[goldentxnurse]

Hi. I'm new to allnurses.com, and I'm also about to graduate from nursing school this December. I've been a massage therapist for 2 years as well, and I have a town picked out to move to. I'm very interested in Rehab nursing, but my problem is that the hospitals will not hire new graduate students for the rehab nurse field. Does anyone have any suggestions as to maybe should i go into med-surg to get the experience i need in order to transfer into it maybe later or which field? I'm not sure what my next step would be? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[fluffwad]

Some places have specialty Rehabs (ortho, neuro, drug)...what do you have in mind? Go into Med-surg or Ortho for a year or 2, where you will probably see a lot of related stuff anyway.

I did Ortho-/neuro- rehab. Got certified in it (CRRN).

[purplemania]

Our East TX hospital hires new grads for rehab and our rehab unit has won many awards, state and national. If you are not interested in East TX, I agree that ortho and med-surg units might be a good fit.

[goldentxnurse]

Originally Posted by purplemania

Our East TX hospital hires new grads for rehab and our rehab unit has won many awards, state and national. If you are not interested in East TX, I agree that ortho and med-surg units might be a good fit.

that's great.. I saw that you were from Longview area. I was actually looking maybe at Tyler or Dallas. I know of someone who went to work in Longview who graduated from SFA actually. Thank you for the info. I will definately look into ortho, etc...

[goldentxnurse]

Originally Posted by purplemania

Our East TX hospital hires new grads for rehab and our rehab unit has won many awards, state and national. If you are not interested in East TX, I agree that ortho and med-surg units might be a good fit.

oh and i'm looking into the ortho neuro.. not really into the drug part...

[rngreenhorn]

I am a new grad (I graduated in May). I was hired for and am orienting on an acute rehab unit in a 250 bed hospital in Southern OR. We have a mish-mash of neuro and ortho... no drug.

It's a long way from TX, but is beautiful here.

I love my job, but am hoping I did not make a mistake by not doing med-surg first. I HATE the "patch em up and move em out" attitude of most med-surg units. I really like the slower pace and the opportunity of really getting to know the patient and family provided in rehab.

Good luck and smiles.

[goldentxnurse]

Originally Posted by rngreenhorn

I am a new grad (I graduated in May). I was hired for and am orienting on an acute rehab unit in a 250 bed hospital in Southern OR. We have a mish-mash of neuro and ortho... no drug.

It's a long way from TX, but is beautiful here.

I love my job, but am hoping I did not make a mistake by not doing med-surg first. I HATE the "patch em up and move em out" attitude of most med-surg units. I really like the slower pace and the opportunity of really getting to know the patient and family provided in rehab.

Good luck and smiles.

That's really great news to hear. I've found a place that i'm interviewing this month to start out on the ortho/neuro track as well... the main draw back is that in order for me to do their internship there i have to sign an 18 month contract, and i'm not quite sure that i want to do that just yet. congrats on your job though! I'd love to find something along the lines of that... I've never been in that part of this country, but i do hear it is beautiful as you said! Thanks for the info..