New Grad: Rural or Urban?

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Hello! I need advice!

I am currently going through a very tough life choice... I was offered a position on what is rumored to be a "very very very stressful" telemetry floor in an urban hospital in Portland... where all my friends are and all that fun things to do that I LOVE. I don't have any kids and I'm 24 so part of me just wants to live life in the city while I'm young.

But then I was offered this job in a Community Hospital 2 1/2 hours out of town. The hospital is amazingly beautiful, the nurse-patient ratios are suprisingly low, they have offered me truly the most perfect job for me I could EVER imagine- but it is in a little tiny, boring town. I have family there but no friends... I even get bored in the closest city (25 minute drive).

I know the first year of nursing can be hell. Is it worth it to move away from all things you love for a good job? Or would it be better to stay in a stressful job where you would for sure be happy in your off time, have a support system, and lots of fun things to do? Or is there a major benefit of working rural vs. urban?

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Specializes in Critical Care.

Take it from someone who had the reverse situation. Having a good job is great. The "perfect" job is the goal we all strive for. But, is work all you do? Will you be happy once you walk out the door of the facility?

How are you able to handle stress? If you are the type of person for whom stress isn't a problem, it may behoove you to try a challenge.

You didn't say where your family is. Friends are great for support, but in time you may find that they aren't all they are cracked up to be.

I know this all sounds very conflicting. It is...after all life is that way sometimes. :lol2:

You have to take a hard look at wher YOU want to end up. I would have thought that having friends as support would suffice when I moved away from my family to the east coast. After a year and a half, I found out that wasn't the case. I call it my brief period of insanity.

Good luck and I hope you are able to work this out to your greatest benefit.

tvccrn

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Follow your heart. You probably know what you REALLY want to do. You can always change. I moved 500 miles away for what I thought was a dream job....it wasn't...but I loved this town and wanted to live here. So I quit and found a different job. There are always other jobs. Being in a city you love is not something everyone gets to do.

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Can't you find a less stressful job in the city that you love?

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