Hi all!

I've just graduated with a bachelors in biology this past fall semester and was planning to apply to physician assistant school in the near future. Sadly I don't feel very competitive with my current overall GPA (3.0); half my credits are from one college (which I did quite horribly) and the other half is from the school that I received my degree from (which I managed to pull off a very high GPA after some hard work). So I've been considering applying for an accelerated bachelor of nursing degree in New York state (preferably the metro area as I live in the city). When I was younger I considered nursing as a possible career but gave up on it since my undergrad schools didn't have a program in it. I would receive my degree after a bit more than a year and have a good career. Then I plan to become a family nurse practitioner after a year or two of working as a nurse or (hopefully!) a nurse anesthetist. My questions for the community are thus: 1) It seems like after receiving the degree a lot of jobs require a certificate to work in areas such as ICU, is this true? 2) How difficult is finding a job for someone fresh out of nursing school? 3) What kind of income can I expect as a nurse in NY and that of a family nurse practitioner? 4) Any programs that anyone could recommend? So far I've been very interested in NYU's program since they have a BS/MS joint degree.

Sorry for the long reading and thank you!

1. Going to depend on the facility. In some areas where nurses outnumber the available positions, requiring certifications can cut down on the number of applicants. Not all facilities require specialty certifications, but life support courses are required, often provided by the facility but you will also need it during nursing school- it'll most likely be active when you start applying for jobs.

2. Totally going to depend on the area where you want to work. Many urban areas are seeing a glut of new grads, meaning that new grads are having difficulty getting that first job, wages are depressed, and facilities can get away with poor working conditions because there is always another body out there who will step in. Places where jobs appear to be plentiful are those that are rural. Best bet is to research the job market in your area.

3. Looks like you skipped this one

4. Check out the New York forum- there's probably a thread discussing that topic that can help you.

5. Not in the New York area, but I would advise going straight for a BSN- many employers will state BSN required or BSN preferred on job listings. Again, goes back to the oversupply of nurses in some areas- plus the added bonus to employers who offer tuition assistance of not having to pay up for an RN-to-BSN program.

I wrote down so many questions when composing the post that I forgot number 3 . It sounds like nowadays jobs in urban areas are very difficult to find.