Torn between job offers

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Specializes in NICU.

I have been a nurse for six years. I currently work in the NICU at a hospital and I graduated last August with my MSN in nurse education. I love being in a NICU nurse, But the hospital that I work at doesn’t offer very many advancement opportunities especially something using my masters degree in nursing. I recently applied for two positions and was offered both jobs and I am torn between what I should do. The first job is a job as a nurse clinical coordinator/educator. This job will be working at a college and I would be supervising the other clinical instructors and also helping as an educator and mentor for the students. This is a full-time salaried position and they offer amazing benefits. The schedule would mostly be Mon-Fri. The other position is a nurse triage position where I have the ability after two months to work from home. I would be taking phone calls from patients and educating them and helping them with whatever they are needing at the time. This position offers advancement opportunities to a nursing supervisor and also nursing a nurse educator if I wanted to move into that role. These would also be work from hone positions. The hours are extremely flexible. You can work almost any hours at any time of the day. They also have amazing benefits that you don’t have to even pay for. Both positions are comparable as far as pay goes. The reason I’m struggling with deciding is because at my current job I usually work two 12 hour night shifts, and they have been very hard on me. I have two little kids at home one 3 1/2-year-old and a 1-year-old. I don’t usually sleep which is rough. Both of these positions are dayshift but they are also full-time. My husband has a super flexible schedule to help out which is nice. I just don’t know long-term which is a better option. One offers the flexibility of working from home which sounds amazing long term, but I would be new to triage nursing. The other would be working at a college and being over the other nurse educators. I don’t know why am struggling so much I just really want to make the best decision for my family and for my career.

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Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.

List all the pros of each position. Then list all the cons. Then list everything that's important to you. Will the triage position expect you to be available on holidays? Is that important to you? That's a point in the college job's favour.

Would working from home save money on childcare? Are you organized enough to work without imposed structure? Would it be a nice break not to have to get dressed and leave the house for several hours a day? Or will you go stir-crazy looking at four walls? Will you miss the camaraderie of having coworkers? How big is the commute? How available is parking?

There are a lot more factors than hours, pay and benefits involved in choosing a position. You are extremely fortunate to have your pick of two very good jobs. Good luck, whatever you decide.

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Specializes in CVICU, MICU, Burn ICU.

what ^^ she said! No advice, just -- wow -- how super it is to have two great jobs to choose from. The pro/con list and a talk with your hubby will probably help it become clear.

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2 hours ago, TriciaJ said:

List all the pros of each position. Then list all the cons. Then list everything that's important to you. Will the triage position expect you to be available on holidays? Is that important to you? That's a point in the college job's favour.

Would working from home save money on childcare? Are you organized enough to work without imposed structure? Would it be a nice break not to have to get dressed and leave the house for several hours a day? Or will you go stir-crazy looking at four walls? Will you miss the camaraderie of having coworkers? How big is the commute? How available is parking?

Great tips, just one comment about the childcare: There's a decent chance that in a professional role like this it will be an expectation that one have the same level of attention to work (and not one's children) that one would have if coming to the office for work. IOW, if you would have to pay for childcare to come to the office, you will still need to pay for childcare when working in your at-home office. Some companies are pretty serious about it; I can't say that I blame them. The people I know who hire for roles allowing at-home work don't hire anyone who states they're interested in the job in order to "stay home with my kids;" it's an immediate disqualifier. Obtaining/maintaining proper childcare arrangements is part of the contracts.

There might be other/lesser ways that not having an out-of-home office job saves a little on childcare, but I'm mentioning the above b/c the OP shouldn't plan on tens of thousands saved and make a decision based on that only to be very disappointed. ? At the least, it's something to be discussed specifically.

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Oh can I just say work at home they are only little once. You can get someone to come help, as soon as they can go to nursery school it be awesome. You could work PRN if you yearning for hands on I doubt it. I quit med surg in my first year and did what I could do to be with kiddo worth every minute. It was home health but worked for me. Good luck.

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Specializes in NICU.

Thank you all so much for the great input and advice. Childcare for me is my husband. With the stay at home position, the hours I would be required to work would work around his schedule so he would be able to be with them while I work from home. I would be able to work from 5 am to 1pm three days a week and then 5am to 11 am one day a week to get my 30 hours which would be full time. Then my husband works from 2pm-8pm.

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Specializes in ICU, ER, Home Health, Corrections, School Nurse.

I don't know anything about the college you are considering a position in, but if you do consider it seriously, do some research as to how that particular institution is run. I live in a university town that also has a huge community college system. The cc has a very hard time keeping their nursing school accreditation (they just got it back after a few years without) because they have a hard time finding and keeping enough Master's trained teachers to ensure accreditation. The university is a well regarded institution, but I have yet to meet anyone that works there, that actually has anything good to say about it. The politics are unbelievable. And I think that is fairly common in the university setting. So make sure you talk to people that actually work there to get a good take on it.

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On 2/9/2020 at 3:45 AM, Nur7138 said:

Oh can I just say work at home they are only little once.

This can backfire in a big way causing frustration for both mom and the littles. Sure she's at home but inaccessible. I had a friend try this and her employer was very strict about it. It did not go well with a toddler screaming for her mommy outside the office door. She tried starting work early before the baby was awake but she swore the kid could smell her presence. Heck, how many of you with small kids are even able to pee in privacy much less talk on the phone professionally.

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Specializes in Ortho, CMSRN.

Another thing to consider about the college position... what do they offer in terms of reduced or free tuition for family? The only way my kids are going to college without earning their own scholarship or taking out student loans is if I can get them free or reduced tuition.

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