dialysis or er

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Hello all, I am a recent graduate and was offered a part time position at a dialysis center this week. After accepting the offer I learned that there was a full time ER position at a local community hospital. I have a great connection in the department who has offered to hand deliver my resume to the ER nurse manager. Working in the ER is my DREAM and always has been. If I am offered an ER position should I take it?

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Specializes in SICU, trauma, neuro.

ER is your dream, ding!

You're a new grad who has choices; one of them is even ER! DingDingDingDingDing!

Full-time work. Ding!

Dialysis not your dream. BZZZZ

You may not learn what a typical new grad does, since dialysis RNs are so specialized. BZZZZ

Part-time wrok. BZZZ

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Even if I already accepted the dialysis position (albeit out of desperation)? I will feel like such an a**hole if I quit before I start or even worse two or three weeks after.

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There is no reason to feel bad about not taking the dialysis position. After all , you are desperate. This is YOUR career we're talking about. If another opportunity comes along, grab it.

Have you discussed this dialysis position with anyone? My understanding is, it is quite brutal.. some employers push you to 15 hours a day. Do you feel dialysis will be a good place to learn nursing skills?

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I have a few classmates who took positions at the same facility. They say days are long, start early, and the schedule is all over the place. I talked to my former clinical instructor and she said to take the position as i would "learn excellent assessment and critical thinking skills." But in the next breath said to continue to follow up with ER positions. So far the dialysis job is the best opportunity I've been given after an entire summer of searching. The only reason I would feel guilty is that I already told them I'd take the job. I've signed paperwork, done the drug test and all that. I've read the reneging on a job offer is totally unprofessional. However, an opportunity for a new grad to work in the ER comes around once in a blue moon and if it's given to me I can't see how I could ever turn it down.

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Specializes in Oncology.

It doesn't sound like ER is a sure fire bet, though? I mean, you haven't been offered that position yet, right? I've always heard it's extremely rare for ER's to hire new grads.

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No, it's not a sure bet. But like I said in my first post, I know someone who is pretty high up on the food chain their AND I completed all my clinical work there. So I think there might be a chance.

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Specializes in Critical Care Transport.

I think what blondy is getting at is this... You haven't been offered a position in the ER yet. So to make assumptions and think you have a good chance at getting a job is not a good enough reason to decline a previous offer. Suppose for a moment that you decide it's worth the risk and you quit the dialysis job then find out you don't get a job in the ER as it requires some experience. You are now left with no job at all.

Does it suck to have to leave a job a couple of weeks in or before you start? Sure! The employer may get frustrated a bit, but there was no way for you to know if you were going to get the job in the ER. It's better to be safe than sorry in this case. I think you are fine to be excited about a potential opportunity, but I wouldn't risk a sure thing for a potential possibility. It's all speculation until you are offered a position in the ED. Good luck!

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Thank you, Medic2BSN13. That was exactly the advice I was looking for!

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Start the job at the dialysis center.

Still apply for the ER job, and if it is ever offered to you, take it. Don't feel bad about taking a better job, or a job you believe better suits you. It is how a lot of us became nurses (I left accounting to go to nursing school)!

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