thf100

Hello all! I have just over a year of experience and have been given TWO amazing opportunities to further my career, and am having the most difficult time deciding! They are both in the same part of the same hospital, and pay is the same, so no issues there. Choice #1 is a pediatric IMC. 75-80% of the patient's are babies. There is a lot of overflow from the NICU, and some congenital/chronic patients who still come there into early adulthood, so I would see a WIDE variety of patients. It is a rotating schedule of 50/50 day/night... 3 weeks days, 3 weeks night. Choice #2 is a Family Centered Care (mother/baby) unit. In the beginning of my nursing career I always wanted to work with this population (I originally thought I wanted to do L&D). The schedule is also 50/50 rotating, but 12 weeks days/12 weeks nights. It's a difficult choice because I may want to be a lactation consultant one day (but maybe not, still undecided). I originally always thought I'd want to work in L&D and become a midwife, but I'm still up in the air about that. The FCC seems much more organized. Bother units are large, clean, and beautiful, but the PIMC has colorful murals and such. I would be responsible for more patients on the FCC due to having 3-5 couplets vs 3-5 patients on the PIMC, but those patients would be much more acute/chronic. I love getting to know and spending time with my patients, and FCC is only a 2-4 night stay max... but I would get to do a LOT of teaching. I am so torn. Can anyone out there offer any insight on working in either kind of unit that I might not be considering? I appreciate any help you have to offer!