froggy93

I've been sort of stressed and I just would like some outside opinions (of hopefully comfort) on my situation. I have worked for a big teaching hospital since I became a nurse (3 years ago). I started and worked my first 2 years on a heavy general medicine floor where I learned a lot. Then I transferred within my employer's system to a campus that was slightly closer to my home where I worked on an Observation/Extended Recovery unit for the last year. On this floor the patients are not as sick, but truly med-surg and I got a lot of good experiences here as well. It is a long story, but for various reasons I decided I needed to move on. After considering various options both within the same system and outside of the system, I ultimately decided to leave this employer and took a job with a different employer. It is also a large health care system in my area, but not a teaching hospital. I accepted a job on a cardiac/telemetry floor. Basically, I am just really stressed as I get closer and closer to moving on to a new employer. I thought long and hard about this decision and I'm sure it's the right choice considering everything in my life right now and this situation. However, the hospital system that I work for now is all I've ever known and they taught me how to be a nurse. I'm sure the culture is different where I'm going. I know I will probably learn a great deal more than I already have, but I can't stop being paranoid that I made a mistake and should have only explored options within my current company. Any personal experiences to share?

I know people who have worked at both and they said that people who work 25+ years at duke like it because they don't know anything else. Because of dukes great reputation they have an attitude like you should be thankful to be able to work for us. OP asked my opinion on why I chose UNC and I gave her my opinion, wasn't asking you

UNC treats their employees much better than the surrounding hospitals like duke and wake med. partially because you're state employees so that is a nice perk to have. Their new grad program is great, it's specialized by whichever service line you're working in but you get to spend some time with new grads from other service lines as well . You get 12 weeks of orientation, possibly even more if you feel like you need it. Let me know what other questions you have!

I started at UNC this past October as a new grad. Let me know if you have any questions !

I started as a new grad at UNC this past October. Let me know if you have any questions !

I work at UNC, started as a new grad here in October moved from NY. I live at the Pointe in Chapel Hill apartments. I like it here a lot .I recommend looking out when you rent to make sure you're not picking college student apartments. Some of my friends live in Durham. Let me know if you have any questions !

I started as a new grad at UNC in October and love it here. I have my BSN , they mostly look for that, but they were one or two ADNs in my cohort. UNC actually prefers to hire out of state for new grads and not their own. Let me know if you have any questions!

I started as a new grad in October at UNC and love it

You will learn on night shift. Trust me. I just started in October on a med surg floor at a busy teaching hospital ratio 1:5 . I did most of my orientation on day shift and it is just complete chaos. I am now off orientation and working night shift and it is still great for learning. U have time to actually stop and think in between tasks (most of the time) but you are still required to do assessments and pt teaching and you always have to pass meds , start Ivs, hang fluid, give tube feedings, suction pts, communicate with Drs and pharmacy, document, transfer pts, admit pts, clean pts, etc. pts still go to the bathroom and need medication once the sun goes down. Not to mention any possible emergencies and other craziness that can still occur at night. In fact my shift the other night was so crazy I was telling my coworkers it might as well have been day shift. I'm not sure if ur a troll or not, but I do know that too many ppl on this website freak out or are just incredibly rude whenever someone asks a genuine question. If you don't have anything substantial to put into the conversation why don't you just not comment instead of complaining about how offended you are. OP is obviously either a troll or just genuinely really confused and inexperienced with the reality of night shift so no need to get all bent out of shape.

Yes most of the other nurses are really nice and I think I'll be comfortable asking them for help, but it will definitely be different not just having my preceptor completely at my disposal

Yeah I was not asking specifically about new grads being selected and I was also not looking to do it now so missing the November selection board does not concern me. Again, I was only CURIOUS about army nursing in general

You seem like a real peachy person and I looked there are no recent army threads that answer my questions from above

That probably is it; because now I do remember even my preceptor mentioning one day that she personally liked new grads bc they don't tell you that they prefer to do things a certain way and that it works better for them their own way. Also, to the poster above, my unit is getting better now but at first when I started we seemed to be very understaffed

Anyone have any experience with army nursing? What is the recruitment/screening/application and training process like? Where were you stationed? Just curious.

I am a new grad working on a med surg unit in a busy, large teaching hospital. I just finished my 12 week orientation and when talking to my preceptor about our unit she mentioned about all the time invested in training new grads and how often they do not stay past a year on our unit. There are only 2 there right now who were hired as new grads (besides the ones who started with me) that have stayed past their year and my unit has apparently hired tons of them over the years. I asked my preceptor why my manager would continue to hire new graduates since this seems to be the case and she said that my manager likes new grads. I am very grateful that she hired me of course, but I am just curious from her point of view why she likes to hire new grads, since most of them end up leaving. Anyone know from a manager's point of view why this may be the case?