New Grad - Help in deciding

[yurtiedsh, BSN, RN]

Hey ya'll! I have been losing sleep over this and I wanted to ask for an opinion from nurses with more experience. I got a job offer here at home  in the OR room as a new grad. The schedule is set 6:30 am - 3 pm Monday through Friday. Pay seemed pretty good when I realized that there won't be opportunity for any overtime and I am not sure about working Monday through Friday again. The residency is only for a year. The "BUT" comes from their communication with me. I am trying to move out and prepare already but I won't sign a lease if I don't have the job secured and by that I mean that my background check passes. When the results came back last week my school had me as just enrolled even though I graduated in March. I called and fixed it because apparently my whole cohort has had that issue. Anyways, I emailed the HR recruiter las Thursday and no response. I emailed yesterday, a week later, and she responded with just a "Thank you". I had asked her what other steps I should take and that is all I got. My criminal background check all of that is clear. There were some "discrepancies" in two of my job titles but that's because they had me differently in their system. For example for a restaurant in college I set it as "cashier" and the results that came back were as "associate" so they pinged me. Other than that I just don't feel like I even have the job. 

So, here comes my dilemma. I had applied a while back for a position in Austin. I got a call for an interview and I took it because this  thing is not sitting right by me. Well I got an offer... in MedSurg. The pay is similar to all the base pay that nurse residencies are offering here in Houston. There is no contract either. But it's MedSurg and everyone keeps telling me I am going to hate my job. 

When I was in nursing school I was focusing more in ER or ICU. I did get those opportunities here in Houston but at hospitals with a not so good reputation in how they treat their nurses so I turned those offers down. I have been trying to do research in both hospitals that I am considering and nothing pops up. Although last night I found out one has a level one trauma "branch" in their medical center. I was thinking, and this is from a new grad that knows nothing... that I could push through a year of MedSurg then apply to transfer to their ER? 

["nursy", RN]

I won't lie, Med Surge is hard, your first year will be hard.   Success tends to depend on what kind of support system you will have, esp what kind of preceptor/internship  program they have.  In a good unit with good support, you can do it.  If there are personnel problems and lack of support, it can be awful.  MedSurg is a great way to get a lot of skills that will certainly help you in the ER.  Is there any way you can talk to anyone that works there, to try to get a feel for what kind of work place it is?   

As an aside, a lot of HR departments are notoriously slow about everything.  

[JBMmom, MSN, NP]

I highly recommend a year in med surg. Then again I have enjoyed all of my positions (LTC, med surg, ICU), and I have found valuable skills in each environment. You will develop strong time management and assessment skills in med-surg and you will be exposed to almost everything that comes into the hospital. Also, internal transfers are sometimes easier than coming in from the outside, so it may help if that's a hospital you'd like to work at in the future. And if for some reason you hate med surg, a year really isn't all that long. Especially when your orientation will probably be the first three months at least. Good luck!