First Nursing Job in Nursing Home

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Hello,

I have just recently a couple months ago accepted my first job as a nurse in a long term care facility. I am extremely nervous and keep wondering if I made the right decision. I only have an Associates in Nursing degree and no heathcare background. I am currently enrolled in UMUC to obtain my Bachelors in Nursing. I one day hope to be a pediatric nurse. I have applied to many hospitals and had few interviews, but no luck in landing a job offer. I was told by a friend that there is a nursing home her daughter works at and she thought I should applying because it's most likely they would hire me due to the need for more nursing staff. Therefore, I applied and was offered a job which I accepted. I am happy to

finally have my first nursing job however I wonder if this is a good place to start. I know some experience is better than none, but I really want to learn to be a great nurse and hopefully one day work my way to becoming a pediatric nurse. Anyways, I see many of my nursing friends with jobs in hospitals and most of them had previous healthcare experience. They tell me not to settle for a nursing home and to keep applying to hospitals but I was having no luck and becoming discourage. I feel as though people don't see nursing homes as great experience making me less of a nurse for working at one. I just want to know if I made the right decision in taking the job.

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Specializes in Med/Surge, Psych, LTC, Home Health.

I think you made the right decision. Sometimes, and in some areas of the

country, certain nursing jobs in certain specialties can be very hard to come

by for new grads. Indeed you may have to kinda, take what you can get,

to get some experience under your belt. Work this job for a year, then

get to applying again. Employers seem to enjoy seeing that, not only

do you have some experience, but that you stuck it out at your first

job for that one magical year. Good luck. :)

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