Got an offer!

If you liked the environment and the DON and it's close to your house I say go for it. Nursing homes aren't really for me either but it may turn out to be a great job. If you are hesitant I would say wait until the career fair because they have many opportunities available for both new grads and seasoned nurses. You also get a lot of fun, free stuff like pens, bags, note pads, hand sanitizer, etc. Good luck with whatever you decide.

I had my 2nd interview today and got offered a job assuming my reference check comes back ok.

You know already it will come back OK.

Its at a nursing home and I really was'nt planning on working in one, but it sounds like I'd gain a lot of experience there.

You will gain experience anywhere you work, that's one of the great things about being a new nurse, there is so much to learn! You will learn some things in a nursing home, but not nearly what you could learn in a hospital, where your patients are more acute, have more things going on, you will be thinking more on your feet, you can be floated to other units to learn even more stuff.... Compared to that, what kind of experience are you going to gain at a nursing home? If all you want to do is long term care ("LTC") then this is probably the place for you.....

Its only a few blocks from my house and the only other guy in my nursing class got a job there too.

This is positive--short drive time and you know someone who is going to work there--will you work together? Or is there one RN on at any one time, and it will be either him or you but not both? That's different from working together.

Downsides: the pay is'nt quite as good as I expected

This is going to be a problem. I don't know waht your expenses are, or what your area pays, but if this place pays poorly, and there are other places that pay enough more to MORE than justify a (short) drive, well....? You are going to be tempted almost from the beginning: poor pay is the first thing you have cited as a "downside."

though and they don't have tuition reimbursement presently, but are looking into it.

Uh-huh. Remember when you were little and you asked your parents for something, and they said "maybe?" This is the adult form of "maybe." They pay so poorly you are going to have to work at a factory to make your bills, they are not going to shell out anything for tuition. You need to be at a larger facility that already has tuition reimbursement.....

12 hour night shifts and only 36 hours a week, so I'd still have to work at the factory at least 1 day a week to make ends meet.

This is actually an upside--Twelve hour shifts mean that you have four days you are not working. Those days you could work at a hospital and get some of that experience you are talking about.... Plus the pay will almost certainly be better. And if it works into a full time position, you could have good benefits and tuition reimbursement. Hmmm. Sounding pretty good?

But that is just starting out and I have a lot to learn and more hours will be available. I'm supposed to let them know, not sure when. I'm still waiting to see if the jail calls back, but that was part-time. There is also a nursing career fair next week.

DO THE FAIR! See if you can find an internship position at a hospital. You will learn via OJT, you will be paid decently, you will have more options.

I probably should have applied more places and made more call backs, but the DON seemed nice

Yes, and it isn't too late to apply more places now, and definitely make every call back you can--if for no other reason than because it is the respectful thing to do.

and the facility did'nt seem that bad for a nursing home.

You seem to be settling.... "not that bad" is hardly a positive thing.

I'm thinking I should probably call them back early next week and say I'll take it. You guys agree?

No. I think you should let them call you and in the meantime, you should be running your little feet like mad applying all over the place.

There are opportunities out there for you that do not involve "settling" for something that pays poorly, isn't as bad as you thought it might be, will require you to work another job in order to make your bills, or where they are "thinking about" a benefit that is important to you.

Nurses often complain about poor conditions--you are seeing a lot of them in this place and are still considering taking a job there! We get as bad as we are willing to put up with.

Your first job will be a lot like a spouse. You are going to be very focused on it, it will have a lot to do with how happy you are. If you go in "settling," then you are going to be pretty unhappy, I believe.

Keep looking. You have a lot to offer. You have fresh info (just graduated, right?), you have the energy and enthusiasm to bring to the job that will make you an asset from the beginning.

Go get 'em, tiger! But don't settle.

(you asked..... :nuke: )

Actually I'm an LPN. The pay is'nt that bad there. Its just that my school loans and cc bills are gonna make it difficult. She did say you can usually pick up hours and get a bonus for coming in on your day off. My gf got a job making about $3 more and hour and she doesn't need it as bad as me as she hardly had to borrow anything to go to school. I have to give her credit though as she worked as a STNA at a couple places before she graduated and had her pick of 3 jobs.

I forgot to mention that I would be responsible for about 40 patients, with half of them with some degree of Alzheimer's. I don't know if thats normal for a nursing home or not, but it seems like a lot of patients. I know in med-surg nurses only have about 6-8 patients, but then again, the cna do a lot of the work in the nursing home and the nurse basically passes meds and does some treatments. She did say I would have at least 2 and up to 6 weeks of training until I was on my own...

Update: I went to the schools career fair and one nursing home has an opening . Its basically the same (36hrs, 12hr night shifts). I have an interview next tuesday. It sounds like it may pay better as she said they just increased their pay and shift diff. are a lot better. I know you should not base your decision on just pay, but I have massive school loans and such and would have to stay at the factory PT if I took the first job. Plus one person said they heard its not a good place to work. Its been a week since I got the offer. Should I wait until after the interview next week or call and say I'll take it and still go to the interview. I know I can't start anywhere until at least the first of next month anyway. Or is there some diplomatic way of telling the first place I'm still interviewing? I don't want to wait too long and lose out on that job, because its my only offer so far and I'm finding its hard to get your first job in nursing.