New grad RN - UNC Rex or Duke?!

U.S.A. North Carolina

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Hello! I'm graduating in December with my BSN and I have received offers to work in the ICU at both UNC Rex and Duke. I'm super indecisive because I know both will give me great opportunities! For the people who work at Duke or Rex Could anybody give me some input to help me with this decision? I know Rex is more family friendly, a lot of 30+ year olds who are married and have kids, and I'm younger and single so I don't know if I would fit in and make friends considering I have never lived in the triangle before and I won't have family around. I've heard Duke has a big reputation because they know their the best, so they don't always treat you so well. I'm up for the challenge so I won't let that deter me but I just know to keep my guard up. On the flip side, they will get all the challenging patients and with their hospital being huge I would meet more people my age. I'm having lots of questions about both of the places. Any suggestions and honesty would be appreciated!

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I don't have any personal experience with Rex, though I've heard good things. But I'll be starting at Duke in February. You'd be welcome to be my friend ;)

I'm sure I'm a lot older than you, but if you decide to go with Duke and live in or around Durham I can give you a few pointers. It's a great place and if you have any social skills at all I'm sure you'll make plenty of friends in no time.

Feel free to send me a pm if you there's anything I can help you with.

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Your assessment sounds pretty accurate. One thing I'd add is that you may see more interesting high-acuity cases in a Duke ICU than at Rex. You may know this already, but Duke and UNC both have main campuses that serve as academic tertiary care centers, and each system has smaller affiliate hospitals (Duke has Duke Regional and Duke Raleigh, UNC has Rex and few others). Rex is a great hospital, and has a reputation as a good place to work, but you may not get the same level of specialization/acuity at Rex as you would at the main Duke campus (or the main UNC campus). There are a ton of new grad nurses in the Triangle (since there are a ton of nursing schools), so I think that no matter where you go, you will probably be starting with some other people around your age.

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Specializes in orthopedic/trauma, Informatics, diabetes.

I agree with PP. everything serious at Rex will get sent out. Duke gets EVERYTHING. Rex is a great place, I did my clinicals there. WakeMed will get the higher traumas than Rex in the Wake county area, the rest go to UNC or Duke.

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Congratulations on getting 2 amazing offers! Which hospital did you eventually go with?

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Thank you guys for all your opinions. I ended up picking UNC Rex! A lot of things played into consideration but UNC Rex outweighed Duke in my opinion.

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Wow that's great. I haven't had the pleasure of doing clinicals at Rex, but I hear great things about them. I wish you much luck and success!

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I would love to hear what you thought of Rex as a new grad!! And also if you remember what the starting pay for new grads is!

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Specializes in orthopedic/trauma, Informatics, diabetes.

I did clinical at Rex and I loved it there. Could not get a job there. I eventually ended up at Duke, which I love. A lot of my personal physicians are at Rex so I am there often. We are lucky to have such a competitive area here. There are fabulous doctors and nurses at all the hospitals.

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Can anyone tell me what the starting pay at these hospitals are?

Thanks!

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I started at Duke in Aug 2017 shortly after graduating in May. This is my 1st ever job. My pay is $26/hour which includes a $3 differential. Duke also pays $9/hour on top of that for weekend differential. The work environment is better than I could have hoped for. I'm so grateful to work in such a supportive work environment where everyone is willing to help out. As a new nurse, I couldn't have asked for a better place to start my career. I'm happy I moved here from the Northeast and would recommend Duke to anyone without reservation.

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Specializes in orthopedic/trauma, Informatics, diabetes.

Yay for you!!! I love Duke.

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