Do I take my first job offer?? HELP

[RNjackie23]

I'm located in NY and applied a few months ago to a new grad residency program in NC (charlotte to be exact). You had to pick your top three area choices and for my first I put Adult Critical Care. During my critical care rotation I was in a CTICU, MICU, ED and OR. I loooooooved the CTICU but I know a lot of people would say don't start in it because it's high acuity and specific. Well, the nurse recruiter called me and said I see you were in the CTICU for clinical, did you like it? I said yes I absolutely loved it! She set me up with an interview with the hiring manager in their CVICU. I then got a peer interview after that. Yesterday (Fri 3/17) they called and offered me the position!!!! I said I'd take the weekend to think about it (So call them back Mon 3/20).

I have my capstone in the cath lab and I really do love love love love cardio..but I'm not sure if I should take my first offer.

However, I did interview and shadow in the Burn Trauma ICU at a hospital in [upstate] NY [where I go to school] and never got a call back (didn't love the unit so didn't really put my heart into the interview with the manager after the shadow, but I digress).

I just applied to three/four hospitals in the NYC area [where I live] this week, because their applications just opened.

I doubt I'll get an opportunity to start in a CVICU/CTICU in any of those hospitals though and that is what I want to do 100%.

The pay, however, in NYC area is 38-40/hr and in charlotte.... 21/hr !!!!!!

Is the cost of living in charlotte really that much cheaper?? Can you live off of 21/hr?

I do want a new grad residency program because I think a hospital that has this really cares about the growth and success of their RNs.

Anyone from Charlotte or a similar dilemma with any advice?

[Libby1987]

The pay in NYC is $38-40. That's what you're sure you'd be offered in a new grad program in a unit you loved or that's the average starting rate in general? (BTW, we start our new grads higher than that.. in a much more affordable area so I'm not exactly wow'd)

Don't think about the money, think about what you want your life to look like in 3 yrs. If it's in a cool place like Charlotte with 3 yrs of experience to market, you can find ways to afford to live there as a new grad. You're living at home now? Consider a roommate in Charlotte once you've gotten acquainted with your new colleagues.

[RNjackie23]

That's the average starting rate in general...don't even know if I'd be offered anywhere close to a unit I love (probably just wind up on a med surg unit).

Libby- out of curiosity where do they offer new grads more than that in a more affordable area?

If I was in the NYC area in three years I'd be so unhappy:no:

[DTWriter]

How about visiting the NC area (especially the unit in question)?

I do not know you but it would absolutely suck to make an expensive move only to be like: "Shoot, I should have checked this town out~" or "Shoot, I should have shadowed this unit~"

[Libby1987]

That's the average starting rate in general...don't even know if I'd be offered anywhere close to a unit I love (probably just wind up on a med surg unit).

Libby- out of curiosity where do they offer new grads more than that in a more affordable area?

If I was in the NYC area in three years I'd be so unhappy:no:

Non Bay Area of Northern California. Much more affordable than NYC.

[RNjackie23]

I visited San Jose CA and really liked it out there but thats a much bigger move and I didn't even end up applying out there haha

[ZombieRain]

A haphazard Google search on cost of living hints Charlotte is somewhere between 40% and 50% less expensive than New York, and you're talking about 50% less in starting pay. So whatever standard of living you'd have in NY you'll have in Charlotte.

I hope you make the move to Charlotte if that's where you would love to be.

[kiszi, RN]

I live in the Charlotte area and cost of living is pretty reasonable here. 21/hr might not seem like much, but when you add in shift diff and/or weekend diff, it should cover your expenses easily, especially if you don't have kids. I say go for it! CVICU is a tough environment, but your residency should prepare you well. If that's where you want to be, do it!! The opportunity may not come again.

[bgxyrnf, MSN, RN]

My advice is, "Take the job."

It's a fantastic opportunity and "a bird in the hand..." and all that

[MHDNURSE]

I live in MA and know THREE families that have all left to relocate to Charlotte and are LOVING it! Apparently it is hugely up-and-coming, great weather, super great cost of living...NYC salaries are that high because they have to be. It's impossible to survive in that city on anything less than that. I went to NYU for my PNP program and lived in NYC for those two years and was shocked at how crazy expensive everything is there. If you are excited to move and excited for the position, I say go for it! This is the time in your life when you can afford to make decisions only for yourself, before you have kids to worry about, a family, etc. I would leave MA and move down there in a heartbeat, but my husband owns his practice and my two kids would lose their minds if we up and left.

[kbrn2002, ADN, RN]

Great weather, decent wage to cost of living ratio, the unit you really want to work on and you are adventurous enough to have no qualms about relocating. Sounds like a pretty easy decision to me. Personally after living in the great white north for most of my life if circumstances allowed I'd jump on a chance to try Charlotte. It's a beautiful part of the country.

[DeeAngel]

You probably don't get hired as a nurse in NYC unless you know someone, same thing in Boston. You must have an in in those cities, you don't just apply and get a job like you can in Charlotte. Do a google search and compare the cost of living in the two cities because even at twice the hourly rate moving to NYC will make you poorer than ever, even at that wage.

[RNjackie23]

Well all- it is official. I accepted it!