How to find preceptorships in Houston

[homienurse]

Hello fellow nurses and soon to be nurses! I've been wanting to work at the ICU for the longest time but odds are against me. Since I passed my boards, I didn't have any RN experience for the last 5 years. I got my BSN degree from the Philippines, so I don't really know much of anybody as far as networking goes. To reactivate my license, I need to complete a refresher course with clinicals. I thought, since I don't have any experience, my preceptorship rotation would affect where I get hired. I've moved close to TMC district and was hoping to get in on one of the hospitals there, but the refresher course I was thinking of taking requires the participants to have a verbal commitment from a clinical site prior to enrolling in the course.

My thought was to get in and volunteer at Methodist hospital to get my foot in the door, since their volunteer assignment opportunities offer ICU and ER, and gives me a chance to familiarize myself with the area and how the average day in those units look like (and maybe to network in the duration of my volunteer assignment). Or if not, then any hospital where I can get preceptorships would work. But I wanted to do volunteer services while completing the refresher course, and hopefully finish in time so I can apply for graduate nurse residencies that start on fall semester. Any advice how to look for preceptorships in TMC? Also, what are your honest thoughts regarding me aiming to work for one of the hospitals there, is it impossible with my situation, highly unlikely or just not worth a shot at this time until I get RN experience? Any thoughts?

My resume is bad due to not having RN experience for the last 5 years, but like any industry, I want to be able to show my performance first and get hired from there, no matter how difficult that might be.

TLDR; Is it possible to find preceptorships in TMC district? Where do I start looking for them?

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

Contact the nursing education departments at the facilities that interest you. They coordinate all student rotations as well as the residency programs. Honestly, I doubt whether volunteer experience would have any value because volunteers do not engage in any clinical tasks at all.

I would also encourage you to become actively involved in the Houston chapter of the Philippine Nurse Association. It's a very actgive group. They can provide you with expert guidance and assistance.