What job offer to take?

[tokyoROSE]

Hello fabulous nurses, I am in need of some career advice. I am a new grad and have some options for employment. A little background- I am young, a quick learner, very adaptable. My goal is to go back to grad school for my NP in two years. I do not have a preference of what area of nursing I'd like to work, I can do whatever I need to do. I'm struggling deciding what job offer to take:

1) Telemetry days $21.49, nights $25, pt load 4-5, large nonprofit hospital

2) med/surg nights $25, pt load 4-5, large nonprofit hospital

3) ICU nights $28, pt load 2, small for-profit hospital

If I only cared about money, I would take ICU. I do not have kids, have no debt, so while money is nice, it is not everything. This position is in a small for-profit hospital. There are not many options if something does not work out. It is a one-floor hospital and the only other unit is med/surg. Telemetry days is attractive because, well, working days is nice, but with the least pay. As for tele or med/surg nights, those are also good options because it is slower paced with decent pay. I really love the large nonprofit hospital because there are so many options and it is a top-notch hospital. I also want to think about the skills that would help me in grad school. Which unit would be a good option for a future FNP?

If it were you, what job offer would you take and why?

[Good Morning, Gil]

Congrats on your job offers! I started in the ICU as a new nurse (with some nursing experience, but little that was actually applicable), and I'm doing well, and so are the other new grads on my unit. We were given a good orientation, though. I also studied during my orientation, as well. Sounds like you're motivated, as well. If it's a small ICU, I'm not sure how much you'd see. They probably ship out the really acute cases, but you would still learn a lot, especially with how to be resourceful since you'll probably only have a hospitalist at night and not all of the specialized surgeons/docs that the teaching hospitals have (I work in a teaching hospital). So, point being, you'd still learn a lot there.

It really just depends what you want. Do you prefer the smaller feeling of the community hospital or the large teaching hospital? A teaching hospital is for me since I love all of the educational opportunities available, etc. Best of luck with your decision! If your goal isn't to become an ICU nurse or acute NP, then I would take one of the other positions. If you really don't know what you want, then the large hospital is best as you can transfer to other units after a year or 2 if you decide to postpone the NP training or decide that you want to be a peds or women's health NP or something.