Please help! Which job offer should I take???

[cmyr711]

This is really torturing me now.

I am a new graduate RN and want to get myself in critical care, I worked super hard in nursing school towards my career goal and got myself a very good grade (almost 4.0 GPA). I want to get myself into critical care but I cannot find a ICU resident opening right now. However, I got two offer from 2 hospitals, should I choose the Cardiac PCU RN resident in our state's second largest hospital that is 2 hours driving from home or a regular med-surg staff RN in a local small community hospital that is 10 mins driving from home?  The hour pay is pretty much same, I don't want to eventually move up to the bigger city but I see the PCU RN resident as an opportunity to get myself into local ICU in the future. Also, I have family with young kids. I cannot make my decision, the local hospital has a lot pros, all my family and friends think I should work locally, it's only 10 min drive, but I cannot see potential growth of my career if I work in here. 

[Hoosier_RN, MSN]

3 hours ago, cmyr711 said:

This is really torturing me now.

I am a new graduate RN and want to get myself in critical care, I worked super hard in nursing school towards my career goal and got myself a very good grade (almost 4.0 GPA). I want to get myself into critical care but I cannot find a ICU resident opening right now. However, I got two offer from 2 hospitals, should I choose the Cardiac PCU RN resident in our state's second largest hospital that is 2 hours driving from home or a regular med-surg staff RN in a local small community hospital that is 10 mins driving from home?  The hour pay is pretty much same, I don't want to eventually move up to the bigger city but I see the PCU RN resident as an opportunity to get myself into local ICU in the future. Also, I have family with young kids. I cannot make my decision, the local hospital has a lot pros, all my family and friends think I should work locally, it's only 10 min drive, but I cannot see potential growth of my career if I work in here. 

I agree with family and friends. You could eventually work your way into ICU locally. The 2 hour drive would be the deal breaker for me, with no guarantee of ICU. You won't get that drive time back with family either

[litepath2]

You get into the local ICU by working local.

 

All politics is local ?

[JKL33]

If you're not going to relocate then really don't take that job. That's a crazy amount of time on the road if you're talking 2 hours each way.

[Wuzzie]

If you take the job with the 2 hour commute you will pretty much never see your family. You’ll either be on the road, on the unit or collapsed in bed from exhaustion. I know because I did it and I don’t even have kids. 

[TriciaJ, RN]

I think the local small hospital is a no-brainer.  Smaller hospitals tend to be less-specialized meaning more varied experience.  I really don't think this will slow you down in achieving your career goals.  They might even change down the road.

I just can't imagine tacking four hours of commute time onto each work day.  Totally rotten for your kids as well.

Another thought:  what's the parking situation at either hospital?  Big city hospitals will often have expensive, short-supply employee parking.  Smaller hospitals are more likely to have cheaper, more plentiful options.  You wouldn't believe how much aggravation you'd be starting your work day with.

[Hoosier_RN, MSN]

On 7/18/2021 at 11:25 AM, litepath2 said:

All politics is local ?

There's politics involved at every job, local as well as distant ?‍♀️

[kbrn2002, ADN, RN]

Unless you intend to move, which you don't no way should you commit to a two hour one way commute. You do realize that's four hours minimum driving every day you work?  The last two hours of that spent driving after working a full and probably very busy, long and stressful shift? That has the potential to not only be time away from home you won't want to lose out on but also has the potential to be dangerous. Especially if that drive time is in a high traffic area, if you will be commuting home after working a night shift or if you live in a place where bad weather driving or wildlife on the road can be expected. 

[Golden_RN, MSN]

Frankly, I think a 2 hour commute is not safe after a nursing shift.  It is not sustainable.

[mindofmem, BSN, RN]

I agree with everyone else here...the long drive would be a deal-breaker for me. I work at a hospital 5 miles from my house and it's amazing how much working close to home can boost your quality of life. I previously worked at a hospital 30+ miles from my house (with absolutely heinous traffic to boot). I worked night shift then (as an ED tech during nursing school) and man, commuting home in gridlocked morning rush hour traffic (sometimes for 90 minutes or more), exhausted and starving, was HORRIBLE. 

[araew2129, ADN]

I think it would be easier to work on an internal transfer from med-surg to an ICU at your local hospital rather than to apply externally with some PCU experience from a different hospital system. 

[ErinDel, ASN, BSN, RN]

Think about driving in bad weather for more than 2 hours when you have to work.. you may need to stay over at work and how would that pan out around your family life with your children? I would take the med surg job closer to home, then after 1 year I would apply or try to shadow in the ICU at your local hospital. You can always move to the bigger hospital when your kids get older and you have more experience under your belt. Good luck!