Employed '09 and '10 grads: Are you where you wanted to be?

Nurses New Nurse

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First let me write that I am super thankful to be gainfully employed as a new grad RN...so this isn't a rant thread. I'm just curious to know if you landed a job in the area that you wanted when you were in school? Also, if you didn't get the area you wanted are you happy where you're at now? Do you have plans to switch to your desired area in a few years when things turn around?

I worked in a skilled facility as an LPN but I always wanted to be a L&D nurse once I got my RN. Well, long story short I graduated in April '09, passed boards in June, and couldn't find a job till late Dec(and that was with a connection!). My area is substance abuse and about as far from L&D as you can imagine.

I was thrilled about finally getting an RN job and a pretty good one at that and I don't like to think ungrateful thoughts when so many can't find anything at all. I'm not exaggerating...the schedule...my co-workers....my head nurse....my nurse manager it's all good.

I'm really lucky to have this job and would have never got it if it wasn't for getting a little assistance. I even got my first review and it was glowing.

I truly have nothing to complain about.....yet I still have thoughts of wanting to work in L&D. Not that I could get a job in that area anyway so I'm stuck where I'm at for now. The job requires critical thinking but very little hands on and I'm losing my skills! I haven't dressed a wound or given an injection since Dec and street clothes are nice but I miss my scrubs sometimes. :crying2:

Specializes in Pediatrics, ER.

Nope. I wanted to do PICU, NICU, or ER that had both adults and children. I currently work in a post ICU rehab setting, on a NICU/PICU stepdown...so it's close, but not quite there. I'm currently applying to PA school though. Overall, nursing is a great profession but just not quite wehre I want to be.

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I just graduated May 2010 and pass my boards July 15. I currently work on a Ortho floor and I will be staying there. Ortho is not were I wanted to be, I really want to get into the NICU. I can't complain because I know the floor and I get along with my coworkes. I'm hoping that after a yr that I will be able to get into the NICU if not I will be happy with PEDS

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Specializes in NICU, previously Mother baby.

I am exactly where I want to be. I graduated in August 2009 and found out I got my dream job a month later on a mother baby floor at the hospital that delivers the most babies in the city. I am a lucky duck!

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Specializes in NICU.

I just accepted a job offer yesterday, so even though I don't start for another week and a half, I can FINALLY join the conversation!

I'm a Dec 2009 grad, and after hundreds of aps I got a job exactly where I wanted to be. I'm going to be working in a level IIIc NICU in a major teaching hospital. I applied for all types of positions, but was particularly trying to get into OB or NICU, so I'm feeling incredibly blessed to have gotten this position.

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Specializes in Tele/PCU/ICU/Stepdown/HH Case Management.

i was a may '09 grad. passed my boards that june. landed a job (albeit nearly 70 miles from me) that july. i work telemetry which is where i wanted to start. i plan on going to the er eventually, but i'll probably start to look for a closer hospital before then. i'm happy i took this position, and i still remember the day i got the call back. the interview was a greuling two hours! i guess the director really liked me because i heard that there were like a dozen other applicants! phew!

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I only failed one test in nursing school but I failed it spectacularly. That test was cardiac. I hated those little strips with the squiggly line and could not read or make sense of them. Take a wild guess where I am working? Yep, not one, but two, separate cardiac telemetry units. The universe has a sense of humor.

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Specializes in Medical-surgical.

yeah I actually ended up somewhere really good for me but itwas far from what I expected. I found a job after submitting about 100+ applications. I had to drive 6 hours to go to my interview and another 6 hours (12 round trip) for the health screening. I never expected to do so much work to find a job. Luckily though I work for a small hospital where I get to learn to do everything and I get to orient in the OR soon which is where my goals are to work. Very very happy and very fortunate as alot of my classmates still haven't found jobs!

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April 09' License

Yes and no, I wanted to be a Tele Nurse but stumbled into something far better, Infusion Nurse.

Get paid about $5-$10/hr more than any of my classmates and love my job.

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Specializes in CDI Supervisor; Formerly NICU.

Right department (NICU) but not the city I'd hoped I'd be in. Worked out very well so far, though.

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Specializes in ER.

I graduated in May, passed NCLEX in June, and I was just hired for MedSurg/Telemetry. I don't actually start for another week. It's not in the hospital I want (But hospitals in Dallas are pretty much done hiring new grads right now), nor the floor I desire, but I'm soooo thankful to get a job so quickly! Plus, I'm not terribly far from my home. I think the experience I gain on this floor will help me tons before I work myself into ER or ICU.

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So yea no I am not where I want to be. I got my RN license Jan 2010, currently working for a home health agency, no benefits, PRN. It pays some of the bills, but I really want to be working in a hospital on a L&D unit. Right now any position in the hospital would be great. The agency I work for is only for children so I would love to work on a peds floor or mother baby, but L&D is my dream job, hope to one day be a NP for women's care so I guess applying for 1000s of jobs hasn't worked for me yet, but I hope those endless internet Job Search hours will pay off soon!

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Specializes in Med/Surg, L&D.

Not at all. I just got a job on a Med/Surg/Tele that specializes in medically unstable eating disorder patients. I feel lucky to be able to feed my family, but I am bummed out that I am working in the area that I dislike the most. When the job market was good I always said I wanted to start in L&D, but my second choice is anything but med surg or psych. Now I get a little of both. I know it will be valuable experience and I am very grateful to be at a hospital with great benefits and pay for the area and a good team. Who would have thought, when we decided to go for nursing, that it was going to be this way?

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