New Nurse

Whaaaaaat??? Where are you?!? Lol a new nurse being offered TWO positions?! That's unheard of here in Ohio. Us new grads and almost scrapping it out over even a nursing home position at this point! Congrats tho! That's great!

What is the unit culture like on each unit? Does the neuro unit have tele beds? What's the nurse patient ratio? How well staffed are the units? Is there a good skill mix? How long is orientation? Questions to think about....

The same thing happened to me today! I graduate in five days and was offered a position today in ICU at the hospital I currently work at.

The problem is two months ago I accepted a position in step down at a different hospital!!!

I was having a panic attack trying to decide what to do!

I weighed my options and finally realized that I decided to leave the hospital I work at for a reason and j am excited to start somewhere new! Make yourself a pro/con list!

I was recently in your position as well. I was offered an ER position at a level 1 trauma center (my adrenaline junkie dream job) and an ICU position at a physician-owned heart hospital (my specialist dream job). The choice came down to the interview experience.

- Trauma: Kept me waiting a full 15 minutes for my interview. Tour revealed some pretty unsavory aspects specific to the hospital (lack of organization, employees didn't like the charting system, interviewer was knowledgeable but insincerely "bubbly". Interior of the hospital was dated and the floorplan was very difficult to navigate. I almost walked away after waiting for the first 10 minutes, but I'm glad I stayed so I could appreciate how badly I didn't want to work in this environment.

- ICU: Interviewer was prompt and courteous. The process was very straight-forward, but the humor both I and the interviewer brought to the table kept the discussion lively. The tour revealed a hospital setting I had never seen outside of a clinic setting: chandeliers and vaulted ceilings were complemented by sky-lit walkways. The facility was very modern, and I fell in love with the place immediately. The staff seemed very satisfied, and the patient:nurse ratio was set in stone at 1:2. No exceptions, not ever (this was made very clear in the contract).

The point to my long-winded reply is: do some research into the employers/staff/setting. You may find some key differences that make your decision very easy to make after more consideration. I would also research both units and see where you'll get the best training. After a solid preceptorship and a good amount of experience under your belt, you may easily be able to cross over into the other unit if you so desire. The most important aspect about your first job is the foundation of training - after that, worry about want you really want to do with your career.

Neuro unit for a better learning experience, pulmonology for an easier job for a new grad. Neuro can get very intense, as there are TONS of different things that can happen in the brain.

I had a different experience in Ohio, I had multiple offers and have since been working in my dream job setting.

Do you have an ultimate dream job? Would one of these current offers prepare you better for that job? If so, I would take the one that aligns with your long term goals. Congratulations and good luck!

Pulmonary if you don't mind phlem. I have several coworker that cite trachea care mucus as number one gross .

neuro at my facility included elipsy monitoring unit for inducing seizures and brain surgery and neat things are #1 in the state for neuro care and a trauma center. So this encompassed a wide net of neuro. This population is a lot of strokes total care patients. With neuro damage you also get impulsive crazy patients. For me neuro surgical was awesome but the stroke side was kinda nursing home supportive care.