New Grad - Offered Nursing Home Position but want to work in hospital, advice?

[circularstaircase]

Hello,

I will be graduating from RN school in 2 weeks. For the past month I have sent out applications EVERYWHERE (well primarily hospitals in the area anyway) and so far have gotten the "thanks, but no thanks. Come back when you get hospital experience response". So I started applying at nursing homes this week (my inital thought was that it might be a good idea to work somewhere at least in the meantime? ....and I am in DESPERATE need of a job and $$ ). I got a job offer luckily, but I'm wondering or not if I should take it since I really want to work in the hospital? I hate jumping from job to job so would feel bad about quitting this job as soon as I find another? What does everyone think? Should I take the job or try and wait out to find a hospital one?

Thanks for the advice! Any is appreciated :)

[jacq929]

@ macgirl: how/where did you get a hospital job in 2 weeks? i've been applying and unable to find new grad positions. hospitals hire with experience only it seems. what was your area of choice? thanks :)

[tyrion stark]

oh man i would take it in a heartbeat.

i can't get into a hospital, much less a ltc center that doesn't have a hire/fire reputation for its nurses. i mean, i could take the job that most nurses last 4 months before they get fired. but i don't want to have a job where i got fired from on my resume or pop up on the background search.

as long as it doesn't have a bad rep. i would be so down. and I'm almost 1 yr out of school.

[NP Sam]

oh man i would take it in a heartbeat.

i can't get into a hospital, much less a ltc center that doesn't have a hire/fire reputation for its nurses. i mean, i could take the job that most nurses last 4 months before they get fired. but i don't want to have a job where i got fired from on my resume or pop up on the background search.

as long as it doesn't have a bad rep. i would be so down. and I'm almost 1 yr out of school.

Don't mind me. Tyrion last name is Lannister right?. I watch Game of Thrones. Okay back to the regularly scheduled forum...

[PMFB-RN, RN]

Pros:

Electronic charting

Clean facility; the patients seem to like it there

Cons:

Since it is a small facility it would just be me and one other nurse (LPN) who would be working on the 3-11 shift; I guess what I'm concerned about is that I would be the only licensed RN present during these hours. If an emergency occurs, am I correct in assuming that the RN present in the building is then responsible? While I do have two years working experience as an LPN, I worked at a doctors office so it's obviously totally different. I've never done LTC.

What do you guys think? Should I still just take it even though I will be the only RN at the facility during those hours? I guess I'm just a little concerned about the fact I have no one to go to if I need help :/ They said they are always available by phone, but still....

*** The electronic charting may well be a con not a pro. It depends on what program they use. There are many, I would say most, programs out there that are terrable and very slow & time consuming. With many programs I have used I would very happily go back to paper.

Yes as the on site RN you would be responsible. That's the say it is. It's why they have an RN there.

If a hospital job is not available as you have indicated before I would take this job in a heart beat.

[msrn1012]

hi everyone! @circularstaircase i just want to know. did u take the job? i'm sort of in the same situation. i have an offer to work at a nursing home but i really REALLY want to work in a hospital. i have sent alot of applications to different dept of different hospitals but still got no response after a month. i worry that if i get the job offer and start working at the nursing home i might get a call from the hospitals i applied at. arghhh! i really can't decide on what to do right now! >.

[circularstaircase]

Hello msrn1012...sorry for the late reply! You probably already made up your mind on what you are doing, but I'll give my 2 cents anyway

I actually wound up taking the nursing home position and *gasp*....got offered a hospital med-surg job 2 1/2 months later! I say go for it! I was only there for a short amount of time but I am still amazed at how much I learned. I really feel as though my brief stint there really helped me learn how to prioritize/how to handle emergencies/etc. I think my experience in LTC helped land me a job as well. If you have any other specific questions don't be afraid to ask! Good luck and let me know what you end up doing!