Employment question for experienced nurses

elkpark · Nov 4, 2009

I don't have a lot of hiring experience, but it seems to me they can hardly criticize you for taking a different job with higher pay and a shorter commute! Also, you've been at the other facility a respectable amount of time, so you're not appearing to be a "job-hopper." I'm sure that, if they're located near a large teaching hospital (that pays better than they do), people turning them down because they also got offered a job at the teaching hospital is not a new experience for them -- they'll probably be glad to get a second chance at getting you. In any case, it can't hurt to apply.

Good luck! :)

Rascal1 · Nov 4, 2009

You have nothing to lose if you apply for that open position. I would be wary,however,as to why the position has

not been filled yet. Any way that you can be a detective?

tewdles, RN · Nov 4, 2009

You will never know until you apply. Jump in and go after the job.

PAERRN20 · Nov 4, 2009

You have nothing to lose if you apply for that open position. I would be wary,however,as to why the position has
not been filled yet. Any way that you can be a detective?

The hospital is very very small and sandwiched between 2 big teaching hospitals that offered better pay. I am sick of the teaching hospital and want a change. I do know nurses who work here and love it! Thanks for the advice!

Altra, BSN, RN · Nov 4, 2009

I agree there's no reason you shouldn't pursue the position.

However, there can be a world of difference between an academic hospital and a community one. Think carefully about various aspects of your current job -- the working relationships between nurses and docs, the commitment and knowledge base of ancillary services (respiratory & radiology, in particular), and how each institution defines and prioritizes customer service.

Does the community hospital value BSNs, advanced degrees, and certifications in your specialty area? Is there shared governance?

Just make sure that you have a clear picture. Good luck!

elkpark · Nov 4, 2009

I agree there's no reason you shouldn't pursue the position.
However, there can be a world of difference between an academic hospital and a community one. Think carefully about various aspects of your current job -- the working relationships between nurses and docs, the commitment and knowledge base of ancillary services (respiratory & radiology, in particular), and how each institution defines and prioritizes customer service.
Does the community hospital value BSNs, advanced degrees, and certifications in your specialty area? Is there shared governance?
Just make sure that you have a clear picture. Good luck!

Small community hospitals can be great places to work. I've worked in a small community hospital and I've worked in major, nationally-known academic hospitals, and they each have strengths and drawbacks. All the specific concerns you identify are significant, but none of them guarantee that a particular employer will be a good place to work. I think the bottom line is, are the nurses working there now happy with their jobs?

To the OP -- one of the things I always do in the job interview process is ask to talk with some of the current staff nurses (privately, without management "supervision"). I usually ask to talk with one or more nurses who have worked on that particular unit for a long time (if there's no one who's been there longer than, oh, say, 18 months, that tells you something right away) and the most recent hire on the unit (the newest person can tell you about what the actual orientation process was like, compared to what you and s/he were told in the interview process about orientation :)). This is a reasonable request, and an organization that has nothing to hide won't balk at accommodating it.

Altra, BSN, RN · Nov 4, 2009

I agree.

Just trying to help out a relatively new nurse. I myself have had the experience of changing jobs based on location, commute, pay & benefits ... and regretted it as the issues I listed in my post ended up being signficant negatives.

cherick22 · Nov 4, 2009

I turned down a med-surg position last April then was just hired same floor same NM different shift. In fact she remembered me from the previous sit down interview so didnt require me to come back in. Just a short chat on the phone and I got the job!

OldnurseRN · Nov 4, 2009

Is the "small community hospital" a critical access hospital? That could be one of the deciding factors. Critical access hospitals, while they have acute patients, are mostly skilled beds for patients leaving larger facilities after their knee replacement or new hip. Alot of the patients are the equivalent of nursing home patients. They are mandated by law to 25 beds or less. There are periods of no/low census with nurses being cancelled to the opposite of many patients but no additional staff. Most critical access hospital nurses also cover the ED and frequently respiratory therapy and EKGs.

PAERRN20 · Nov 4, 2009

Is the "small community hospital" a critical access hospital? That could be one of the deciding factors. Critical access hospitals, while they have acute patients, are mostly skilled beds for patients leaving larger facilities after their knee replacement or new hip. Alot of the patients are the equivalent of nursing home patients. They are mandated by law to 25 beds or less. There are periods of no/low census with nurses being cancelled to the opposite of many patients but no additional staff. Most critical access hospital nurses also cover the ED and frequently respiratory therapy and EKGs.

I am not 100% sure that it is a critical access hospital but what you described fits the facility pretty well. The patients are minor surgical and run of the mill medical. I have a condition that is exacerbated by stress and am finding the ED at the teaching hospital too much. To be honest I am looking forward to the lower acuity.

MedSurgeMess · Nov 5, 2009

Then go for it!