Torn between jobs

Nurses General Nursing

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Not sure if this is the correct forum to place this question but I have a dilemma that I need advice from you all.

I'm currently a stay at home working mom as a medical transcriptionist who is on my local community college's nursing wait list. I've been offered a unit secretary position at a hospital which is the 3-11:30 shift and I am torn as to what to do. My heart tells me to stay at home with the kids but everyone I have talked to has said that the experience as a US would be great for when I finally get into nursing school. The hospital job also offers better health insurance than what my husband gets and better benefits than I get as a home based MT (no benefits, independent contractor) If I take the job I will only see my family for an hour in the morning and on weekends. Should I listen to my heart and stay put or do what might be better for the future and our pocketbook with regard to a more stable job and better benefits than I currently have? Has anyone been in this situation where they had kids at home and worked the 3-11:30 shift?

Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated!!

oh something else to add, can you handle not seeing your kids that much? How would it affect you mentally? And if you don't like it can you return to what you were doing before or would you be stuck unhappy ?

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i worked 3-11 when my kids were little. I quit when my little dd got on the bus and said "see you tomorrow mommy " .:o it was 11 am. not to mention the cereal for supper and the mismatched clothes. it just didnt work well for me mentally. dh was very capable and the kids thought it was funny.

Can you apply to a physicians office or an LTC for a day shift job instead?

i worked 3-11 when my kids were little. I quit when my little dd got on the bus and said "see you tomorrow mommy " .:o it was 11 am. not to mention the cereal for supper and the mismatched clothes. it just didnt work well for me mentally. dh was very capable and the kids thought it was funny.

Can you apply to a physicians office or an LTC for a day shift job instead?

How long did you work the 3-11 shift?

I think I would have quit as well if my daughter or sons said that. I would feel a lot of guilt. Believe me, that thought, along with many other thoughts regarding my kids and what I may or may not miss have crossed my mind while contemplating this job move. A friend, with kids, did ask me, "How bad could it be, at least you will be able to get away from the kids for a while and get benefits you don't currently get."

At this moment we can't afford for me to work a day job at a hospital or doctor office basically because of the cost of daycare which is ridiculous!! My whole paycheck would go just for daycare. I don't know how people work and pay for daycare and still support themselves??? I don't want to work just to pay for daycare and it seems that is what I would be doing.

Anyways, thanks for your input!

oh something else to add, can you handle not seeing your kids that much? how would it affect you mentally? and if you don't like it can you return to what you were doing before or would you be stuck unhappy ?

that's what i keep asking myself. how will it be to not see the kids very often and how will i handle it? that is why i wanted to get input from people who have done that shift and how it affected them and their kids. if i did take it and then decided i didn't like it i could more than likely get another mt job at home but the pay won't be as good per line as what i make now per line so that would mean i would have to do more work for less pay to get back to what i was making at the 1st mt job. so that is why i want to make sure i make the right decision and not regret it. i guess if i took the job and didn't like it, after a year, i believe, i would be able to transfer to a different department or different shift if it was available so i guess that is an option.

First, I don't have kids... however, I have worked nights & evenings. I hated working evenings, I never saw my hubby. Yes, you will gain soo much knowledge and be more comfortable in your nursing classes/clinicals if you choose to take the US job. I was a unit clerk in an ER while attending nursing school. It makes clinicals a breeze. That being said, I would follow your gut and enjoy the time with your kids/hubby. If you're a family person, working evenings may make you very grumpy and miserable (like me). I now work M_F 8:30 - 4:30 and I'm back to my happy self... shift work did not work well for me. After 4 years of nights/evening I don't miss it one bit!

Only you can decide what's best for you and your family. Best of luck to you!!

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