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Discussion

PACU or Mixed Acuity??

Hi everyone! I am new to the site and I am in desperate need of some feedback. I am weeks away from finish my ABSN program and I'm trying to decide between two awesome positions. My absolute top choice was the emergency department, but they haven't reached out so I'm going to assume they aren't interested. On the plus side, I have a job offer from the PACU and I'm fairly confident that I will have an offer from the mixed-acuity unit that I did my preceptorship on. The pros of PACU: I will get the critical care experience that will hopefully later help me transition to the ED, it's a year-long residency program, and just the fact that they are taking new grads makes me feel very honored that they chose me. The mixed acuity unit has both medsurg and step-down patients, so that's always fun, but the main factor that draws me to them is the staff. The moral and teamwork I have seen on that unit is the best I have ever seen. I truly love the nurses that I have been able to work with.

With that in mind, please give me your thoughts. I am so torn between the two.

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    I'm going to give you my blunt opinion based on my experience as an OR nurse and where I take my patients after surgery: PACU isn't going to give you all that much as far as critical care. Patients who are sick enough to need ICU tend to bypass the PACU and go straight to the ICU. Patients in PACU also aren't there for all that long, so even if you are managing a vent or titrating drips, it's only until there's a spot available in the ICU. If you are drawn to the critical aspect, you're probably going to get more exposure in the mixed acuity unit. It already sounds like you're leaning towards the mixed acuity unit anyway, based on what you've said about the staff. But, I'd never blow off a job offer unless I knew for sure I had one elsewhere.

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    Thank you for your response. You're right, I feel like my heart is tugging me towards the mixed acuity unit because I have had such an awesome preceptorship, but I would hate to pass up the opportunity that comes with PACU. They very rarely take new grads, so I feel like it would be foolish to pass that up. I know that turnover is pretty quick in the PACU, but that is also something that draws me to them. I haven't met the staff there, aside from the two people who interviewed me (who were very sweet, coincidentally), so I can't really base my decision on how I feel about the teamwork on the units.

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