Job decision, help please!!!

[KatLynnB07]

Well, as most of you know the job market for new grad RNs in Southern CA is not too hot. So after 7 months of filing applications every day, I was very surprised to get 2 offers in one week! Now I am faced with a difficult choice. The first one is new grad on an oncology/med-surg unit, at a hospital applying for magnet status in the town that I currently live in. The second one is in a family birth center at a hospital that means relocating 2 1/2 hours north of where I currently live, but offers a more thorough Versant new grad program (and so requires a 2 1/2 year commitment).

Either job would be good, and I feel so blessed. But I am having a difficult time making the choice. In the long term, I am equally interested in working in public health (which women's health fits right into) or oncology, but I'm not sure which path I want to take. I am worried that whichever position I take may pigeon hole me into a particular area for my nursing career. Moving north would also put me farther away from my support system... but could also be exciting. Please.... any tips/opinions/previous experience that you can share? I would really appreciate it!

[chrisyen]

Med-surg will kind of prepare you for a whole gambit of sorts - think of a general practitioner and how they have to know a little bit about everything, they aren't specialized like cardiologist or other doc. What you need to figure out is which one is truly your passion: do you dream of helping women give birth to healthy babies, or do you dream of helping everyone, regardless of age, etc? For example, I've done med-surg for over 3 years. However, if I can eventually get back into inpatient oncology I would do it in a heartbeat. My reason: I love nothing more than to help people either try and conquer that invader if that's what they choose, or aid them in passing away with dignity if they decide the fight isn't worth the battle of chemo/radiation. Kind of a hard choice to make, that's for sure. What it boils down to is what what you dream of doing? If public health is that dream and you know women's health deals more into that than a general med-surg background, then that may be the way to go. Just some suggestions to think about.