New Grad Operating Room or Ideal Image

[StringOR]

I have an opportunity to start as a new grad RN at Ideal Image. This job pays over $30/hr to start and seems very low stress (plus I would love to do laser and injection procedures). It would be working 5 days a week.

On the other hand, I have the opportunity to join two different perioperative training programs which both have a 3-year commitment. (these jobs start under $25/hr and require a lot of call time). The higher paying option would be working 2-8's and 2-12's where the lower paying option is more flexible with scheduling and call time.

Which would you choose and why?

[Sspangler417]

Choose OR especially since you're a new grad. The amount of experience you'll get vs the low stress and decent pay of ideal image doesn't even compare. I work at ideal image right now and I enjoy the job but I wish I had some experience working elsewhere before I took the position. At ideal image you have the opportunity to make good money especially with commission and bonuses but experience is so important for nurses. Unless you're considering Aesthetic nursing for the long run, I would definitely choose OR. Hope I helped a little! :)

[lth1123]

If you're interested in the OR, I'd say choose it because once you learn it you can make that or more.

[NedRN]

If it is just about money, OR is still the way to go. I make far more than that as a traveler, and it seems to me that office work is pretty much a dead end unless you do something entrepreneurial. However, office is low stress and easy. That certainly makes it enticing enough to find enough staff.

[jeckrn, BSN, RN]

Since you are a new grad I would suggest that you work med-surg before you go into any specialty area. If you go into the OR as a new grad and do not end up liking it you could have a hard time finding a position in another area since the OR is so different then anywhere else. I have been in the OR for 6+ years and have not picked up a stethoscope, IV, given a IM, etc. and have lost some basic nursing skills. The skills you will learn in the OR you will not learn anywhere else. The OR is a fabulous area to work but you must have some experience to fall back on. I have worked with nurses that had little to no experience as a nurse other than the OR. There was some things they over looked because they did not have some basic nursing skills other than nursing school. This is nothing negative about them but as the patient advocate while they are in the OR you need to be able to anticipate what they will need not only in the OR but in PACU, the floor, or home. If you go to ideal image you will have little or no marketable skills if you choose to leave.