Cutieepie

Hey, I am a senior in nursing school, to be done in May. I know that the first year out of nursing school is critical, since you learn a whole lot during that time. I have been nominated to do Peace Corps in the health extension/health education sector, set to leave tentatively in September. I am pretty excited...scared...no - terrified - but excited. I was hoping to maybe do a nurse residency upon returning - since I would be away from the hospital setting for 27 months, and I don't think that I would feel competent trying to be a floor nurse after spending too much time out of the groove...I don't know if that would be enough though, or if I would even get one (its really a pretty big IF) and I dunno...I was wondering if it would be better to ask for a deferral maybe, and try to get a year or two of experience before leaving? What are your thoughts? Would being away from the hospital setting for two years make me unemployable? Will accepting the Peace Corps nomination lead to me murdering my career?