Hi, I'm once again grateful for the wise people on All Nurses!
I am a new LPN, and have two offers. My eventual goal is to become a RN and work in Psych.
First job is to work for a residential program dispensing methadone to pregnant addicts. It is 9-5, no weekends, no holidays (dreamy, yes?). Pay is okay, good university benefits.
Second job is at a rehab unit of a LTC facility that specializes in wound care. It is basically a long term care med/surg unit; they accept everyone except for ventilator-dependent patients. It is for a 3-11 shift; and all new admissions on on this shift. Staffing levels seem to vary from 10-15 pts per nurse. They assure me that I'm qualified and that they will train me well, and have had other new grads be successful in this role. It does pay considerably more than the methadone job, but I can get by on the lesser salary.
For a new grad, I suppose that the rehab job would be a better learning experience, but I've heard so many horror stories, and don't want to get stuck at 9 pm by myself with the Code Brown hitting the fan. And, med/surg is not my long term interest, but I wonder if I'll ever consider myself a "real nurse" until I've mastered the shifts from H&*(.
