New grad with 2 job offers

Purple_roses · Mar 12, 2017

Congratulations! What are your future career goals? If you wanted to head toward something like the CRNA route, I would say go with ICU; it all depends on your goals. But both of those positions sound like great opportunities and I'm sure you would learn a lot on either. Both have the potential to propel your career forward. Good luck and congrats!

AceOfHearts<3 · Mar 12, 2017

Congrats!

I'd say if your gut feeling is to go with oncology and you liked the vibe on that unit to pick onco. I can't stress enough how critical the cooperation of a unit is to creating a pleasant work environment. I started on a wonderful unit staff wise- the patients weren't always the nicest or easiest, but I had wonderful coworkers which made all the difference.

I'm not an oncology nurse but cancer and the treatment impacts every system in the body. I have friends on an oncology unit and they are exposed to so much more than I had initially realized.

Remember just because you start in oncology doesn't mean you have to stay there forever. If you decide later on after working for a while that you want ICU I think you will be in a great position to transfer into one.

NotMyProblem MSN, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN · Mar 12, 2017

I'd suggest oncology because you'll gain Med-Surg experience on this unit as you learn to manage multiple patients. It's my personal opinion that if you start out in ICU, although you'd learn a lot there as well, if you decide that it's not where you really want to be, you may find it very difficult to move from an area with two patients to an area that requires you to care 3X as many or more patients.

You're about to enter the molding phase of your nursing career. Learning the basics with multiple patients (they won't all be oncology...you'll have a variety of med/surg overflow from time to time) will introduce you to quite a lot as you hone those critical thinking skills. This will be essential to your success where staffing is concerned.

As the new kid on the block, once you're on your own should you choose ICU, if a nurse is needed on a med/surg unit and they've decided to pull from ICU, guess who's going to be floated? You're going to feel very overwhelmed with a caseload of six or 7 patients when you're only accustomed to having two.

So, I'd suggest learning and becoming comfortable with your skills on the oncology unit first and if you want to transfer to neuro ICU later on, it should make that transition much easier than if it was the reverse. Just my opinion...

CrunchRN, ADN, RN · Mar 12, 2017

Oncology.

NurseLife88, ADN, RN · Mar 12, 2017

If your heart is with oncology, then I say take the chance and follow your heart. You never know where it will lead you...good luck!

cleback · Mar 13, 2017

What are your long term goals? Do they include/require critical care experience?

If not, I would choose oncology. You yourself said you would be happiest there. I get the feeling from your post if you went to the ICU you would only stay there for the learning experience and then you would leave to look for the environment you found on the onc floor. Might as well start there and be happy. Congrats on the offers though--huge accomplishment!

jennylee321 · Mar 13, 2017

Go with oncology, from reading your post you already know what you want you are just worried about turning down the ICU. Go with your heart, if you are craving ICU down the road you can still get into it.

NightNerd, MSN, RN · Mar 13, 2017

Don't worry about what looks better or might be more impressive down the line. This work is too hard to forego a position and unit that will make you happy. If oncology feels like home, hop to it and don't look back.

blackribbon · Mar 13, 2017

Follow your heart and gut and pick the unit that you believe you will be happiest on. The first year is hard enough. Don't make it harder by picking the unit you believe will be the hardest. If you are good at what you do, there is seldom any issue changing specialties after you get at least a year experience under your belt.

mrisquet · Mar 13, 2017

Go with your gut feeling which seems to be oncology. You can always transfer to ICU at a later stage. ICU is really stressful. I think you would have to be a seasoned nurse before working in the ICU. You really have to be confident and know what you are doing to work in an ICU, even with six months of training. Only with experience can you develop a sixth sense as to when your patient is about to crash. You've had experience with oncology concerning your family members. I believe that is where you would fit in. The best of luck.

megatronRN · Mar 13, 2017

If you have any desire to continue your education in the near future, go ICU. Yes it is stressful, yes it is a lot to learn, yes it is difficult, but overall it will benefit your career more and you will be able to move along faster than you would be able to coming from an oncology unit. I don't know what your career plans are, but if you want to continue your education I'd recommend jumping into ICU. Although it can be terrifying (I've been there), it will be worth it. Also remember, while ICU is scary, you will have a long orientation and there will be other nurses around to guide and assist you.

Also, while ICU is mentally stressful, floor nursing can be physically stressful. From my experience, ICU nurses enjoy their jobs more. More critical thinking, more opportunities, less patients to split your attention between.

I don't know what your future plans are. If you feel connected to oncology and could see yourself staying there long-term, that's awesome. But, if you want to advance your career within the next few years and/or go back to school, go for ICU.