The single most important thing you can do as a nursing student

Nursing Students General Students

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Specializes in Emergency Nursing.

GET A HOSPITAL JOB.

I understand that you're a single parent, that you already have a job at Starbucks that you love, that you don't intend to work as a nurse in the hospital setting, that you don't want to because you live with your parents and don't want to over stress yourself.

What we are seeing is the "nursing shortage" being served by a glut of new grads, leaving many without jobs once they graduate. The best thing you can do is front load this by getting in before you've graduated. I can't tell you how many out of work graduates I know. The landscape is littered with them.

Here is how you do it: clinicals are an excellent way to get in. Do a really good job in clinicals. Be ready and present for everything. Be willing to do anything. Be nice to the patients and respectful to the staff. You don't have to know how to do everything, but you do need to put your ability to work as part of a team on display. Then, ask the nurse manager if you can get her or him a resume to start as a NA/PCA/PCT, even if the position is only contingent. Once your foot is in the door you'll have access to the internal job listings and that is where the gold is.

Once you've given them a resume, bother them. Call and email them once a week; they're busy, sure, but most of them appreciate tenacity.

Other ways of doing it are to get dressed up and just go to the hospital with a resume. Ask to meet with the NM for a few minutes, practice your 30 second elevator speech about why that unit is your hearts desire and why you'd be an asset. Then give him or her the resume and, afterwards, again, bother them.

Seriously people, I am in Detroit, we have three or four very large health systems serving the area and a few smaller ones and no one is lining up to offer jobs to nursing school graduates.

A final note: if the hospital you get hired at has an externship program for graduate nurses, this is a bonus since it means that as soon as you've finished classes you can start work as a nurse with a preceptor.

Good luck.

Thanks for the advice, Anoetos. I will absolutely take it. I actually had a similar idea of just doing a lot of volunteer wk for my local hospitals.

That's what I did lol. I have a job as a CNA at the hospital down the street from my school and the nursing program does clinicals there so once i graduate and pass my nclex (in Jesus name) I'm set.:)

Specializes in L&D.

I'm choosing not to work while I am in nursing school because I have the blessing and support to focus solely on my grades and getting scholarships. That is my priority right now. I am not interested in working 12's while managing one car shared with a husband who does shift work full time, and a 3.5 year old...along with full-time nursing school. Not happening! (:

I'm hoping my grades, preceptorship in my senior year, and getting into honor societies in my college will be worth it. I also have work-like experience volunteering for a pregnancy center. I think I'm pretty good to go as of right now.

I don't know why I shared that, but I did. haha

GOOD LUCK to everyone!

Specializes in Labor and Delivery.

Im in a similar position. It is scary because I have some things lined up but when you're actually getting ready to graduate its still scary. I can't work though in the position Im in either.

I'm in level one- supposedly the easiest level but im barely keeping my head above water with school and my hubby/kids/home life. Maybe if in higher levels I can feel a little less stressed I might work. Doubt it though. I do have years of CNA experience though, so I'm hoping that will help me get my foot in the door! Also, flunking out of nursing school because I'm working part time along with everything else most certainly will not help get an RN job!

Specializes in SDU, Tele.

I got a PCT/unit secretary job halfway into my 3rd term. SOOOO glad I did. At first it was so hard to manage but I have learned so much at work, met great people, and may have a job lined up. And even if I don't, at least if someday I wanna come back I know I have a good chance. My boss loves new grads and loooves hiring people who she has seen work on the unit before. Good advice!!

I don't know if any one here will know this, but will experience at a private (non hospital) Ambulance company as an EMT-B be any where near as good for Nursing job prospects as an actual hospital job? I understand that the two have different missions (The EMT-B pretty much covers the ABC's to keep the pt alive to make it to the hospital whereas the nurses-well if I knew exactly what they they did, I'd be one :) -Are far more in depth. But I'm hoping that at the very least, being exposed to pt's in such a manner would mean SOMETHING.,..

Specializes in Emergency Department.
I don't know if any one here will know this, but will experience at a private (non hospital) Ambulance company as an EMT-B be any where near as good for Nursing job prospects as an actual hospital job? I understand that the two have different missions (The EMT-B pretty much covers the ABC's to keep the pt alive to make it to the hospital whereas the nurses-well if I knew exactly what they they did, I'd be one :) -Are far more in depth. But I'm hoping that at the very least, being exposed to pt's in such a manner would mean SOMETHING.,..

About the only thing that ambulance work does, especially as an EMT-B, is give you some hands-on time working with patients. Any advantage you'd have for that will disappear as you progress through school as all in your cohort will be getting actual hands-on time. If you're always going to the same places, you at least have the ability to get to know the staff at those places. You'll be a familiar face. However, you'll also need to let them know you're in nursing school... and that might be a way to get a job in the hospital, which leads to eligibility to apply for those internal postings.

Good luck.

Specializes in Emergency Nursing.
I'm choosing not to work while I am in nursing school because I have the blessing and support to focus solely on my grades and getting scholarships. That is my priority right now. I am not interested in working 12's while managing one car shared with a husband who does shift work full time, and a 3.5 year old...along with full-time nursing school. Not happening! (:

I'm hoping my grades, preceptorship in my senior year, and getting into honor societies in my college will be worth it. I also have work-like experience volunteering for a pregnancy center. I think I'm pretty good to go as of right now.

I don't know why I shared that, but I did. haha

GOOD LUCK to everyone!

Of course I can't argue with you and I would never consider doing so. Everyone's experience and needs will vary.

I will only say that the vast majority (probably all) of the new grads who can't seem to get hired today had exactly the same idea.

Specializes in Emergency Nursing.
I'm in level one- supposedly the easiest level but im barely keeping my head above water with school and my hubby/kids/home life. Maybe if in higher levels I can feel a little less stressed I might work. Doubt it though. I do have years of CNA experience though, so I'm hoping that will help me get my foot in the door! Also, flunking out of nursing school because I'm working part time along with everything else most certainly will not help get an RN job!

True, flunking out because you're doing too much would be bad, but working really hard and not being able to get a job is bad too.

In either case Sally Mae still wants her money.

I worked part time (two 12 hours shifts a week) as a nurse tech from the end of MedSurg I (3d semester of my 6 semester program) I until I was done with school. Before that I worked 20 hours a week in a very cushy job on weekends in the radiology department where I could study. So, until I started tech'ing, I was very lucky, but then I had been lucky just to get a job at the hospital in the first place.

Working on a floor in a hospital is like getting paid to go to clinical. You will see and do amazing things. So much of what is blank theory and words on a page becomes real because you'll have experienced it. This cannot be over valued.

The point though, is that it can be done.

The stress never alleviates or reduces. There are always deadlines, exams and so on. What you have to do is learn how to study smarter and not harder. I cannot presume to tell you how to do that, everyone is different. I'll just say that I and many of my classmates studied way too hard for things and ended up "over-studying" and not doing nearly as well as we should have, given the work we put in. The difference is that I found my level, many of my classmates did not.

All the best to you in everything.

Thanks for the response, Akulahawk. You just changed my plans. If it'll only waste my time, I can sign up for the CNA program in tandem with my nursing Pre req's. I will have to quit my job, but oh well... I'd hate to become an RN and kick myself for not getting more hospital face time and have it wasted for more time than necessary. Thanks again.

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