Nursing Career Advice

[Brightside1]

Hi everyone!

The advice on this thread is so uplifting!

I'm a new nurse too, about 6 months out of school. Have a bachelors and don't know what to do with it down the line...

I currently work med/surg/peds in a relatively small branch of a large company. I signed on as a student, did an internship there and am now working off an 18 month committment. I have about a year left on the contract. If I break the contract I have to repay about 4,000 dollars. I have 15 months to pay it off. (90 days no interest)

The benefits are decent! Great insurance, really great 401K with 2/1 employee matching! ETC. NEways...I've been thinking of looking for another job b/c the 12 hour shifts are really 13 hour shifts and I work every other Fri, Sat and Sunday. We work 3 days one week and 4 the next. There's little flexibility in the schedule. It's difficult to get a day off and VERY difficult to schedule vacation. I've asked to be switched to the other rotation, but there's no way. We are working with just so many nurses and no one wants to switch. The group I work with are all younger than I am (I'm 33) and there are 2 or 3 that have decided they hate me and have made the work environment a living hell. I've been to management and things have gotten a little better. (I didn't speak up until it just got completely out of hand and it was malicious defamation of my professional character) The point is..I am about to get remarried. I have 3 children from a previous marriage. My fiance' is wonderful with the children, but he just graduated with his engineering degree and he is working hard and long hours also. I feel like I don't get to spend enough time with the children and that I put a LOT on him. I don';t have a lot of family that is able to help out with kids. I want to be a more involved mom...be up on what's going on with them, be able to attend their school stuff. I feel like I spend all my days off just running errands and doing laundry. When I get home at night I'm exhausted.

I began looking for a job and got two offers. One is from a big hospital in cardiac intensive care that is more than an hour commute one way. They blow the competition away with the benefits and the pay! It would be 12 hours, 3 days per week on nights.

The other job offer is from a smaller rehab (PT/OT/speech) hospital that is 2.3 miles from my house. The pay is better than my current job, but the benefits are not as good. I would be giving up my student loan repayment that I currently get. BUT IT"S 8 HOUR shifts!!! I feel like I could do so much with that! work out! get my master's! spend time with the kids (I'd be home every day when they get home). The only thing I hesitate on is the financial aspect. EG: I currently have 2/1 matching 401 K and theirs is 50Cents to every dollar.

I DON"T KNOW WHAT TO DO! My fiance' and my family are all "do what you want to do". But I don't want to make a financially irresponsible move and then regret it later. It's the 12 hours shifts and the neg environment that are my biggest complaints at the current job. Havn't put in my notice yet of course. Any advice is welcome!

Thanks, Brightside1:nurse:

[UM Review RN, ASN, RN]

Moved to its own thread for more answers. :)

[llg, PhD, RN]

It sounds as if the first job offer is not worth considering. It's 12-hour shifts (which may be a little more than 12 hours sometimes ) plus a 2-hour commute round trip. That's more time away from your family than you have now.

The 8-hour shifts are attractive and may well suit your personal situation a lot better. I'm old enough to remember when most nurses worked 8-hour shifts and I fully understand their appeal.

It just comes down to whether or not the job itself really appeals to you and whether you can afford to take the financial loss that will occur.

Have you fully considered the "compromise" option? Can you stay where you are for now until your fiance gets established in his new career (to improve your financial situation) and then job hunt again. Perhaps that other place near your home is where you should be in the long term, but you may have "jumped the gun" a bit by applying now. What are the chances you could get a satisfactory job in say, 6 months or so? Also, will staying put for another 6 months lower the amount that you would have to repay your current employer? Would 6 months make a difference in your overall financial situation? etc. Seriously consider whether there is a length of time that would change things enough to make it easier for you change jobs. That adds a new element into your thought process that might produce a workable answer. It may not have to be "all or nothing." The really best answer might be "Yes ... but not right now."

Also ... is there another unit/department/etc. within your current institution that you could transfer to? That would solve your immediate problem without causing the same financial strain on your family. Have you thoroughly explored ALL possibillities?

If you can't think of a "compromise" option, then you simply have to evaluate your family's finances and decide whether or not you can afford to switch. What changes in your lifestyle would that require? etc.

[nursingrocks71]

I need advice too. I am currently in a nursing program and really want to get a job in med/surg. Any suggestions on how to get a job in this area directly out of school? I was a vet tech for years and participated in surgeries. I love it. Any wisdom would be appreciated!

[Brightside1]

I need advice too. I am currently in a nursing program and really want to get a job in med/surg. Any suggestions on how to get a job in this area directly out of school? I was a vet tech for years and participated in surgeries. I love it. Any wisdom would be appreciated!

Hi there! ARe you interested helping with surgery? If so, med/surge is probably not what you are interested in. Med/surg floors in the hospital is almost like a "catch-all". The way it is associated with surgery is that we get people checking in the day of or the night before and we prep them for surgery. We also get them when they come back from their surgery. We observe them for complications, help control their pain/nausea etc. It is very very busy. What I mean by "catch all" is that on Med surg you will get the pre and post ops as well as medical admissions such as pneumonia, chest pain, post MI's (in larger hospitals they have chest pain and post MI floors but I work in a smaller hospital), ileus, small bowel obstruction, pallative care, etc.. We kind of do it all.

Sounds like from your post you might be more interested in working in surgery which is more specialized than med surg. The benefits of med surg in my opinion is that you become familiar with many different types of diagnoses and how they are treated. You become a general "jack of all trades" :)

As far as getting into med surg straight out of school, IF that's what you're interested in...that won't be a problem. Nurses typically do med surg for the experience (usually 1-2 years) and then move on into other fields or to another unit. It is good for a nurse to have med surg experience because that tells employers that you know how to prioritize, manage your time and are familiar with a wide variety of nursing skills. The down side is that med surg is grueling, intense and requires a lot of energy. Also they tend to be understaffed but that applies to nursing in general.

Good luck to you!

Brightside1