Fork in the Road-Any advice helpful

[Silverbird501]

I graduated a year ago and have got my first job as a new grad RN in pediatrics at a community hospital. I've been there almost 5 months now. My probationary period is 6 months and my manger had a meeting with me already to give me a heads up on what she's looking for. Basically, I'm not aggressive enough yet for the unit. I LOVE peds, working with kids, babies, new moms and families! But this unit is small enough that we only have two nurses scheduled per shift. And there are nights that I will most likely be on my own on the unit. This worried my manager. She discussed with me if I had ever thought acute care nursing was a good fit for me or not. Honestly, I hadn't. I have been talking myself into the fact that I think every new grad needs one years of experience in a hospital. So I thought acute care nursing is what I wanted to do. Her talk with me made me start wondering if that's really the case. She said she would have no problem keeping me on if this was a larger unit that always had other nurses on it. But on my unit, I could be working nights, alone, with a couple really sick kids.

Long story in order to get my concern across that is that really what I want to do. Maybe I should be looking into public health or community nursing where I get to work with more healthy populations, but still get to work with families and kids.

So my problem? I only have about 6 months experience on pediatrics. I'm not even sure if anyone will hire me with so little experience. So do I beg for her to keep me on, or start looking into community or public health, which may be a better fit for me personally.

Any advice or past experiences would be greatly appreciated!

[CarryThatWeight, BSN]

I'm not sure what new grad would be ready to be alone on a unit, at night, with really sick kids after only six months. It doesn't seem like a reasonable demand to place on a nurse, no matter what the nurse's temperament is. I have been a nurse for more than three years, and I still bounce ideas off the charge nurse other coworkers, in addition to asking questions often. I would never want to be alone. Sorry I don't have any advice, other than to say that I don't think this means you are not cut out for acute care... unless there is more to the story.