Stick with clinic job or accept hospital job?

[tenderfootjoe]

Have been working as an rn in a clinic for 1.5 years pretty much since graduating. I have gotten an offer for a med surg position. Both are about the same distance driving but the hospital job pays much more, same amount of hours per week. Is working med surg necessary to open more doors and opportunities for a nursing career? I am ready to learn more as a nurse but don't want to leave a good job for med surg if it isn't necessarily beneficial. Thanks

[Hootnhollern]

Although I started in a cardiac step down unit, we did loads of med-surf stuff there. I am happy that I did. I was able to learn so much from the fabulous nurses, LVNs, CNAs, Monitor Techs and of course the Queen of the place, the Unit Clerk. I had such a fantastic team of people who held me up through those really rough, new nurse days. I learned itty bitty things and gigantic things, both equally important to my education and to the safety and outcome for the patients.

I had always thought that I would just naturally end up in the ED as I had been there as a PCT for seven years, but I am truly happy with the unit that I started on and was given lots of room to grow :)

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

Acute care experience is a prerequisite for most all specialty positions. Take the hospital job. In the current market, being offered it when your only experience so far is in a clinic could be viewed as a fantastic "break". Not many get that opportunity these days. It is highly unlikely you will make it into any high demand specialty as an experienced nurse without acute care experience. Some have done it, but not many. The med-surg job is a foot in the door.

[calivianya, BSN, RN]

The med/surg job will definitely open more doors down the road... but if you are happy in your current position now, I wouldn't leave. There is a lot to be said for having a good job that you're happy with. Your overall quality of life is likely a lot higher right now than it will be if you take the med/surg job, and it's hard to put a price point on good quality of life.

[CrunchRN, ADN, RN]

It will be much harder to ever get an acute care job the longer you are at the clinic job. So if acute care is something you think you will want eventually you better grab it now.

[Everline]

Depends on your goals as to whether it would be beneficial and worth the stress and possible drop in quality of life. If you decide it is worth it, be prepared to possibly second guess yourself more than a few times those first few months.