which job should a new nurse take

[angiendev1]

I am a new graduate and just received my lpn license. I have recently been offered a job at a local hospital and they have given me the choice of 3 different areas to work in. ER, Oncology-med/surg, and ICU. I don't know which one will be the best starting career choice. Most of my in school experience was in med-surg, but I would love to hear from nurses who work in the following areas about their jobs. I guess my biggest fear is that I am so new to nursing, which is not to say that I am afraid of doing skills, just that I don't bring experience to the table. Any advice that can be given would be greatly appreciated.

[angiendev1]

Thank you all so much for helping me with this. The recruiter at the hospital set up time for me to talk to nurses in each area. I guess considering some people on the board are having difficulting finding employment, I should really consider myself lucky to even have options. Thank you all again, so much

[angiendev1]

lunahRN,

the answer is no, ER orientation is quite extensive requiring me to shadow for 60 days, CCU--30days and I'm not sure about length to push meds, and Oncology--2 weeks and then another year for pushing the more extensive meds.

[WittleOnesRN]

What are do you live in and where did you get a job?

[MB37]

If you don't have a strong preference for one over another, I would probably go to the ER (and I'm an ICU nurse). I think it's a great place to get a lot of experience quickly that will translate to other areas of nursing later on in your career. Also, in my area, it's one of the few departments that still hires LPNs - your area obviously uses them in other areas as well, but if you ever move, it will help to have the experience in a department that will be able to use you. ER tends to be skill-intensive, so if you need practice starting IVs, placing foleys, drawing labs, etc. the ER should offer you a ton of opportunity. Since they also offer the longest orientation, I think it would be a good choice if none of the three areas really excites you on its own. Talk to people from each department though, and go with your gut to an extent.

[angiendev1]

I live in Oklahoma, and the jobs are at Comanche Memorial. I also have a close friend who received several offers from Duncan Memorial as a newly licensed lpn.