Needing job advice about career move

CCRN/EMT · Sep 15, 2012

Hello all,

I am new here and am in need of some advice.

I recently took a job (7 months ago) with a brand new-built from the ground up hospital. I took a position in the critical care unit and went through the orientation of 14 weeks at their "sister" facility. The "sister" facility is a level 2 trauma facility, where the facility I am employed at is a 48 bed acute care facility-level 3 trauma center. Our facility has only been open about 2 months. We do see some critical care patients, but more often than not-we see mainly med-surg overflow patients. The other difference is our "sister" facility is in a city with a population of 300,000 people, and where I am currently employed is in a city of about 30,000 people. As you can probably tell, we do not have as many of the specialties that the larger city would have d/t still "growing" and also lack of things that larger cities have. Therefore we tend to fly alot of patients out.

My goal is to one day become a flight nurse and know that I need ICU/CCU experience. Also, to be ready/proficient, I need to have a more consistent hands on experience with "true" ICU patients.

My question is this: Would I be hurting my career if left my current job so soon, for a job at a larger facility (such as our "sister facility")? I've always been taught that you need to look out for yourself (career included)-if you don't, know else will. Oh, if I would transfer, I plan on staying at that facility for at least 2 years. The "sister" facility also has a flight program, so I could potentially transition into it. To give you a little more background about myself-I have been a nurse for about 4 years. My current employer is my third employer. My first employer, I was employed with for 2 years-left to be closer to family. My second employer, I left after 1 year of employment-to advance my career/ICU position. Again, any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to read my post!