I'm a new grad RN who got her first real nursing job working at a SNF. The SNF I work at is attached to a hospital, which while I was originally not excited to work at a SNF I was excited for the opportunity for advancement into the hospital into one of their med/surg units, etc. Turns out, I really do like working at the SNF. I like my coworkers, the residents, and feel comfortable here. But working at a SNF is not part of my long term goals.
I have worked at the SNF for four months now, so I am just about to get off my probationary "new hire" period soon. Therefore, I wanted to try applying to the hospital and see if I can get a job there, because I feel as if working in Med/Surg would at least get me closer to my ultimate goal of doing something more acute, such as critical care.
But my dilemma is that I feel like I'm disrespecting my employers at the SNF for "jumping ship" basically as soon as I can to work over at the hospital. My ideal situation would be to work at the SNF per diem every other weekend (which is what they originally hired me for, but of course they have me in a 32hr/week position still even with my per diem role). I do feel obligated to them to give them at least a year of my time since they were the first people to believe in me and offer me a job. I don't want anyone to be disappointed or judge me that I would either leave the SNF completely or go down to working there every other weekend.
One last detail: My boyfriend and I do plan to leave the area and move up closer back home where he would have a lot more opportunities to get a job in the field he's about to join. So even if I do apply to the hospital and got a job, I would only stay at the unit for 7 months at most because our lease is up in September and we would move back up closer to our families. So that's another added stress of secretly not even giving the hospital unit a year of my time for being so generous and hiring a new grad onto their unit.
Should I just avoid all this mess and work solely at the SNF for now? Or should I be a little more "selfish" and see if I can get a job that would give me more opportunities to advance to critical care even though I'd secretly only work there for 7 months? I would have to try and find a new job in September despite what I do in this situation because we will 100% be moving away, and I'm not sure if a year's worth of just working at a SNF will give me the best chances at getting a new job rather than working at the SNF *AND* working at the attached hospital for ~7mo would. I could also just apply to a different hospital that's much closer to where I live and tell the SNF that I can't do the commute anymore. But there's still the issue of only giving that hospital 7 months of my time.
This all makes me feel so fake and self absorbed, like I'm not considering what anyone else's feelings or staffing needs are Am I overthinking everything??
Thank you for reading my rambles, I appreciate any input or advice you all have for me.
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
And in dialysis, a nurse with no experience is not on her own for ONE YEAR. Let that sink in RN DYNAMIC. That, is the truth. Not changing my story, sticking to it. That should tell you how complicated and specialized it is.
It was a part of MY condition of employment in my current job. We were tested for HEP B surface antigens. We deal in a lot of blood in dialysis.
They invested a LOT in my orientation/training. 2 months' classroom education and 8 weeks' on the floor training plus 6 months preceptorship with another RN. BIG BUCK$ invested in me as a new dialysis RN (and I was not a new RN mind you, I had 14 years' acute care experience)
You really don't know what you talking about.
I had to have labs drawn prior to working on a pediatric chemotherapy/BMT floor. We had to have a CBC and some other things drawn, then we had them redone yearly because of our exposure to chemo.
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
One thing I forgot: Some managers/educators change training time frames to meet needs of individuals. That is to say, if someone is having a hard time, they lengthen either the technician phase or the preceptorship as an RN. Or they can decide an RN will spend 3 months or more on the floor as a tech, working strictly as a tech before ever precepting with a nurse, as I know one new hire RN is doing.
So that gets a bit confusing. I did not spend a lot of time as a tech. Very little actually as I recall. So after my RN preceptorship was over, I followed a patient tech around and re-learned teching and got proficient at cannulating fistulas and grafts (one skill that takes a lot of practice) and stringing machines (one you want to learn to be able to perform quickly).
Just more random memories from my early days as a fledgling dialysis nurse....sorry so off topic.
As for worrying about what future employers will think, the solution is simple: don't worry. Job hopping is not a big deal.
When I was in the position to review resumes and interview if a person had 3 jobs in 2 years I didn't look any further. Most people that do hiring see that as a sign that they will not stay long and not worth the time and energy. Whatever the reasons. That is the reality.
Now here we have two completely conflicting points of view. I would encourage the OP to consider the source of these two comments before deciding which one seems more credible.
Nothings outrageous about what I said here. Your employment history does not show up on a consumer background check or credit history. Where did you learn that crap?
Also, an employer can't find out how much you paid in taxes or to social security from another employer. Nor they can get that information from the IRS. The IRS will not share your tax history with anyone, not even another government agency. Employers can wonder at gaps in employment all they want, but explaining gaps away is super easy. I've already explained some ways to do that.
If you or ruby want to attempt to dissuade the OP or others from not mentioning every detail of their career on their resume, that's your perogative. But please don't scare them by giving them false information that you made up.
I have seen my credit check ... and some of my former employers are listed on it, but not all of them. I have also seen employers listed on some other people's credit checks. I don't know why some are listed and some are not -- but it is risky to assume that "no one will find out" about the job you don't want to talk about. Lying and deceiving are rarely the wise choice. The OP is too early in her career to start that. She has established a solid foundation in her first job. She should not throw that away by becoming unethical now.
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
I really do think honesty is the best policy where employment or potential employment is concerned. Caught lying can be deadly to a career, particularly one that is just starting out.
Am I overthinking everything?? 
SmilingBluEyes
20,964 Posts
And in dialysis, a nurse with no experience is not on her own for ONE YEAR. Let that sink in RN DYNAMIC. That, is the truth. Not changing my story, sticking to it. That should tell you how complicated and specialized it is.