Practicality or Passion?

Nurses Career Support

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If you were to choose between two hospitals, which would you choose, hospital you really want to be part of or the one with higher pay?

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Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.

Neither of those would be my top priority. I would weigh out which has better leadership, which unit has better team work and a better culture and which am I caring for the types of patients I am best at caring for or that forwards my ultimate goals more.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, NICU.

I don't subscribe to the notion of dream employers because most treat their workers like crap.

I do believe in the money though.

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You also need to factor in retirement and health benefits. I worked at a lower paying hospital but it had a much better retirement plan than the higher paying hospital across town. That sounds unimportant when you are young and just starting out. But it really is a big deal.

I didn't choose that hospital for the retirement benefits, it just happened to be the one that offered me the job. Turned out to be a great place to work.

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I need more information. Ratios, nursing assistants, benefits, PTO, commute, management, turnover, schedule, unit...

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Well for me most of the time the one I really wanted to work at also had the highest pay, so win win...

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Practicality and passion do not need to be mutually exclusive. I don't need the highest pay to be well compensated and what I'm passionate about includes working for an organization that allows me to practice with integrity and values my commitment and hard work. They do exist.

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The one that I want to be a part of. Love what you do and never work a day in your life is the way I see it.

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Sometimes the ones you think you want to be a part of aren't all they're cracked up to be

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Dialysis.

Assuming you actually have job offers at both you need to look at not just those two factors. The hospital you think you want to be at you really don't know yet what it's really like, you might love it then again you might hate it. The one that pays more might not actually pay more when you look at the whole compensation package.

Look also at staffing and not just nurses. How many CNA's on the floor? Is there RT, phlebotomy, adequate housekeeping? If not you can add those jobs to your nursing duties. How's the culture on the unit you would be working? Not just the hospital as a whole but your potential floor, some units can be amazing and some can be horrid even within the same hospital. Also the commute time, parking fees and how far from the campus you need to park can be a consideration especially when weather is bad.

If all is about equal I'd lean towards the one I wanted to work at vs the one that pays more unless the pay difference is significant.

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

I would follow my heart, not my checking account. I'm not very good at maintaining a positive attitude if I am not happy in my work.

However ... that assumes that the job in the field of my dreams was at least a decent job on the practical side, too. I wouldn't be very happy at work if I were being abused by employer or anything like that. I wouldn't put up with really bad working conditions for "passion" - but I would sacrifice a bit of money. For example: I'm not willing to be miserable in my job for an extra $1.00 an hour.

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Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.

I don't get the "dream employer" thing. I have yet to hear of someone working at XYZ BigNameHospital and been impressed by it. That would not even figure in for me.

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