Does First Job Impact Future Jobs?

[smiles and medicine]

I'm a new graduate nurse and am moving to Louisiana which has a poor health care quality. I'm excited because I got into the specialty I wanted (pediatric ED). Many students in my nursing school chose to stay in the area because the hospital quality is great (CT and MA). I have no desire to stay right now and really just want to experience something new. However, I am worried that if I ever chose to move back to MA I would have trouble getting a job at a hospital because the hospital quality isn't as great in LA, has anyone experienced an issue getting a nursing job based on previous hospital experience? I don't want to hinder my education as a new nurse or future opportunities.

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

If you have pedi ER on your resume you WILL get interviews. In those you will have the chance to emphasize what you saw and learned as well as how you hope to grow. Nobody is going to look at the resume of an experienced qualified nurse and thumb their nose because of generalizations about the state she or he has lived in. Good and bad care is found everywhere. Congrats on this exciting new chapter. Hold your head up. Often the less desirable locations have the greatest potential for you to have an impact. You decide this destiny, not the supposed reputation of Louisiana.