Public Health as a first job-- will it limit me?

[A girl has no name]

Graduated mid-May. Passed NCLEX in July after moving to a new state with my husband (hence, no networking connections!). I've been applying to hospital and clinic jobs since I passed NCLEX with almost no responses, a few rejections. All the rejections have stated the same thing - they require 6 months to 1 year of experience.

I applied to a Public Health nurse job for the county and they called me within a few days to set up an interview. Finally, a bite! M-F, good benefits and flexibility. They sounded pretty clearly like they were interested in hiring me. However, it pays only $25/hour, when most hospitals will pay around 30 for a new grad.

I'm more than ready to start working, and the Public Health job sounds really cool, but it's not my first love. Before graduating, I had an internship in the ER which I absolutely loved-- but it was cut short due to COVID.

My question: Would taking this PH job limit me to only working non-bedside? I'm worried that I will want to go for ER in the future, but no one will hire me due to lack of bedside experience.

To complicate things: I also have an interview for a urology clinic. I have zero interest in urology, but I feel like it would help me keep some skills. Hours are 4 10's (Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri) which I would prefer to working 5 days a week.

Any advice?

[Jedrnurse, BSN, RN]

I actually would be concerned about taking a public health job as a new grad; I don't think that that is a position for someone without any experience. But...a job is better than no job. Also, it could be very challenging (in a good way) and you could learn a lot if you throw yourself into it.

[A girl has no name]

2 minutes ago, Jedrnurse said:

I actually would be concerned about taking a public health job as a new grad; I don't think that that is a position for someone without any experience. But...a job is better than no job. Also, it could be very challenging (in a good way) and you could learn a lot if you throw yourself into it.

I appreciate your reply! It's actually a position that my background fits very well with... I would be going around doing home visits for at-risk new families and connecting them with community resources. Not to say there wouldn't be stresses and a learning curve, but that comes with any new job. I'm personally more nervous to take a position in the hospital, where a lot of med-surg floors have 6:1 or 7:1 ratios... or more. That sounds like an easy path to losing one's license. 

[londonflo]

1 hour ago, A girl has no name said:

I would be going around doing home visits for at-risk new families and connecting them with community resources. 

What orientation activities would they provide? Will you go on visits with experienced RNs for several weeks? Do they have receptive population?

 

[Jedrnurse, BSN, RN]

8 hours ago, A girl has no name said:

 That sounds like an easy path to losing one's license. 

While staffing patterns are bad in a lot of places, and it makes it difficult to give decent care, please don't fall prey to the "losing your license" meme. If you research the number of nurses who lose their licenses because of situations related to staffing issues, it's really very rare. Now the staffing may make you regret you HAVE a license, but that's another story...?

[brume, BSN]

Hello!  I may find myself in your boat in about a year.  Curious what you decided to do!