working as RN part-time during med school?

meddecisions · Oct 23, 2009

I'd like to say thank you to everyone who replied to my post. I really appreciate the time you all took to respond. I've been able to collect quite a bit of information over the past day or so from a variety of sources. It wouldn't have been possible without people taking time to post to different message boards, write blogs, etc. So, thanks again. I think it's fair to say that there are always reasons not to pretty much anything. That being said, for any nurses or nursing students out there who are thinking about medical school, here are some motivational findings:

-Many medical students work a little bit each week. The reason for working varies individually.

-It seems almost necessary to work/volunteer/do interesting extra-curricular things in order to be a competitive candidate in the resident match. In addition to doing well academically.

-Every medical school I have researched has encouraged students to actively pursue things outside of classes. Duke School of Medicine, for example, really seems to encourage individual interests and growth.

-It seems that many medical students became interested in becoming doctors after working in a health profession initially, including RN's.

The ability to work as an RN while in school seems to vary by individual and location, but is possible and is being done.

I was really surprised at the amount of feedback about new nursing grad's having difficulty getting hired. Is this for grad's from good BSN programs with strong clinical experience? It was my impression that major medical centers and health care systems have established incentives like tuition reimbursement (they are really good, like 100%) because they are actively seeking out these RN's. A lot of them are really financially invested in specific schools for this reason as well. Is this incorrect??

nohika · Oct 23, 2009

I'd like to say thank you to everyone who replied to my post. I really appreciate the time you all took to respond. I've been able to collect quite a bit of information over the past day or so from a variety of sources. It wouldn't have been possible without people taking time to post to different message boards, write blogs, etc. So, thanks again. I think it's fair to say that there are always reasons not to pretty much anything. That being said, for any nurses or nursing students out there who are thinking about medical school, here are some motivational findings:
-Many medical students work a little bit each week. The reason for working varies individually.
-It seems almost necessary to work/volunteer/do interesting extra-curricular things in order to be a competitive candidate in the resident match. In addition to doing well academically.
-Every medical school I have researched has encouraged students to actively pursue things outside of classes. Duke School of Medicine, for example, really seems to encourage individual interests and growth.
-It seems that many medical students became interested in becoming doctors after working in a health profession initially, including RN's.
The ability to work as an RN while in school seems to vary by individual and location, but is possible and is being done.
I was really surprised at the amount of feedback about new nursing grad's having difficulty getting hired. Is this for grad's from good BSN programs with strong clinical experience? It was my impression that major medical centers and health care systems have established incentives like tuition reimbursement (they are really good, like 100%) because they are actively seeking out these RN's. A lot of them are really financially invested in specific schools for this reason as well. Is this incorrect??

I believe so, from what I've heard/read. The economy is so bad that they no longer have the money to hire and train new graduates, so the hospitals no longer hire them. And trust me, a new grad is a new grad, no matter where they come from.

BluegrassRN · Oct 24, 2009

I was really surprised at the amount of feedback about new nursing grad's having difficulty getting hired. Is this for grad's from good BSN programs with strong clinical experience? It was my impression that major medical centers and health care systems have established incentives like tuition reimbursement (they are really good, like 100%) because they are actively seeking out these RN's. A lot of them are really financially invested in specific schools for this reason as well. Is this incorrect??

Whether you came from "a BSN program with strong clinical experience", a weak ASN course with minimal clinical experience, or somewhere in between, the fact of the matter is you are brand new and it takes a lot of time (and therefore money) to train you. Why make that investment in a nurse who is only going to work part time? We spend a minimum of 8 weeks of full time training for new RNs on our little medical floor. ICU, ED and Step-down have 4-6 month orientations, depending on your previous experience and how you are doing (meaning for a new grad, 6 months, full time).

In my hospital, you cannot go to prn status unless you have a minimum of a year experience.

No one was implying that you wouldn't be able to get a job; it's that if you are going to go straight to med school out of nursing school, the message was that no one is going to hire a brand new nurse for a part time or prn position.