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Discussion

Needing Advice

Hello! I graduated nursing school in May of 2023 with my RN-BSN. As a new grad, I worked for a year at a hospital on a Behavioral Health Unit. I left the hospital to move across the country for a few months. I left on good terms and even presented the idea of returning if a position was available when I was to move back. Now currently, I will be moving back home in November and have since reached out to my previous manager regarding any open positions on the unit I had worked on. There is one position open, however this also includes cross training in the BH unit of the ED. I do believe this would provide good experience but in the same thinking, the patient acuity is much higher in the ED unit and there are times where I would be the only RN working. With only 1 year experience under my belt and being a rather small woman, I'm unsure what to do for my safety and best interest for the future. I am still open to looking into other specialties in nursing to see what would be my best fit. My concern is that working in psych straight out of nursing school will eliminate me from getting hired into other positions due to lack of medical experience or just experience in general. 

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    You have that golden first year. If BH isn't your thing, then don't do it. After a year, you are no longer considered a new-grad. If its a peds ER, then you will probably be rotated thru the BH unit 1-2 times per week. You are under no obligation to stay unless you signed a contract, which is legally binding. Also beware of sign-on bonuses. They are heavily taxed

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    I worked psych straight out of nursing school because it was what I wanted to do. Now I work in hospice. It's possible to cross train after your first year if it's what you want. Psych ED is where a lot of interesting psych stuff happens and I enjoyed it a lot. Safety can be an issue and has to do with the culture of the hospital more than anything else. I was not safe at the state psych hospital and very safe at the community hospital psych unit. It may be the opposite where you live, ask around and ask what they do to keep nurses safe.

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