need help choosing first RN job!!

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i'm a new grad, and i need to decide between 2 positions that i've been offered. i'm hoping some of you here have had more experience job hunting etc and can offer me some advice...ideally, i'd want a peds position but i haven't been able to find any positions for new nurses, most of the peds jobs around here require at least a yr of RN experience. so i applied for other jobs,

one of my offers is on an oncology unit (bone marrow transplant) in a very good hospital, and i think i'd really like the unit bc i really enjoyed my oncology rotation, i like that it's challenging and there's a lot going on to keep on top of, and i've done a lot of oncology-related volunteer work. BUT i didnt necessarily get the best vibes in terms of the culture and atmosphere of the hospital, i dont have any friends/nursing school instructors who work there to ask about what it's like...and also, although this is really minor, and i wouldnt care if this was the only 'BUT' they dont do computerized charting (or orders, or anything...alllll by hand).

the other position is in a smaller hospital, it's a gero position , but with more of a focus on community-dwelling, active older adults rather than a strictly LTC-type population. i've heard wonderful things about working at this hospital (from friends who are currently there) and it seems like a place the staff are happy to be at...they also have a wonderful residency/internship program for new grads, (and the pay is slightly better, but that doesnt really matter if i'm not gonna be happy)

(oh, and they do have comoputerized charting and it's less of a commute than the 1st hospital and they have a really good tuition forgiveness program).

so in a nutshell,my dilemma is whether i should take a gero position when i really never envisioned myself working with the gero population...if everything else about the job is really good (and maybe i can transfer units at some point soon) i'm leaning towards gero, both bc everything else seems really good and bc i can probably gain valuable med/surg experience...

what do you think??

oh, and do you think it'll be a problem to get into peds nursing after a yr or so of gero (or hem/onc) nursing?

TIA!!

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I would take the gero position. I lived in chicago a long time and I know (as well as you) that the cost of living is insane as well as the commute time and cost. You can transfer units in the future if you hate it but i suspect that the staff and patients are happier there then in an onco unit. ALso, the charting is very important and helps decrease mistakes. As a nursing student now, I know i will not work somewhere where its all hand charted... too much is lost that way.

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Specializes in Surgical/Telemetry.

In your post, it sounds like you have a few more positive things to say about the gero unit- hope I am not reading too much into that. Hopefully it will be equally easy to enter into peds from either unit. Good luck!

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I know that many people have felt very rewarded working in a gero unit. That is something that is hard to find often in nursing. Many people are less than happy about their nurses or doctors. Gero patients and families tend to be happier.

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i'm not sure if you are reading into the post or not :)O

actually, i'm not sure which i'm leaning more toward, it depends on the hour...crazy!! the ONLY thing holding me back in terms of the gero position, is the 'gero' aspect.

also, i guess the fact that i really like oncology, especially BMT - it's incredibly challenging and kinda high pressure, but at teh same time you form these relationships with patients and their families....and i like the clinical trial/research aspect of oncology, as well...sounds weird i know it's hard to explain but maybe someone will know what i mean...

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yeah i know what you mean. Onco would be more fun in an intellectual sense. You get to be on the cutting edge in terms of new proceedures and drugs. I would hate it because of the morbitity of the patients in a unit like that.

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Specializes in OR.

I would go where your "passion" is- all the good benefits in the world aren't going to help you if you're not interested in the area you're in. I'm kind of an adrenaline junkie though and some people value safety primarily. And there is nothing wrong with that-it's just that you have the oppourtunity to gain experience in an area you love, think long and hard before giving that up. Good luck whichever area you choose!

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I know the delima you are in. I have been a LPN for 10 years now and just graduated less than two weeks from Nursing school..I mainly worked in LTC and sub- acute facilities through a agency. The pay with the gero population is MUCH better than a hospital. That is where my problem comes in..it is weird to say but becoming an RN is going to be a pay cut for me because hospitals just don't pay, and I want my experience. With the elderly you see the same thing over and over again, CHF, CVA, hip fx, CA with mets( usu. on hospice) nothing really different. If you want the experience I would say go for the onco..if you want better pay go for the gero position. I think you just might get a little bored with it though especially being a new nurse..there really isn't much to challenge your skills. Good luck with whatever you chose .

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thanks to all who posted, i ended up going with the onc (BMT) unit, the pay actually works out to be about equal IF i choose nights (i have the choice of nights or day rotating) but it's not really about the $, i need to be happy where i am and i think onc would be more intellectually challenging, i am also drawn to oncology and i cannot say the same for gero... i guess i am also a bit of an 'adrenaline junkie' as you call it, ortess, and i dont think a gero unit would be stimulating enough...like 2stush4u says, it's a lot of the same old....

so thanx all for helping me arrive at this decision!

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Great decision..good luck!!!

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