Transferring in first year of nursing

hakunamatata, BSN, RN · Jun 3, 2012

I am in your exact same situation! While I don't think it's the most professional thing to leave your first job before a year, you have to do what you gotta go. I have secured a position exactly like yours, I am of course thrilled, but the pay in my area is incredibly low. There is no union or anything here, so nurses in my area are really just getting screwed. With my mass amounts of loan debt, and after taxes taken out of my paycheck, I don't see myself living a comfortable lifestyle and still paying my bills here. Therefore, I am looking elsewhere for jobs, even though I've just began this job. I know it may not be the right thing to do, but it'd be silly for me to be unemployed and live off credit cards - and it's not my problem that they are underpaying us.

As far as in terms of your job search, I think it depends on the specific location you are going to. I am still applying for New Grad positions, and things like "Staff Nurse I" positions. I have less than 6 months though; if you have six months or more, you should target your search towards hospitals/positions that use 6 months as a minimum (a lot surprisingly do). Definitely would not hurt to keep applying to New Grad jobs and see what happens.

I do think things look up a bit more when you are out of school, licensed, and are getting technical experience. It can't be harder, right? Best of luck.

DEgalRN · Jun 3, 2012

My only concern would be that you said you would be in a residency program. Make sure that there's no minimum commitment or payback if you don't meet that commitment. Otherwise, people have to move and leave jobs all the time, even early in the job. You should be fine, and all experience is really better than none.

dressagerdr · Jun 12, 2012

Thanks for the input! The "training/orientation" period lasts 3 months, and then I am on my own. There is no contract binding me there after my orientation - I do worry that it might be held against me if I leave early on though? Would new employers balk at hiring me if I left a job early on (and should I explain my reasoning is purely based on location?)? I plan on completely devoting myself to this job not only to advance myself as a nurse and provide patients with top quality care, but I also very badly want a good reference - and I worry that I wouldn't get one if I left after only 6 months or so. Any opinions on that?

azMissK · Jun 12, 2012

Why not just move now and look for a job in this new city instead of taking a spot away from someone that is actually committed to the residency program... I think leaving after 6 months is a disservice to the hospital that is willing to invest in training you. 3 months off of orientation is not enough to give you the experience to transition, in my opinion. And besides, *most* jobs require 1 year experience. I am just hitting the 6 month mark of being a new RN and I still feel like I am just getting the hang of it all.

Also, I don't think your unit manager would write you a glowing review after 6 months. I think you should stick it out at the job for a solid year, get your feet wet and then look into applying for jobs in this new city. Or, graciously pass on the job and start looking there.

dressagerdr · Jun 13, 2012

I would absolutely love to leave now, but unfortunately the area I want to move to (where my boyfriend will be working) only has one major hospital in a two hour radius, and I bombed the interview there from nerves and did not get a job offer. There are a couple nursing homes there, but I got rejected from one and heard nothing from others. The hospital won't be hiring new grads again until December, which I hope they might be willing to interview me again at that point. My hope was that I might stick out and have a better chance at the job having had some RN experience from a well-known hospital, and in the mean time I can be getting experience and paying off loans. I can't afford to move there without a job because of student loans, and I thought that might be irresponsible when there are limited job opportunities there - with December being my first chance to try again at the hospital. Especially considering I have a job offer with a very generous package at another hospital...

I do feel guilty that I want to leave so soon... I know it's not a great thing to do to an employer, but at the same time I feel like I need to look out for myself? It's definitely a sticky situation. I would not have accepted the offer if there was a contract to stay there, since I know that's not where I want to be. Are employers allowed to give bad references based on that, when there was no contract for me to stay?

I hope I'm making some sense! I just don't want a future employer to make assumptions that I left the job early because I couldn't handle the job or something like that, and I also don't want to burn bridges at the hospital I'll be working at. If there's any advice as to how to present this on job applications as well as to my employer when I start looking elsewhere, I'd appreciate that as well!