Should I settle to a nursing home ?

Published

I am a nurse who graduated in 2009 and had been working at a pediatric office for 7-8 yrs. I never had any bedside experiences at hositpal except preceptorship while at school. Now because of many reasons I quit my job and looking for a hospital job in NY. However, I had a very difficult time to even get an interview. I have applied to at leat 20 positions but no responses or still under review. It's been almost 3 months. I am starting to worry because I just have a baby and I need to get back to work. So lately one of friend told me he can get me a job at a nursing home however the pay is very low, around $22/hr and I dont even knw of they provide any benefits. Now my question is should I settle to this job since I was already looking for jobs for 2-3 months and didn't even get an interview. Or should i keep trying and wait a little longer. Also , will working in nursing home benefit me in the future to find a hospital job or it will be still hard to find a hospital job because I still don't have the acute care experience many hospirals required. I am so so stress out now and dont knw if i should take my frds job. Sorry for such a long story and thanks for finish reading.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Have you applied to other offices? Surgery centers, orthopedic offices, plastic surgery groups etc frequently hire RNs.

If you're dead set on working in a hospital, search their websites for nurse recruiter contact info. Their main focus is attracting new RNs to the company!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.

Referring to a nursing home as "settling" is really insulting to the nurses who thrive in that specialty. It is not "less than" working in a hospital.

You will find the same difficulty getting a job in a hospital setting from a nursing home as you do from an MD office. Neither are considered to have the same skill set as an acute care nurse. This doesn't mean one is better than another. You should not take the nursing home position if you consider it to be less than what you want.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in EKG Telemetry.

We're all here for you. We all go through it. Even if you take a full time job at a place you'd like to move on from some day soon - also get yourself listed with registries and agencies that provide temp and per diem assignments. You can string those together to get cash flow while your career grows. You will find a good and lasting job that you like enough to keep. Registry and agency listings give you a foundation to not put all your eggs in one basket, even when you take a full time job. It really helps during recessions too. Hang in there!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ICU, ER, NURSING EDUCATION.
Referring to a nursing home as "settling" is really insulting to the nurses who thrive in that specialty. It is not "less than" working in a hospital.

You will find the same difficulty getting a job in a hospital setting from a nursing home as you do from an MD office. Neither are considered to have the same skill set as an acute care nurse. This doesn't mean one is better than another. You should not take the nursing home position if you consider it to be less than what you want.

It is settling when the pay differential is substantially less and you need money for a new baby!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ICU, ER, NURSING EDUCATION.

Here's my take on it:

"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush!"

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Thank you so much for your kind support and advice. Little update, I ended up taking the nursing home job and have been working there for 5 months. It is a very different working experience and i did learn a lot of new things. But i am not giving up searching for a hospital job. so far i got two phone interviews, still no job offer, but it's a start. so hopefully i will find a job i like enough to keep and help my career grow.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion