Pick the Right Position for YOU! (LPN)

00:01 Many nursing grads feel as though they've got to pick a job based on the skills used at that level of care.

00:08 Like ICU or medical-surgical or just acute care in the hospital for example.

00:14 This is a common concern of new nurses. And I get it.

00:18 But here is my best advice to new graduates.

00:22 Pick a type of position that is best for you as a nurse and your family.

00:28 What does this mean? What about the schedule? What if it's all weekends, that may just not work for you, and maybe if you have kids and soccer games for example.

00:38 What about the location? If it's an hour and a half away, the longevity of you staying on that unit may be difficult.

00:46 And I cannot stress this enough, the culture of the unit.

00:51 Meaning, is that unit have a lot of high nursing turnover? Is it a really negative unit? One way to figure this out is ask if you can job shadow.

01:02 You will know very quickly if they just vibe or the culture of the unit is not positive.

01:08 And what about support for new graduates? Many hospitals or just places of employment nowadays have something like the nurse residency program, meaning they offer continual support, it can be as long as a year for new graduates to be successful.

01:25 And orientation. Oh, I stress this all the time especially to my senior nursing students.

01:33 Here's a great example.

01:35 Let's say the senior nursing student takes a high level of care like acute care telemetry or ICU for example.

01:42 And let's say as a new graduate, they offer you two weeks of nursing orientation, that should be a really big red flag and a no-no just to be honest with you.

01:53 This is not safe for you or for the patients.

01:57 Go to a place that offers an adequate orientation unit, orientation schedule, in which you're supported.

02:04 That you have contact with the manager, your preceptor, you have check-ins for example.

02:09 And it feels as though it's adequate to prepare you as a new nurse.

02:14 Now pick a job that interests you. Don't worry about losing your skills.

02:20 That's the whole piece about picking the right position for you.

02:24 Like we talked about schedule, location, all of that matters.

02:28 But, just because you're not in, oh, the hospital, doesn't mean it's not a great job and that you're going to lose your skills.

02:36 Just remember, technical skills are muscle memory such as let's say you decide to work in a clinic for example.

02:44 It may be you don't get to start IVs very often, you can easily pick that right back up again.

02:50 Because remember, you graduated from an LPN program and you know how I feel about strong LPN students are in their technical skills.

03:01 All opportunities offer experience that's beneficial.

03:05 Any position that you take you're going to gain critical thinking and a great knowledge base.

03:11 It's important that you're in a place where you feel supported, you're excited about and want to learn.

03:18 One of the positions I learned the most was actually in an outpatient clinic.

03:23 It was in a cardiology clinic where I worked closely with the doctor and I gained more knowledge there, honestly, than any other position that I'd held.

03:33 Also, note, one job is not the end-all, be-all for you.

03:38 You have the option that once you've worked at the position, you may want to move somewhere else that interests you, so keep an open mind and go for what sparks your interest. This will reflect in your patient care.