Need advice and guidance

[meandmymen]

I am trying to go back to work in the near future and need some advice on jobs and how to go to about things so to speak. I graduated in May 2008 with my Associates in Nursing RN but only have 8 months of hospital experience between 2 jobs due to some pregnancy related health issues and jumping too quick into the critical care setting. I currently have 2 small children and have been out of work for almost a year taking care of them but now my husband and I are both ready for me to go back to work. The two places I'm looking at is a Nursing Home and being in Wound Care.

I realize now that the critical care setting is just not for me and I looking for something to help me "get on my feet" and was wondering which would be best for me.

The nursing home has a great location (30 to 40 mins away) and is always needing people. The drawback is that it has a fairly bad rep and probably lots of turnover (like the other two places I previously work) and is only full time which may be more than I want right now. I'm going to ask a good friend tomorrow who was an LPN and worked there for 20 years+ for her opinion.

The wound care is on the other hand (about 1 hour to 1 1/2 away) is really far but has great hours, is part time, and depending on this job we might move to the area. The drawback to that is one of the qualifications is 1 year wound care (which I don't have) and deals with hyperbaric chamber (which I never dealt with before).

I think I would enjoy both because I have great bedside manner (so I'm told by my patients) the rehab setting, and I don't mind blood, stool, etc.... I'm just looking for something a bit slower and more predictable until my kids get older... Just wondering which one to go with (if that is an option) or if I should just wait until I hopefully find something that would better suit me. I realize that with the recession I can't be too picky with my jobs but I don't want to get a job and then be forced to quit or be in "way over my head." Any advice is appreciated thanks!!

[meandmymen]

Also forgot to mention that there is 2 medsurg positions in one of the local hospitals near me. I would have already applied but it is PRN and my husband and I are wondering how I am going to work that and try to find someone to watch our kids on such short notice when I have little help...

[BellaInBlueScrubsRN]

I'm confused by what you mean when you say that one job is PRN and you wonder about getting childcare on short notice. PRN you still make up your own scedule, you just aren't made to work a certain number of hours/week. Some PRNs work "full time" 36hrs/week and some I know only work a couple days a month. That might be nice for you, because you would dictate your own schedule. You wouldn't get benefits though.

[meandmymen]

Thanks for the reply and for the info about prn. I didin't know anyone who worked prn all I knew is that you don't get benefits which is not an issue at the moment. I just assumed that your employers would only let you work whenever they needed nurses at the last minute and they had noone else...

[HollyHobby]

I used to work PRN on my preferred unit; I had full-time hours but no benefits, which I didn't need at the time. Due to cutbacks, however, many people who work PRN are lucky to work enough shifts to pay the bills.