New Grad Tele job no contract vs OR Fellowship 3 year contract

[SAS2016]

I am a new grad that was offered a job on a telemetry floor in a hospital where there is not a contract to sign. I was also offered a job that is an OR fellowship that starts with 6 months of training so I would have to sign a 3 year contract. When I graduated I told myself that I just WOULD NOT sign a contract. I am a married 38 year old (no children) and held my first job for 7 years and 2nd job for 12 years before leaving to go back to school so I am not a job hopper but I don't like the idea of signing my life away. I don't know if it is worth my sense of freedom. It seems like a great opportunity that I would be crazy to turn down BUT I am just not 100% sure.

The tele job is my first choice out of floor jobs (I was also offered a job on neuro and another job at a long term care facility) but I never saw myself as a floor nurse, although I could do it and would be great for experience & it would just be a stepping stone. I liked the director & she really liked me. She is big on growth and learning & doesn't expect you to stay on that floor. She says I could transfer to another department after a year.

Schedule and having a work life balance are important to me at my age. The OR fellowship is 4 ten hour shifts & I would work one weekend every 6 weekends. I would also be on-call two days every 6 weeks. They do self scheduling. I really don't like the idea of being on-call but I realize it is part of the job. The tele job is day shift 7a-7pm 3 days per week, 36 hours. I would work every other weekend (not a problem) but maybe not because some prefer to the weekend shifts for the diff. Basically OR =less weekends and being on-call. Tele = more weekends and no on-call.

I feel with tele I would move into other roles easier than OR vs OR and deciding to move to another dept because it is so specific.

Another problem is that a prior clinical instructor had her students at the hospital I would be at. She told me about this program because I was talking to her about OR. She got me the interview because she just ranted an raved about me to the charge nurse. The fellowship was full but they brought me in and offered me this position. It is kind of last minute. I feel they are doing me a favor and I know my instructor pulled strings. She just has been very impressed with this hospital. So I feel the pressure to do prove to everyone why they did this for me. However, I don't really like favors being done. So if I turn it down I will feel embarassed and that I wasted everyone's time. I honestly didnt' think it would pan out.

I think I would be a good fit for OR but I only shadowed a nurse twice in school so I can't really be sure. BUT I would be in contract for 3 years. That is a long time to not be in the right spot. Another problem (sounds dumb) is that I remember being in the OR and not being sure I could work there because it is soooooo FREEZING and I hate being cold and am always cold.

Plus, being on-call makes me REALLY nervous. So while tele may not be the dream job I would feel free and know I can grow. I graduate Summa Cum Laude so I feel I can succeed and am will move on to great things.

Any advice?

[SAS2016]

So I have all my questions answered today and I am very pleased with the outcome. The contract is hospital specific...so if it just doesn't work out I can technically stay within the hospital and not break the contract, although they would try to keep me in their area (such as peri-op even) because of them training me for 6 months. The contract is for 9k but prorated each month I am there. Since I know I just have to stay within the hospital though, I am fine. I like to just find a job and stay put. I am not a job hopper & hate finding a new job & all the anxiety of starting a new one.

I had all my questions answered about on-call and schedule and it all sounds just fine. It is a very large OR at a very large level 1 trauma center so there is a lot of coverage. There are shifts 24 hours. They try not to call you in & try VERY hard not to call you in overnight...but if they are just really slammed then they have to. If you are there in the middle of the night & have to work the next morning they work to get you home so you can get rest (I was worried about patient safety).

As for the cold, I can layer underneath my scrubs, but short sleeve of course. They also order us thermal jackets that we can wear that I will purchase.

I am excited...I think this is it!!!

[Workitinurfava, BSN, RN]

OR 4 sure

[FolksBtrippin, BSN, RN]

Some people really, really want to be OR nurses, and those are the people who should take that OR job with the contract. There are lots of them! Let one of them have that job.

Some people (like me) would never want to work in the OR.

You should take the tele job, because it's good solid preparation.

[Wolf at the Door, BSN]

That is fantastic, I am happy for you. I almost talked myself into an OR job a few months back. I realized I disliked LA and said forget it. I can't remember the call requirement but your requirement is easy. I had a cath lab that wanted me to stay awake for 72 hours and I said no way.

[cocoa_puff]

Hi cocoa_puff, you sound like me. Everything you mention is what I don't like about floor nursing. I don't know if you know your personality type but I am an ISTJ and floor nursing doesn't really jive with that. My tele floor would be mostly pre and post CABG, chest pain, arrhythmias, etc. So a true tele floor. Sounds a lot like your floor. I will also have 6 patients. The director said the goal is 5 but to be honest, there are usually 6 patients. I almost took a job at the same hospital on a neuro floor that would be 5 patients, 6 if they are really busy, BUT they would pretty much be all stroke patients, ALL total care, and confused, etc. Sounded pretty hard to me. I loved everyone I interviewed with but it just wasn't enough to convince me. I figure I may hate the tele job too but I am willing to give it a shot as a starter gig. I actually don't know how I will do with all the patient juggling. With OR you have your one patient at a time but you are dealing with everyone else in the OR and they can be strong personalities. I think I can hang but may have to toughen up a bit...develop thicker skin. I am worried about getting shaken if I have a surgeon yelling at me. You can't lose composure in the OR when you have that patient who cannot speak relying on you to advocate for them. I think I would be ok though. I find out more today so I will post an update. Depending what I find out I may just go for the OR.

I'm also an ISTJ. Floor nursing is definitely not for me and I have never been more miserable in my life than I am now as a nurse. And on the tele floor, you will not only have physicians yelling at you, but also those 6 patients (yelling "NURSE! NURSE! I need my...valium, percocet, ice, blanket, discharge papers, etc...") and their many, many family members who will hunt you down in other patient's rooms (true story, and completely NOT acceptable). Wherever you are in nursing, you will develop thicker skin. For better or worse, honestly. I feel like nursing has made me jaded and now I see the worst in people, and feel a genuine dislike towards most patients. Sometimes on the tele floor, you will have a patient who cannot speak for themselves as well, and you have to advocate for them against what their family wishes (DNR vs full code, for example). Families only hear what they want to hear, and will chew you out and trample over what's left if they disagree with anything. There's always the "expert" in the family, who seems to "know" more than the physicians and nurses combined, and will complain about the care, the treatment, how the physicians are communicating, and they will let you know, constantly, on how you could be doing better. In this case, I usually try to nod politely until I have to let them know that I am the patient's nurse, and I will do what is best for the patient according to my nursing judgment. As I've mentioned before in many, many of my posts, I completely regret becoming a nurse, but I wonder if I did something different to start out, like OR, if that would be different.

[cocoa_puff]

Just saw your last post about the info you got about the OR! It sounds great, and I wish you the best of luck with your decision!!

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

What a fabulous opportunity. A six month orientation to a coveted specialty! I didn't want to sway you earlier, but tele jobs are a dime a dozen and floor nursing is brutal.

Good luck, keep us posted.

[SAS2016]

Invitale- I do really want to be an OR nurse. I was just scared. It is more of a confidence issue than not wanting the OR. I was worried if I didn't do well and needed to get out of the OR then I would be stuck in contract. Otherwise, I prefer to stay at employers a long time. I decided to believe in myself, and the program. I am sure 6 months will teach me what I need. I am just not used to it because we mostly see regular floors on nursing school. I am going to trust myself and trust the training and go for the gusto!! I am sooooo excited, I really am. I really have no interest in a floor job. I felt I was 'settling" and I didn't go back to school for a second career to do that.

Bottomed out...what is "LA"? Yes, they told me my call requirement is the best I will find in town and that they try VERY hard not to call you in. There is 24 hour coverage...so it is just if they get really slammed. It is a large OR with 36 OR rooms (if I remember correctly) so there is a lot of staff. I will just deal with it, whatever happens. It is worth it.

Cocao_puff: I really appreciate what you are describing. You are right, I wouldn't like that. I didn't realize how bad it could be but I see that. As for yourself, there are so many areas in nursing you can go to...why don't you go for the gusto too and find something more suited to you? I think you can do it.

Been there, done that - thank you! I agree with what you said. I don't know what I was thinking. Again, I was just scared but it is attitude & mind over matter & I am going to do this & do it well if it is the last thing I do. This is why I worked so hard in school. I see your many years of nursing experience so I trust what you say. :)

[Wolf at the Door, BSN]

LA is Los Angeles.

[AliNajaCat]

Terrific news! Now maybe you can start a thread on your orientation and progress as a new OR nurse. I, for one, would love to read such a thing, and you could influence a lot of students (and others) by letting them see your progress from novice to competence.

[SAS2016]

I thought that is what you meant Bottomed Out but didn't know why that mattered. I guess you would have had to travel or commute. I have never been to LA but it certainly doesn't seem worth the trouble (from what I hear).

[kp2016]

I have been a nurse for many years now and I would not consider signing a three year contract unless it was my only option. It is not worth the risk of being stuck in a job that you hate.