If You were Me, What Will You Choose?

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I have this dilemma right now, currently, I'm currently employed in a secondary hospital and since it's a secondary hospital, I do work 6 days a week and I only have a one day off. During my days off, I just stay at home, rest the whole day and watch tv. Working 6 days is kinda tiring for me because our schedule is one week NIGHT-then one week PM-then one AM-then NIGHT again... Our hospital is also not complete, we don't have CT Scan, MRI and the machines in the ICU are outdated. The good thing about this hospital is the toxicity is low to medium and the pay is kinda good. 2 days ago, I received a text message from a better hospital, way way better from this secondary hospital and it's a government hospital, i was told that I need to comply the pre-employment requirements and attend the orientation next week. There are many advantages being in a government hospital like being able to practice your nursing skills such as IV insertion, dealing with unusual medical cases and the l ikes.. though I know chances of being regular is only 1%, chances are, I would learn a lot from this government hospital and it's a tertiary hospital. If you were me, what will you do, are you going to stick to a secondary hospital or transfer to tertiary hospital? Thanks for the reply

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Sorry, title should be, "if you were me,...."

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Edited title for you :)

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Specializes in School Nursing / Education.

^_^ If I were you, I'd weigh in pros and cons of transferring from secondary to tertiary. If you really have the assurance of getting inside that "big" hospital, and why not. Since most of agencies/hospitals for abroad need such requirement, and they are also meticulous about the bed capacity. A government hospital is really good. BUt have you thought of climbing up the nursing ladder? Or you just wanna get stucked up there. Or you might just be thinking "I might not get that job, and will lose one if I become greedy." As of now, a lot of hungry RNs are looking to devour any jobs, whether paid or volunteer work (without paying fee of course - due to the thing called "regression").. But if you are really confident in changing jobs, then you may do so. But if it is money you're after, then don't ^_^ Peace out!

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Pros and Cons list time:

How long have you been with your current employer? If it has been a short time, maybe wait to get a year at least. You want to have a good relationship with your old employer, letter of recommendation, etc.

If you can easily recover from an unforeseen event, (like if the tertiary facility decides they don't like you anymore, and fires you) then it might be OK to take the chance. If you don't have a family yet that would suffer greatly without income for a while, again, you could take the chance.

All the nurses I know in tertiary facilities work 6 days a week, especially in government hospitals. I bet that does not change for you.

Also, is there going to be a move involved? Will you spend more time getting to work each day? Will you be near your family, or far away?

Best of luck. It is nice to see a post from an employed nurse in the Philippines.

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i would stick to the secondary hospital. it's so difficult to find work these days i think it would be a mistake to give up your job without assurance you'll get absorbed in the government hospital you're talking about. but that's just me.

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skills wise I'd go for that tertiary hospital (coming from someone who does volunteer work at a secondary hospital). ;) But its really hard to find a job nowadays, good for you you have one right now.

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Specializes in ICU.

will you be an employed staff nurse or a volunteer nurse in the tertiary hospital?

if you're gonna be employed, then it would be better to transfer... but if for volunteer nurse, then just stay in the secondary hospital.

but if there is a chance for you to be "absorbed" by the tertiary hospital and to be employed there, then i think you should give it a try because transferring to a better, bigger, and more equipped hospital will help you hone your skills more and gain more experience.

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Thanks for giving me your POV's, I'll tell you more about myself, I'm single, in my mid-20's and already done with my CGFNS, NCLEX and IELTS and just waiting for the retrogression to be lifted. My family is kinda financially stable so I really don't need to work for the money but just for the experience. I graduated June 2006 but I just started applying during the last quarter of 2008. The secondary hospital is my first so I had many first there but chances of mastering skills like hand-on skills like catheterization, IV insertion and etc is kinda slim because the census of the whole hospital is just equivalent to one ward of the government hospital. Here are my pros and cons:

Secondary Hospital

PROS

- located in my hometown

- be with my family

- the maid do all the things for me - laundry, food prepartion, etc

- salary solely goes to me, i just spend it for the things i wanted to buy

- living a simple life and i could save a lot

- salary is ok

CONS

- lack of facilities and equipments at the hospital

- crab mentality - many nurses there are gossiper and will try to pull you down especially to a nurse like me (US-RN)

- 1 day off

- don't like their style of schedule

- very strict

GOVERNMENT HOSPITAL

PROS

- i can improve my nursing skills and my criticial and analytical skills will improve

- it's a "wow" to be on that hospital since many nurses wanted to work their but they have to undergo a training exam first, if they pass then proceed to training, after training take the employment exam, if pass then interview and after interview wait for them to contact you and they already contacted me

- pay is a bit higher to secondary hospital

- i can deal with many unusual and medical cases that i just read on books

CONS

- i would be far away from my family and no maid to do all the things for me but during college, i was far away from my family as well so i can still manage things on my own

- 6 months contractual and it still depends on evaluation if its positive, then they will continue it but if not, they will not renew the contract

That's it. I'm still having thoughts right now that I wanted to transfer but a part of me doesnt want. I just had my medical at the government hospital but I'm still baffled. By the way, I just get hired at the secondary hospital last November so technically, I only got 4 months of experience to date. It's Comfort vs. Prestige for me.

Thanks for all your advice and POV. They are higly appreciated. Thanks so much. Just keep posting. Thanks so much. I'll just keep you posted.

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CONS

- i would be far away from my family and no maid to do all the things for me but during college, i was far away from my family as well so i can still manage things on my own

Hehehe.. Don't you think it's time for you to carry yourself and be independent?I don't think you'll be accompanied by your maid when you get out of the country..

IMHO, I'll stay with my current hospital because in government hospitals, "in reality", practice is very different - You know what I'm talking about. With that to consider, I don't think you could call that skill enhancement.

On the other hand, cases are extremes and you will be managing them and that gives you edge. You'll be seeing and assisting in different procedures (at least you'll be getting idea of the procedure).

Just follow your heart if you can't decide. :heartbeat

HTH!

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You are kidding about the maid......is that common for nursing students to have maids?

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Specializes in Coronary Care.
You are kidding about the maid......is that common for nursing students to have maids?

Not just nursing students.. It's common in the Philippines to have maids at home to do the house chores but it's only for those who can afford.

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