Military spouse and new grad job advice

[Willofthewisp]

Hi

I will graduate this May with an ADN and then have to move to another state, so I will have to take the NCLEX then.  I have already been offered a job in the new location, working as an RN in a long-term care/assisted living facility, shifts and pay are what I'm looking for.  For any acute care jobs, the hospitals have year-long nurse residencies.  We're on military orders, so we'll only be in the area for two years.

My question is: if I take the LTC job and maybe start my MSN (I have a Bachelor's already), would I get into an RN residency program at the next location if I decide long-term care isn't for me?  I've heard to do whatever I can to get into med-surg or rehab first, and I've heard to just do what I want to do and that experience is experience.  With COVID and Winter storms, my cohort has lost a lot of clinical time, so I don't have as great a sense of what kind of nursing I want to do as I normally would.  I just know I don't want to get trapped in long-term care my entire career.

["nursy", RN]

There are always ways to make a change.  The beauty of nursing is that no one is ever "trapped."    Getting or changing  a nursing position is usually  dependent on multiple factors, and theses factors change over time.   If you live in a small town your opportunities are way less than living in a big city with many hospitals,  unless that small town is desperate for nurses.  More experience wins over less experience.    How great is the need in any particular geographical area.  How great is the need for  a particular specialty.  How flexible are your salary needs.  All these things influence your choices, but if you want something enough, eventually you will get it.  I have yet to meet a nurse who said "yeah I've been doing (pick a specialty)   for 15 years and I hate it, but I couldn't get into anything else..."

[Sour Lemon]

1 hour ago, Willofthewisp said:

My question is: if I take the LTC job and maybe start my MSN (I have a Bachelor's already), would I get into an RN residency program at the next location if I decide long-term care isn't for me? 

That's unlikely, although each program has its own rules. How "stuck" you get in one specialty does depend on all the variables nursy brought up.

[Nunya, BSN]

If your husband is career military think about getting into civil service 

[Willofthewisp]

Thank you, everyone.  This helps.