The transition back would be difficult.
I read an article in our local paper about 6 months ago that talks about how most college graduates have a dream or goal but often they end up working in an area that isn't necessarily their goal but that they end up thriving in that environment and become quite successful. How many people do you know that have X degree but end up working in a completely unrelated field?
So just because psyche might not be your first choice it doesn't mean you can't have a successful, fulfilling career.
If you were comparing to bedside acute care med-surg type jobs I say stay where you are. But with two very different things I'd say go for the interview first . As a previous poster said maybe you could work one of the jobs per diem.
Good luck in your decision. Let us know what you decide.
RNKPCE
1,170 Posts
Wow very hard call. If some of the cons weren't there on the tele job I'd say go for it especially because that has been your goal. The longer you stay on the psyche unit the harder the transition will be to go back to a unit like tele. It will be harder for two reason, possibly harder to even get hired and then harder to make the adjustment to that kind of nursing care, and you will have lost some skills.
I work med-surg and an outpatient surgery job. Some of my outpatient surgery co-workers talk about going back to bedside nursing. When they have a tough day at day surgery and complain I just laugh as it no way compares to most days on acute care med-surg. The transition back would be difficult.
I read an article in our local paper about 6 months ago that talks about how most college graduates have a dream or goal but often they end up working in an area that isn't necessarily their goal but that they end up thriving in that environment and become quite successful. How many people do you know that have X degree but end up working in a completely unrelated field?
So just because psyche might not be your first choice it doesn't mean you can't have a successful, fulfilling career.
If you were comparing to bedside acute care med-surg type jobs I say stay where you are. But with two very different things I'd say go for the interview first . As a previous poster said maybe you could work one of the jobs per diem.
Good luck in your decision. Let us know what you decide.