Where to work as a new grad...

[skirbyRN17]

So heres the scoop..I graduate May 10th, 2017 and I am so so excited! I'm top of my class and have worked my butt off-like we all do!-and just can't wait to graduate and move on to the next chapter of my career. With all that said. Ive had a passion for critical care for 10 years. I worked as a medical assistant before nursing school. And I always knew that I wanted to work in the ED. I'm currently finishing my clinicals at a level II trauma hospital on a CIC floor (Cardiac Intermed. Care/ICU step-down) and I LOVE IT (second to critical care/trauma i love cardiac). Still, I long for the ED. So I put in the request to precept/intern there come April..and I got it! So I'll be doing my 96 hrs in the ED at a level II trauma center and I couldn't be more thrilled. I attended a hiring event a couple weeks ago where I mingled and met some important nurse managers on varying units but the guy I was MOST excited to talk to-was the D.O. of Emergency Services!! He basically told me clllll about the changes their making for hiring new nurses in their ED and to go home and apply. Well. I did. And upon checking the other day it says "Received: Not Selected"...my heart broke in a million pieces. Maybe this isn't what God has in store for me? My plan is often different from his (lol)...So I applied to the CIC unit I'm CURRENTLY on and I basically have the job. My clinical instructor gave me a great recommendation to the nurse manager...I have a couple friends on that unit..I mean lets face it, it helps to know people and in nursing I was told to always keep your connections!

So now I'm really torn...some people told me to just try reapplying to the ED after I graduate and maybe that would help. But per the discussion I had with the DO at that event, they prefer to interview people beforehand! So I basically feel like I wasn't picked for the job and THATS OKAY TOO. It just stings a little, I'm human. But taking this job on CIC feels like I'm settling. I know what you're all thinking *new nurses should start with med surg* but please, with all due respect.. I know what I want. And I would prefer to not start on a med surg floor.

Then I go through all kinds of different crazy emotions like, "Samantha! its a job! be grateful! you're a new nurse! Take what you can get!" But just because I'm a new nurse doesn't mean I don't have something to offer. I hate feeling like I'm chasing down a unit at this hospital (the ED) when another unit (CIC) is basically offering me a job. I'm not being ungrateful. I just want to make the right decision.

So do I keep trying for what I really REALLY want. Or start on CIC and maybe transfer after a year or two? (and who knows, I could fall in love with it and maybe move onto CVICU...) Any opinions or thoughts are greatly appreciated!

[cleback]

The ICU would be a great critical care experience. I wouldn't turn it down lightly, especially if the market is saturated in your area. Continuing to look for an er job after graduation is a pretty big gamble only you can decide if you want to take.

[RNOTODAY, BSN, RN]

* following this post, I'm curious... 16 years ago when I graduated, a new grad who knew her stuff easily had 2-3 jobs lined up , PRE NCLEX results!!! I know I did .. Neonatal ICU, Trauma ICU, Cardiac ICU... I picked Neonatal, then I went into my first choice-- OPERATING ROOM.... it's quite different now, I'm seeing ??

[RN3909]

I would take the CICU job. You will gain a lot of critical experience that will be very appealing to ED positions down the road. Get 6 months to a year and then I guarantee you will have no problem getting into the ED.

[SmilingBluEyes]

Take the CIC job. In today's employer-favored market, you really are lucky to have anything at all as a new graduate. You can always move on later. Many new grads (who are also at the top of their classes) are not finding it as easy to secure any employment. Read the forums. Some have passed their NCLEX over a year prior and still no job and are finding they have to take whatever they can scrounge up (including the dreaded med-surg and long term care jobs, which are just as important as ER is).

It's not a crazy emotion: ("Samantha it's a job! be grateful!")----you should be----grateful, that is. Sure you may have a lot to offer as a new nurse, but you are also a risk to them as a new nurse, too. They are taking a big chance hiring any new nurse at all, so take the job and do your best. Then if your heart is still in the ER (and who knows, you may really LIKE this job), reapply, with experience under your belt. CIC experience is nothing to sneeze at.

I would be glad to have this opportunity if I were you.

Good luck.

And congratulations on graduation and the job offer.