Help me to decide between this two job offers

[Rhonda Johnson]

Please help me to decide between two job offers: one in an acute care rehab unit (patient-to-nurse ratio 6:1) and another in an intermediate care unit (IMC) (ratio 3–4:1).

I have six months of acute care experience handling post-op knee/hip surgery, DKA, alcohol withdrawal, and general patients. I took a two-year break for personal responsibilities and I am now returning to work.

The rehab unit is slower-paced, easier, and similar to my previous job, but it won't help me develop new skills. The IMC unit will be more challenging, but a great foundation for future growth, even if I don't stay there long-term. I eventually want a less stressful outpatient job, but I also feel I need stronger nursing skills.

I worry that working in IMC will feel like going back to school because I'll have to learn so much. On the other hand, staying in rehab might limit my growth. Should I take the harder path now to build confidence for the future, or choose the easier, stable option? Any advice would be greatly appreciated

 

[ChristinaFNP, ASN, BSN, MSN, DNP, APRN]

Well, I would approach this decision with the following:

1) Do you have the necessary skills to safely do the job in the IMC unit with minimal training and orientation? Unless it is a residency type position where you will undergo extensive training, they are not going to ensure you have the skills necessary to do your job, but rather orient you to the unit, EMR, make sure you have basic skills such as IV initiation, catheter placement, etc. I don't think 6 months experience of acute care 2 years ago sets you up for a successful foundation of skills needed. 

2) Does going to rehab and working for a year or two allow you to really grow and expand your skills and provide you a good foundation for developing and honing clinical judgment and decision making? The acute care rehab is still going to involve more than a SNF as far as skills and assessment and will allow you growth as a nurse. 

I wish you the best of luck in whatever decision you make. 

[Accolay]

Quote

Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty... I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.

I don't know if that's true, but it sure sounds good.

There's nothing wrong with taking a break from hard stuff for a while, but it sounds like you just did that. Why not buckle down and do the more challenging job? Learn. Grow. Move forward.

 

[AutumnApple]

Well, you've put much thought into how you think it will go at each job.  And put even further thought into the pros and cons of each as well.  This is good, that tells me you're already beyond the common mistake of simply looking at cash compensation and nothing else.  

 

I tend to prioritize commute, parking, schedule, and overall compensation (as opposed to just take home money and nothing else) when job hunting.  

 

While it is good to make educated guesses about the work environment and what you will gain from it, how often are we right about such things anyway?  Read through a few posts here.  Many times we go into something and find it, the job and the atmosphere are nothing like what we were expecting.  So our predictions on how satisfying the position will be and which is more or less stressful, only has so much value.  

 

On the other hand, commute will not change unless you change it yourself.  Parking matters more than people tend to believe.  It's one of those things we say "Oh, I'll just deal with that part" when the job is new.  But given time, inadequate parking will become like Chinese water torture for you.  The schedule (probably my highest priority when job hunting) also is one of those things we think we can be OK with but given time, a schedule that doesn't suit your needs will go from mole hill to mountain quickly.