[fidelio]

I’m thinking about just staying in school right after I graduate in June. Do some new RNs work part time? I haven’t brought this idea up to anyone yet as most of the new grad orientations look to be full time gigs.
Thanks

[elkpark]

There are some older threads about this question that you may want to search and review.

[GooeyRN]

Most people recommend working full time for awhile. But if you can do a full time orientation (several days in a row for several weeks) you will probably we ok part time as long as you work atleast 3 days a week. I did that. Its important to do all your days in a row to get in a routine.

[MsDemeanor]

I think you would need to go full time during your orientation. You are going to have an adjustment from being a student to being an RN responsible for a number of patients. This usually requires a full time committment. However, after orientation, I imagine you could drop back to a 20 hr or part time schedule.

[fidelio]

Thanks for sharing your ideas and thoughts. It’s really encouraging to think this might work out. I totally agree with the idea of working days (or nights) in a row to keep the momentum of learning up.

[christvs]

I'm an RN who graduated in May '05. My orientation was 40 hours/week from July-October '05 and since I've been off orientation I work 24 hours/week. I can pick up extra shifts if I choose, but it was important to me to only be REQUIRED to work 24 hours/week because I'll be starting nursing graduate school in a few months. So it is possible. But I also agree that it's a good idea to try to be in orientation full time since more time to practice your skills is best.
-Christine