Should I stay in this non-clinical job as a new grad RN?

[kutadefroc]

I'm a new grad RN in California and decided to join a home health/hospice company while applying for acute care positions since I was constantly being told: "any experience is better than no experience." However, under California Code of Regulations Title 22 new grads cannot work as a home health/hospice RN unless the company has a dedicated new grad program (which my company does not). Otherwise you need one year of experience.

My company is owned by a friend of my parents so instead of not hiring me, he is training me for administrative duties instead (chart auditing etc) and is aware that I am actively applying for hospital positions. It's competitive in California as you may know so I'm still working on getting a hospital job. I'm certainly grateful for the employment opportunity and grateful that he understands my situation but I wonder if since I'm only doing paperwork at this job this will be detrimental to my Job Search instead of helpful. He did hire me as RN so I would have to count this as paid RN experience.

My gut is telling me I should leave the job ASAP since it's counting as paid RN experience, taking away from my "new grad" status, but I don't actually get to see patients and it would look bad to hospitals. I definitely need the money though and I would feel bad leaving a job opportunity that was basically done as a favor to me/my parents. So maybe I should try to stay for a few months and if I don't get a job offer by the end of the year I'll do something else. Any opinions?

[NewMurse1014]

I'm also working in CA and I was lucky enough to get into a new grad program at a hospital last year. I know how competitive the job market is. My advice is to continue the current job and look for other jobs in the hospital/clinic/SNF/LTC. basically apply to anywhere you can. Some of my friends worked in LTC for a few months before getting a hospital job. I agree that any experience is better than no experience, and it doesn't look good on the resume either if you're unemployed for too long. Keep trying and you'll get it some day. Good luck!