First Job Offer-L/d or NICU??Please Help...

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Graduating Dec 2004...have just been offered a choice between NICU or L/D...both at the same hospital, with a contract & sign on bonus....it is really a dream come true.However, I never expected to get an offer for both depts are the same day! I have spent months agonizing over what area of nursing to enter into for January. I have a great interest in both areas...each has strengths and weaknesses..I just do not want to make the wrong decision.Has anyone been through both areas or been in a similar situation....I need advice please.

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Specializes in Maternal - Child Health.

I've worked both and love both. Since both offers come from the same hospital, why not contact the nurse recruiter and ask to arrange a shadow day in each unit?

Good luck to you! I'm sure you'll be pleased with either choice!

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Make a list of the pro's and cons of each area...including things you may want to do in the future (advanced degree etc.......). Weigh the lists against each other then pick. Also if you can talk to other new grads in each of those areas and see how things were for them (orientation through being on their own) it may help you decide since you have a strong interest in both. I was torn between NICU and PICU as a new grad and when I finally had a chance to talk with people from both areas it helped me make my decision. (Things I asked about....orientation, staffing, management, learning oppurtunities(like outside class work etc......., scheduling, ratio of new grads to senior staff, how long I'd have to stay if it wasn't for me,) As a student, does you school have an intenship that you can do in one of those areas? I've only done NICU so that's the only advice I can give you. Congrats and good luck!

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

I like the idea of shadowing ... but here is an additional thought.

I started as a new grad in NICU and never worked anywhere else clinically. I now have a role that is a combination of education and administration in a children's hospital. While I LOVE NICU, I have always felt my career has been a bit hampered by the fact that I never worked with adult patients or pediatrics, only newborns. As I got my Master's Degree and then my PhD, I was not qualified for faculty jobs because I did not have the clinical competence to teach either maternity or peds -- and they don't hire people to teach just newborns. Once I got into the NICU, I got so used to working with the babies that I never felt comfortable working with either peds or moms and therefore got that experience I needed to branch out to faculty positions.

So ... if you think you might want to go back to school and get an MSN and maybe teach someday, you will need to have clinical experience in something other than NICU. If that is the case, I would recommend you take the L&D job because it might not be available as a good option for you later. However, NICU's have always been receptive to hiring an L&D nurse. The transition from L&D to NICU is very "do-able," more so than the other way around. Does that make sense.

However ... if you are truly a NICU nurse in your heart and can't imagine doing anything else ... there is nothing wrong with taking the NICU job. Taking a NICU job as a new grad in 1977 worked out for me. I've spent many years in several different NICU's in CNS/staff development roles. I now have a dream job that suits me perfectly. However, I sometimes wonder what I might have done had I been able to get some maternity experience or pediatric experience along the way so that I could teach at a university.

Good luck,

llg

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Wow, I wish I had your problem! I am in my OB rotation right now and absolutely loving it. I particularly love L&D. I find NICU a bit too slow-paced for me. Do you have any preference whatsoever?

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