New Nurse to DON

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I've been an LPN for 10 years, all in skilled nursing. I just graduated with my RN and was offered a position as DON at one of my PRN jobs. My question is as a brand new RN would DON be a good career move? Or should I bite the bullet and get experience in the hospital first?  If I go straight into a DON position now, where do I go from there?  Im in my late 30's and will be completing my BSN in the fall

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Be careful that you are not being set up for failure.  Sounds like a job offer coming from one of those forever in trouble facilities.  I would continue to look for a better fit for your new license status if I were you.

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Specializes in ED, ICU, MS/MT, PCU, CM, House Sup, Frontline mgr.
On 1/3/2021 at 3:35 PM, foothillscowgirl said:

I've been an LPN for 10 years, all in skilled nursing. I just graduated with my RN and was offered a position as DON at one of my PRN jobs. My question is as a brand new RN would DON be a good career move? Or should I bite the bullet and get experience in the hospital first?  If I go straight into a DON position now, where do I go from there?  Im in my late 30's and will be completing my BSN in the fall

Listen to Caliotter3.  10 years as a bedside nurse in skilled nursing is not the same as an experienced manager of skilled nursing.  When I started out in nursing, many of my peers who were also new grads were offered managerial positions and position of frontline supervisors in SNFs.  All of those who accepted the offers washed out and expressed feeling of being set-up to fail.  On the other hand, you may have the knowledge to be a great supervisor in a SNF or even an ADON if you had someone to train and mentor you given your years of working experience.  However, the DON position will not likely to come with a mentor and will not come with much training so you may want to think hard about accepting such a role.  

Good Luck!

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Specializes in Hospice, corrections, psychiatry, rehab, LTC.

I had a classmate who accepted such an offer right out of school because she was obsessed with going straight into management. She wound up losing her license.

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Specializes in ER.
On 2/1/2021 at 2:22 PM, Orca said:

I had a classmate who accepted such an offer right out of school because she was obsessed with going straight into management. She wound up losing her license.

What did she do to deserve that??

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Specializes in retired LTC.

She had the misfortune of being a warm body with a license who walked into the wrong place at the wrong time!

And she didn't know to know what she didn't know!!

Poor gal!

to OP - I hope you declined.

to Orca - I'd be curious too. To lose her license, that would have had to been something BIG!

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Specializes in Hospice, corrections, psychiatry, rehab, LTC.
17 hours ago, Emergent said:

What did she do to deserve that??

I never got the full story. Just saw it on the BON website when I went in to look up old classmates.

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