How does a recent grad get a 9-5 job/clinic job

Nurses Job Hunt

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Hi,

I am starting the nursing program this fall but I have a lot of questions. Firstly I have scoliosis and I worry that I may not be able to do a lot of lifting and standing for 12 hours at a time. So I figured I would have to get a job in a clinic where the hours are less and there is not much lifting. I'm very passionate to start the program and to be a nurse but I'm concerned how capable I will be for the profession. I get good grades and I love school, I have a 3.5 GPA and I see myself becoming a nurse leader. However, I want to know if I can still be a nurse without working in a hospital. How difficult will it be as a recent graduate to get a clinic job with less hours? What will I have to do to land that job and do I have to have prior experience working in a hospital before I can work in another facility? I appreciate your honest and helpful responses. Thank you.

Specializes in ER.

Very difficult and given the number of new grads, improbable but not impossible.

I regularly look at job postings for my area and most of the doctor office jobs go to LPNs or medical office assistants. Most of the job postings advertise that they accept either or. I know there's an RN that works at the ob/gyn office but she had previous L&D experience.

There are clinics like CHF or the breast cancer clinic, but those positions prefer experience in my area. Pain clinics are usually more open to hiring new nurses although some list 1 year of med-surg. We have a lot of pain clinics in my area.

There is Infection Control which my ex's mom worked in but she was lucky and was hired in because she had a masters of public health and her best friend was the head of Infection Control (they met during a class). Usually they do want experience in Infection Control. As for nursing administration, they usually want experience in those areas too.

I would begin looking at job postings in your area and find out what the offices want. Do they want LPNs? Do they want RNs with a year of med-surg?

Wrench Party

823 Posts

Specializes in Cardiology, Cardiothoracic Surgical.

Not impossible.

1) Have you been cleared medically to start your nursing program? We had to undergo a physical every year, including

psychological testing, to make sure we could withstand the rigors of the program and clinicals. You will be most likely

asked to help lift and boost patients, ambulate them, etc. Floor nursing is physical.

2) Not impossible in my area to find clinic and community health jobs as a new grad. You need a BSN though. Also, be prepared

in the future that without acute care experience, you may miss some job opportunities. There's still a stigma that without

at least a few years in medical surgical bedside nursing, you can't progress into a lot of different fields.

Specializes in ER.

My ex's mom did get a lot of flack for going directly into Infection Control. When I told another nurse that my crazy ex's mom was at that hospital, she asked her name. I wasn't going to tell her but then I did and the instructor made a comment about how a lot of people don't like her due to the lack of experience on the floor and appreciating the demands.

Nonetheless

344 Posts

I think it is okay to start outside the hospital. People can go on and on about how you NEED a year of acute care experience to be considered valuable as a nurse, but they don't take the time to consider the realities of today's new grad job market and the realities of our changing healthcare system. Healthcare is moving OUTSIDE the hospital, and hospitals are needing less and less nurses. Starting in the hospital will open more doors for you, but being able to start in the hospital is not a choice you can make anymore. If you persevere and give yourself 6months to a year to find a job, you will most likely find something outpatient rather than inpatient as a new grad nurse. Whether or not this is a bad thing, time will tell, but realize that hospitals are shrinking and the high-paying highly specialized hospital jobs a nurse could aim for in the past at hospitals are going away.

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