IMC or ICU Preceptorship? HELP!

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Happy Wednesday!

I am currently a senior in an ABSN program and I graduate in Spring 2020! I have to choose a senior preceptorship for my last semester of nursing school and I would love some advice from students who have already completed their preceptorship as well as from working nurses!

I am very interested in the CVICU and I was going to choose this as my first option, but lately, I've been wondering if I should choose the IMC. I would eventually like to end up working as a CVICU nurse, but I know that I want my first job as a new grad to be in the IMC and then work my way up to the ICU. I am torn on whether I should go for my ultimate dream of the CVICU or stick with the IMC. I think both units will be beneficial, but the dilemma I am having is that I think the IMC will definitely prepare me for graduation and working on an IMC floor, but I still want to choose the CVICU for the experience. I feel as if I picked IMC, I would be set up for a smoother transition into practice as a new grad nurse. The IMC will help me with my time management of 4 different patients and learning how to be an IMC nurse. Furthermore, picking the IMC, I would have more of a chance of getting hired on the unit that I do a preceptorship on or networking to get hired in a different hospital's IMC. I think during a residency program interview, it would look good that I have experience on an IMC floor and I will be more marketable. On the other hand, like I said before, CVICU is my ultimate work destination. I absolutely love cardiac patients. I would love to get this experience as I do not know when I will be blessed enough to land a job there after working in the IMC for a while. I think it would be an awesome learning experience and help me to utilize my critical thinking skills. It would even allow me to see if I even like the ICU. Currently, I am on an IMC floor for clinical and I really do like it, but we haven't had an ICU rotation. This would be like my shot, you know? I also think it will look awesome on my resume that I did a preceptorship in the ICU and make me more marketable. I just want to reach my fullest potential and be challenged to grow more as a student nurse. I'm unsure of what to do and we need to decide soon. Please impart your wisdom and advice! Thank you!

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You'll probably learn more in the icu, especially if you haven't had an icu rotation. It wpuld likely be the better learning experience.

The biggest upside of an IMC preceptorship is that preceptorships sometimes turn into job offers, so if that's where you want to work right off the bat, precepting there might help you get the job.

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Thank you so much for your response!

I've decided on the ICU option because it truly is what I want.

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