Tripler Medical Center- New Grads?

U.S.A. Hawaii

Published

Hi all! I graduate this May with my ADN/RN and will be getting a Michigan license. My husband is an active duty Army sergeant and we will be relocating to Oahu. I've heard the hardships of new grads trying to find jobs on the island and am obviously growing concerned with any chance of finding my first job. I've always hoped to work for the VA and am very interested in working at Tripler Medical Center in Honolulu. Does anyone know how the job opportunities are for civilians there?

I have 3 years hospital experience as a CNA/Tech in physical medicine/rehab, telemetry, med-surg, and a little ER. Not sure this will help me at all but just trying to give a better idea of what my resume will look like.

With my husbands job we have a steady income and benefits, so i'd be willing to take any job status, any unit, and if needed, any shift.

I'm just hoping for advice or input from local nurses or military spouses on the VA there. Thanks so much! :D

It doesn't matter at all where you take the NCLEX. If you want to take it in Hawaii to be with your husband, then do so. Don't work as a CNA for three years while you're in Hawaii. If you do this, you'll still be a new grad then you PCS back to CONUS or wherever. Just reiterating, it doesn't matter where you take the NCLEX. It transfers everywhere if educational requirements are met. If your school is accredited, no worries.

You can get preferential status for hiring at military/govt facilities. Pursue this. I realize the RN situation in Hawaii is particularly bad but just keep trying to get a RN position even if it is doing something you don't particularly want to do. It's ridiculous to advice a RN to work as a CNA for three years. As a former military wife who worked as a RN in Oahu, I would hate to see you take this very bad advice!

I agree with LisaMSN..also try some of the homecare or hospice companies. A few of them have run postings in the past indicating that new grads are welcome.

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it doesn't matter at all where you take the nclex. if you want to take it in hawaii to be with your husband, then do so. don't work as a cna for three years while you're in hawaii. if you do this, you'll still be a new grad then you pcs back to conus or wherever. just reiterating, it doesn't matter where you take the nclex. it transfers everywhere if educational requirements are met. if your school is accredited, no worries.

you can get preferential status for hiring at military/govt facilities. pursue this. i realize the rn situation in hawaii is particularly bad but just keep trying to get a rn position even if it is doing something you don't particularly want to do. it's ridiculous to advice a rn to work as a cna for three years. as a former military wife who worked as a rn in oahu, i would hate to see you take this very bad advice!

i agree with lisamsn. it's bad advice. i would like to add that i am getting tired of hearing this type of advice. a person who will remain "nameless" has been trying to prevent rn's from moving to the island for at least two years now with extremely negativity, exaggeration, and pessimism regarding the current nursing situation. i have been reading her posts for that long. being that it's temporarily so competitive in hawai'i right now, the goal is to prevent mainland rn's from taking any potential jobs from the existing population. it's obvious why this person patrols the message boards daily to scare off any potential new rn's. don't fall for this as you will come across it on the hawai'i boards. i have not seen it anywhere else... please don't let it get you down. it is a temporary problem that will not last!! there is a severe nursing shortage. it shocks me that this type of attitude would be directed toward military families!

aloha!

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Hmmm... where to start?

I'll start with a quote from good advice that you seem to respect:

"I realize the RN situation in Hawaii is particularly bad"

So, right here. We all agree there is a problem yes?

" I would like to add that I am getting tired of hearing this type of advice."

Better we should keep quiet? Let people move here and THEN find the inevitable situation of living in an expensive paradise with no job?

"A person who will remain “nameless” has been trying to prevent RN's from moving to the Island for at least two years now with extremely negativity, exaggeration, and pessimism"

Are you a new grad? Do you work everyday with new grads who graduated in 2008 or 2009 and are still working as CNAs on the floor. There is not a nurse here (I speak of the floor nurses only) who doesn't know a half-dozen or more new grads who speak everyday of the frustrating situation... and all this in a nice depressing tone.

"Being that it's temporarily so competitive in Hawai'i right now"

From my perspective, this started around the middle of 2006 for new grads from the mainland. Maybe a year later it started for island new grads. The jobs didn't dry-up, just the hospitals' willingness to train people for them did. How long before we're out of this? 1,3,5 years? Does the word "temporary" really matter when Sally Newgrad from Tennessee who is honestly asking if she should pack-up and move here without any support in place, hoping that she'll land a decent job before her savings run dry?

"It’s obvious why this person patrols the message boards"

Why? You really think that more than 0.01% of nurses in this world have even heard of Allnurses.com, much less visit the Hawaii forum. I would be surprised if I've counted more than 50 names in the last few years.

"It is a temporary problem that will not last!!"

On this we agree. But again, if you want to move this summer to Hawaii, does it matter that the problem will fix itself by 2013?

"There is a severe nursing shortage."

Really? When was the last time you were placed on mandatory overtime? =) Where are the big bonuses to move here? The sign-on bonus? The extra perks? The nurse-patient ratios going up? The outcry that patients are at risk because there are no nurses? The newspaper articles demanding better patient care.

They don't exist. And we're talking about experienced nurses here. You want to show me all the new grad openings? If you find some, let me know. I'd like to pass it on.

I know you're a decent person. I give you this benefit of the doubt because you're a future RN who's spending time getting to know the community... who's trying to help. But you should also lend that courtesy to others. You should consider that there are people here, myself included, that spend their time trying to help others.

You may not trust one person on this board... but when EVERYONE is saying the same thing... do you still not trust the message? Just think about it: As experienced RNs who are entrenched in our hospitals... why would be waste our time in a conspiracy to stop the evil mainland new grads? =)

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Hey there, I know this post was from a few years ago, but whatever happened? Did you find a job? I am graduating in June and we are PCSing out there in August. I am definitely starting to panic about not being able to work the whole time I am out there

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I'm a GS at Tripler, we don't hire new graduates. The last new grad hire was >7 years ago. It's hard to even transfer departments because they don't have the resources to train. I got hired into my position by working as a contract nurse first and now I want to go somewhere else, I'm having problems because other departments can't train.

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Hey there, I know this post was from a few years ago, but whatever happened? Did you find a job? I am graduating in June and we are PCSing out there in August. I am definitely starting to panic about not being able to work the whole time I am out there

The new grad situation hasn't improved much. If anything it's gotten worse. It still takes new grads at least a year or so of CNA/Tech work before getting an RN position and the interview process is still highly competitive. We also now have a FOURTH nursing school churning out new grads. That equates to a couple HUNDRED new grads hitting the job market annually and all competing for the couple DOZEN new grad positions offered between all the hospitals on the island.

Nursing schools are a great business as long as your customers don't realize what the job prospects are really like. =p

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