New Grad dilema

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Specializes in ER.

I vote for you staying right where you are at. I have to tell you that we share some things in common. First of all, I am a new grad RN in an ED. I also work an hour from where I live. I am also engaged to an amazing man.

However, our similarities end there. First of all, I work in a Level III ED. My guess is that the small ER you are going to would be the equivalent. I just want you to know that even our unit manager fully expects all of the new grads to be leaving at some point or another. We simply can not sustain our careers there for too terribly long. I am learning a lot but there are many many patients we can't or won't accept and therefore we are missing out on gaining certain skills. For now, it works but later, it won't.

Second, like you, I could transfer to a hospital 15 minutes from my house. Its very tempting as I pass by it on my hour long commute. BUT...there is another consideration. The employees at this large hospital park in a deck and have a 10-15 minute walk to get to their unit. This means I would actually be leaving my house only 10-15 minutes later every day and gaining about a half hour back of my 2 hour commute. This is a modest gain at best.

Third, the grass is never greener. There is a reason this small hospital is hiring. Be sure to consider the fact that the unit might have a high turnover, a lot of drama, be hostile or difficult to work for as a system and you might end up leaving quickly.

Finally, I have to repeat what others have already said: 12 hours is 12 hours. I don't think that working days or nights will change how you feel when you get home. You might be equally as tired and ready for bed. You might not be spending much time with your fiance anyway. Worse still, you might find that your fiance becomes added pressure not to sleep even when you are exhausted.

As an aside, I will say that I am sorry that you feel you cannot understand how spending time apart can rejuvenate yourselves and your relationship. There is a lot of literature out there regarding this topic. Like many of your night shift coworkers, I find it refreshing to spend time away from my man and because he works 12 hour shifts as well, I shoot for a balance between time spent together and time spent alone.

Because your fiance does not seem to mind it as much as you do, perhaps you should take his cue. It might be that he needs that kind of time to himself.

Best of luck to you and your intended!

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All I can say about VICEDRN's post is "WOW" !! Although I DO agree with just about every single thing she just said because honestly I do and she made some VERY valid points, everyone has to do what is right for them and if this move to the hospital closer to your home is the right move for you New2ERNursing, then nothing anyone says or no matter how anyone feels, you will be fine ;)

VICEDRN QUOTE:

"Third, the grass is never greener. There is a reason this small hospital is hiring. Be sure to consider the fact that the unit might have a high turnover, a lot of drama, be hostile or difficult to work for as a system and you might end up leaving quickly."

This particular part of what she said about the smaller, closer to home ER is the EXACT reason I shy away from wanting to work at the hospital in my local area. It does NOT have a good reputation AT ALL, especially the ED!!! NO ONE in our small little town ever wants to go there and if they do get sent there, then the majority of them are pushing to be transferred ASAP. Take my wife for example, her dad has extreme heart problems and the few times he has been sent to our local ER, both her and her sister are there front and center ready to get him moved to a higher echelon of care. In fact, if our local hospital name is even mentioned, it is usually followed with a story about a negative experience.

Although, like I also said, I am still exploring my options, ALL OF MY OPTIONS, and I will not close the door on any hospital, family practice, or medical office that will give me the chance to shadow or get my foot in the door to explore my options. Plus, like I said earlier, my wife has two relatives that are RN's that work there and I plan on speaking to them about my concerns.

Now back to our previous conversation New2ERNursing: Thanks for the helpful advice, and that is exactly what I plan on doing. I have already spoken to many RN's and MD's in my home area and just the fact or the training that I have received here in the military as a Corpsman, let alone a FMF Corpsman, seems to make me stand out just on that alone. Also, I have sat with several of my medical officers here and they are extremely impressed with my ability to grasp new techniques and "get the job done" the way I do. I am usually the "go to" guy on just about everything. I am told that they see I am very ambitious and have a passion for the medical field. I graduated top of my class in "A" School and have received many awards from the highest of officers. I understand knowing people and having connections is not enough and that is why I plan on making the most out of every opportunity. As for Job postings, I have already been on that, even though I am still deciding which area I do want to go into, I constantly am researching job trends and openings in the medical field in my home area. So, you are very right and it is great advice, we are definately on the same page with that :)

You are also correct about hospitals and family practices being very different places. In the military within my job we tend to practice both preventive care as well as emergent care. Because of my training, I do enjoy both aspects of medical care, although lately I have seemed to favor the emergent care. The only "experience" involving family practice that I can reflect on is before my wife, I dated a girl who wasn't a RN she was just a tech in a Family Pratice. Actually it's the same family practice that I spoke of earlier that I was once a patient, and where the new PA is that my wife spoke to. It seems that I can not recall a single day that my ex was not talking about some kind of catty drama between the medical staff. Along with THAT drama, she would also tell me all about personal & extremely private patient information of friends of mine or their girlfriends. NOW, with my understanding of a little thing called HIPAA, I'm just not too eager to put myself in that mix. I come from a small town with small family practices and usually everyone knows everyone, so having to hear about my friends girl having an STD, just makes me a little weary of being involved in small practices. Not that I am saying hospitals have "no drama", but that is where shadowing comes in as well. It not only lets me get a feel for the profession but for the environment I want to work in. I just want to practice medicine and I want to find the area I have the most passion for.

As for the NICU and PICU, TRUST ME, I've got that covered. Once you spend 14 1/2 weeks with your 1lb son in there, you tend to get a FEEL for the environment and the bed side manner. While we were there w/our son, I pretty much handled everything and amazed my wife and the staff with my level of confidence and knowledge. They knew right away that I was in some type of medical field.

I will be sure to update you after my journey and fill you in on which areas I seem to favor. Unfortunately my leave was pushed back a couple of weeks, so I will be going home the later part of September and staying to early October (about 20 days or so). I will be all over the place during that time, I made sure when it came to the hospitals, that I got a place with both night and day shifts. I just want to cover every area ya know?

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I guess in some SMALL way I understand the need to vent, I just have a very strict way of thinking when it comes to spilling out patient info, even without a name, I don't like putting peoples "business" out there. I always think how I would feel if MY information was being discussed at the end of the day over someones dinner table or ride home. The Medical field can be very stressful and at the end of the day, you do have to release that stress somehow, but what I am talking about is the catty "gossip" that can surround those small medical offices. There is a huge difference between venting over a complicated patient and spilling out information that should never leave the office. Those type of people should never be in the medical field. These patients come in and just TRUST the fact that we are there to HELP them not shatter that trust and humiliate them out of pure immaturity or just plain evilness. What joy can you get out of blasting someones sicknesses or handicaps? I can't stand by that at all and nor do I ever want to be a part of it. At the time when my ex would tell me these things, I didn't think much of it at all really, but then one day after my wife and I had gotten engaged and I was away in the military, I was informed that she had been accused of exploiting my ex over some kind of gossip that supposidly was leaked from that medical office. My wife was so upset because if you knew her, you would know it just isn't in her character to do the things she was being accused of and what she was being accused of could have ruined my ex's career because at the time she was in school to be a nurse or something. When I called home and heard the news of what was going on, it was at that moment I began to pay a little more attention to the way "medical information" was handled. How could this girl who would tell me the most awful details on people I knew when we were together turn around and accuse my wife of "tattling" on her when she never even knew what was said because I never repeated it to her! It just irritated me so bad because all I could think about was how immature that was. If you have the audacity to toss out information about others, then don't go crying to an attorney when you THINK it is coming back to bite you in the a**. I just hope that girl has done a lot of growing up since then or has made a different career choice because if you play those games your are going to win those prizes ya know?

That more than likely made no sense at all, but those type of catty things are what I was referring to when I said that about some small town family practices. I guess nothing irritates me more than to hear these trusted individuals gossip or make light of these serious situations that people are going through. It has nothing to do with trusting who I talk or vent to, because like I said, my wife is my best friend and I trust her more than I have ever trusted anyone in life, it's just about morals and values to me and heck some of these people are NOT "venting" they actually have a tone of excitement and "fun" in their voice while telling these things. Those are the ones that are just twisted and I can not attach myself to a facility that is swimming with those types of employee's.

Wow, sorry that was kind of a rant there wasn't it? :p I didn't mean to put all that out there, but I get heated when it comes to those things.

Yes I did have a calm about me while I was in the NICU with our son. Don't get me wrong, I was scared to death. That was my tiny little miracle in there fighting for his life and on top of that, I almost lost my wife too. But everyone always would compliment me on how I stayed so calm and controlled. I love kids and that is why I wanted to originally be a pediatric PA. But we will see in time where I land. Everything is really starting to come together. In fact, I got even more good news this evening. One of the lead MD's here on base has offered me a part time job (aside from my military duties) in the local base hospital. He wants to take me under his wing and help me build my resume' even more, so the good news just keeps on coming. :yeah:

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Well I am definately going to take the job, there is no doubt about that. I will have a full schedule between the Military, College Classes, and part time work but it will all be good. I don't mind taking on everthing, I have set my goals pretty high and in order to achieve those goals I already know it is going to take a lot of work and dedication. Because of the fact that we are trained to do so many things that range from the duties of a paramedic to even some things that are equal if not greater than what an RN would do, a lot of individuals that join the military as a Corpsman find themselves in a position where their abilities far out way their civilian certifications. The fact that I am VERY aware of this is the reason I have made sure to go the extra mile and take college courses as well as receive many different medical certifications that WILL transfer to the civilian side. I guess I have somewhat of an advantage by going into the military a little later in life (the cut off is 34 and I had turned 29 the month before I left for basic training) because my head is on straight, my goals are set, and I have a family that grounds me as well as supports me. Now if I DIDN'T have those things going for me, then I could have just came in, served my time and transferred back into the civilian world with just the basics. For example, I know that in my home state of NC if I didn't have these extra qualifications then the only place I would be in the medical field is an overqualified NA II and that is just NOT going to happen on my watch.

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hey new2ernursing and dc collins, i wanted to share a thread i just posted on both the emergency nursing forum and the government/military forum to see what both of your thoughts were on this matter. i figured since one of you is a new er rn and the other is an experienced corpsman, i could get both sides of an opinion. please

feel free to correct me if i am wrong in any of this:

---thread tital: heated debate between civilian ed rn and fmf hospital corpsman ---

before i begin this thread, i'd like to take a moment for those that may not be familiar with what a fmf hospital corpsman is exactly, so that there is a better understanding of my frustration:

for seven boot camp-like, rifle-toting, blister-breaking weeks down south at camp lejeune, n.c., the navy and marine corps team up at field medical service school (fmss) east to mold standard navy-issue corpsmen into sailors good enough for the fleet marine force (fmf). the good ones will earn the marines' respect. the great ones earn the title, "doc." there are corpsmen and then there are 'docs.' a doc is someone you can count on. he's someone in your platoon that when something happens to one of our fellow marines, you can call on him and not have to worry. he's your buddy, a comrade in arms, a person who you count on to cover your back, to lay down fire, dig fighting holes or do whatever marines are doing. that's who a doc is. one of the first things a good fmf corpsman learns is that the very last thing he's worried about is himself. in combat it goes through your mind, 'ok, there's a guy that got shot, i can stay here and i'll be safe and if i do, that marine's probably going to die. having the self-confidence needed by a successful battlefield corpsman can grow and many of the scenarios the medical and marine corps advisors put their students through are centered on precisely that--building confidence in the sailors' knowledge and their abilities. the fmf corpsman are taught what the marine corps will demand of them from the very first day with boot camp-style inspections, relentless physical fitness training and unyielding tolerances for marine corps discipline, all the while being tested academically both in the classroom and in the field. being book- or street-smart alone isn't enough to make it as an fmf corpsman. you have to be both because being with marines means always thinking outside the box, way outside the box. navy corpsmen are one of the most combat decorated rating in the navy, and most of those medals were earned by corpsmen serving with their marines. it's a glory only a select few dare to chase. to become an fmf corpsman stems from a reputation the marine corps has for expecting a lot more responsibility from its junior personnel, especially their corpsmen and it's a character trait fmss instructors look for on the very first day of school. going greenside, fmf corpsman will have a lot more people depending on them to know what they have to do, and they will have the opportunity to do it. by serving with the marine corps they will learn more about what a corpsman ought to be sooner rather than later. as an fmf corpsman you have an immense amount of responsibility sometimes more than you really want. you have a group of marines whose medical care is assigned to you--just you. you are in charge of everything that happeneds to them and their medical records are your responsibility. fmf corpsman are in charge of making sure their marine's immunizations are up to date as well. if they get hurt you have to fix them, and if i get hurt they have to fix me. you're never going to be a leader of a group of individuals in a hospital as an e-2, but in the marine corps, when it comes to medical care for the marines, you are. and that's the most rewarding thing there is, to take a group of people like that into combat and bring them back alive. so in conclusion, the duties of a fmf hospital corpsman consist of and are not limited to:

assisting in prevention and treatment of disease and injuries;

caring for sick and injured;

administering immunization programs;

rendering emergency medical treatment;

instructing sailors and marines in first aid, self aid and personal hygiene procedures;

transporting the sick and injured;

conducting preliminary [color=#366388]physical examinations;

performing medical administrative, supply and accounting procedures;

maintaining treatment records and reports;

supervising shipboard and field environmental sanitation and [color=#366388]preventive medicine programs;

supervising air, water, food and habitability standards;

performing clinical laboratory tests and operating sophisticated laboratory equipment;

taking and processing x-rays and operating x-ray equipment;

filling prescriptions, maintaining pharmacy stock;

serving as operating room technicians for general and specialized surgery;

performing [color=#366388]preventive maintenance and repairs on biomedical equipment.

so, with all of that being said, i would like to share a situation that i encountered. today, i was informed by a 1 year civilian rn that as a fmf corpsman, i was inferior to her due to the fact that she was a rn and i was merely a military medic. further more she voiced her opinion (which i found quite undeducated) that due to her "formal" class room education, she was superior to me because i am not licensed and she is, stating that my level of education and skill is only that of a basic cna.

i found this to not only show her ignorance, but her extreme disrespect for our military service members who work in the medical field and put their lives on the line every day, and seeing how i am a fmf hospital corpsman and i am referred to as "doc" by my fellow marines, i took this quite personal. no i did not sit through your everyday civilian rn training and nor do i put myself above the ones that have, but by no means do i feel like my level of skill is in anyway inferior to a difference in training.

so, this is what i am asking the current and/or prior corpsman out there and the current and/or prior ed rn's out there: is this the attitude that is to be expected once i enter into the civilian world? is there really no respect for the men and women who serve our country performing the same level of critical care that you do, only we put our lives on the line in a time of combat to get the job done and take care of the ones that have put their lives on the line for your freedom?

i will close with a statement i heard once from a fellow service member: "to all of the civilians out there they may not respect or understand your countries military and what we are fighting for, late at night when you lay your head on your pillow and you wrap up in that warm blanket and go to sleep in peace, just remember, that blanket is called freedom which is provided for you by the same people you insult"

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Specializes in Emergency.

Thanks for your service.

This thread is in the "emergency" forum. Don't hijack threads (that is, change the nature of the discussion), considered bad form.

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You're welcome for my service and I am very aware of where I posted this and I believe I directed it to two specific individuals that I have had previous conversations with and I believe I stated why I posted here in the first paragraph, not that I owe YOU any kind of explanation.

But thank YOU for the tip on "bad form" and "highjacking", I will go write that down!

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How about this, I apologize to YOU New2ERNursing for "highjacking" your thread seeing how that's what I've been informed that I was doing.

I believe this site is just not for me, it appears to be more like "allattitudes" instead of "allnurses". I came looking for guidence and for insight on how I can improve myself in this profession and to get tips on different roads I could take, but I am seeing now, esp. after my post last night which only a select few seemed to understand what point or what concern I was trying to express.

So, I think I will take a different route and try either another forum or maybe I just need something like a blog. My wife suggested blogger, so I think I will try that route out.

Take care DC Collins and New2ERNursing and good luck in all you do. Thank you both for your kind words and wonderful advice!

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