foxhoundma

Orientation and a residency program is on of the main reasons I ended up going with Neuro. They had 8-weeks of unit orientation as well as a residency program vs. 6-weeks and no residency at the smaller hospital.

During my interview the manager said she's actually hiring an assistant manager to help her get through interviews and the hiring process quicker. She said she has quite a few positions open. So they're trying, just have to have the applicants.

Thanks everyone for your input! I've decided to go with the neuro unit because I know the unit and some of the staff there!

The pay and commute is the same for both, so unfortunately that's not a deciding factor. The schedule is also the same, three 12's with every other weekend, rotating weekends. I've done clinicals on the neuro unit and enjoyed them overall, my interview was the first time I had ever been to the smaller hospital. I guess my question is which would be a better first learning environment for a new grad.

Hi everyone! I'll be graduating nursing school tomorrow morning (yay!) and currently have two job offers that I'm torn between. One is a busy 36-bed neuro unit at a level 2 trauma center, 6:1 ratio that is promised to go down after the new unit is staffed. They basically had to open a whole new wing of the hospital and double their patient load before actually having the staff. The other is a med-surg position at a smaller hospital that is considered a community hospital, 4-5:1 ratio, generally 28 patients on the floor, very low acuity. However, during the interview I was told they "have a hard time retaining nurses", which was a little scary. I was hoping to get some input or words of wisdom from some experienced nurses! I'm the only one in my family in the medical field so it's hard to get their advice on these things. Thank you in advance!