What are your plans as a RN?

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I don't know if it's only me seeing/reading these posts here like "I don't know what to do", "I can't find a job", "looking for work several years with no experience", etc. It is sad to say that dreams of going abroad to the US will be halted for several years. I am not even sure if the 5 years would be enough. It could be even more. As I have been observed here and from my colleagues, taking the NCLEX, CFGNS, IELTS, has been like a mandatory for them to take not knowing the real scenario ahead.

I have been doing some thinking lately that there should be something done or information being spread to BSN graduates. I think with the cooperation of everybody especially Filipino RNs in the US can contribute. If it takes a sticky with bold capital letters saying retrogression is on going. I think it can be done for starters. It is really unfortunate to hear such remarks from fellow colleagues who are losing hope and distracted in their nursing career. Appropriate Nursing diagnosis would be Knowledge Deficient. Anybody feels the same way? Do you have any more ideas?

For those nursing students, newly BSN graduates, RNs with or without experience, please let us know your short term or long term concrete plans. Any plans you have in mind, post it here. I know a lot of people here are willing to give information or guide you in achieving those plans.

HEYO! Passed NLE last June 2008, still applying as either volunteer nurse/nurse, reviewing for IELTS now and planning to take the exam next month and applying ANSC. By the way Sally22, I read your posts and want to ask you about them but I cannot seem to PM you since this is my first post. But I just want to know from someone if you pass test a and test b, will they help you find a job in Aust? Please let me know. Thank you.

I'm currently a company nurse at SM Mall but my contract will expire in 2 days. Compensation is way higher than in the hospital but very limited skills and knowledge are learned. Passed the IELTS while working. This is my first job as an RN (March '08 grad) and the only job application that got a call from an employer out of the numbers of CVs I passed. I just accepted an eco-tourism job offered to me (I'm a sucker for travelling) and I plan to take the CNRE and NCLEX while on it (I can't afford to do volunteer work) . After I pass those by early 2010, I will apply for Canada or US while I will finally become a real nurse and work at the Phil. Heart Center.

Specializes in school,neonatal,homehealth.

very interesting wahine888, good thing that the lack of hospital opportunities in our country didn't stop you from working as a nurse. i myself started as a school nurse, did 2 volunteer work, one in the province and one in manila, and during that time processed my nclex which i passed, thank God, and with the retro, now i'm into business and plan to take my masters and hopefully apply for NZ...

i believe that there are a lot of things we can do in this field, we just need patience and hardwork..

i salute you guys for working hard... and having a plan i the first place...

:p

Thanks JST3! I am close to giving up my career and getting a non-nursing job for the sake of earning income. I've decided to take up hospital training since I felt frustrated after being attempting an IV insertion and failed. I am planning to take up the international nursing exams, local hospital training and do business on the side like you.

Specializes in school,neonatal,homehealth.

Oh that's great, goodluck to you ok?! we can make it...:p

Your mobility capabilities as nurses are impressive!

I'm still unemployed. I'm currently on Plan X and nearing Plan Z by the minute because Plans A-W didn't work. I've passed the exams (which are expiring next year!), signed a contract (US), got 3 months volunteer work...tried applying for Saudi Arabia for a full year and a half-- to no avail.. and now, I don't know anymore. I guess I'll just go and eat sand soon.

Specializes in school,neonatal,homehealth.

oh no, dont give up... it'll come around... well, with the retro going on in the US, just renew your license if it's expiring then while waiting, try to do some other stuff like study for your masters, do business, work in the community... they say you can apply at the city hall or local office of the DOH... you can also do admin work at some schools of nursing like guiding students with their RLE cases and scheduling review classes (coz i saw some upper batch in my school before doing that after graduation) or you can be a reviewer local or for nclex.. start with some of your friends or some referrals where you can do it at home and charge them at a price lower than the review centers, i think you can do that, like tutoring them? but for the hospitals, browse through other threads here for openings as volunteer,staff,trainee...for other countries, well as far as i know, saudi is open for those who don't have experience(so keep on trying), dubai and singapore at least 3 years of experience, canada needs bridging program, NZ and australia need to go through classes too so gotta have some budget for that and of course it all depends on their assessment of your credentials... cheer up! patience and hard work will pay off..

best of luck namurit!

It's so sad to know that there are thousands of hopeful nurses who are left unemployed in our country, out on a limb as to whether to pursue the practice or not . We cannot blame some of them if they decide to leave nursing as their profession just to seek greener pasture on the other fields. With the increasing volume of nursing students and grads (most of the schools are focusing on the quantity rather than the quality of nursing today), I am pretty sure, the quality of professional nursing is declining.

I'm a Filipino RN here in the USA. I want to tell everyone that in our hospital, there are still new nurses arriving on different units here from the Philippines as of this writing. Retrogression could be an issue but there are still a lot of ways that a nurse can come here though. I suggest you need to read and learn more about the US visa processing for the nurses yourself rather than relying on the agencies, or heresays circulating around. It pays a lot to know this.

I am working in coronary intensive care unit, catering post open-heart surgery patients. I enjoy and love my job so much. Since I am the only Asian in our unit, I am looking forward that a qualified Filipino nurse will join our team someday...

Just a piece of advise fellows, for those aspiring to work in the US, you need to be knowledgeable and well-skilled enough to work with the Americans. You will be considered an "international nurse" once you arrived here, and they are expecting a lot from you. Right now, America is also producing a lot of new nurses these days and more americans are changing careers to nursing as well. With this challenging time, employers may tend to hire locally inasmuch as possible, however they are still looking for more quality nursing, hence they hire nurses from other countries. This is where we come into the picture, employers are expecting us to be better than what is available on their country. All things considered, it is a shame not to meet their expectations in return.

A Filipino nurse is confident with what he is doing. To acquire this confidence on nursing knowledge and skills you need to have continuous nursing practice (if permitted), various trainings and certificates (especially if you are planning to work in an intensive care unit) and boundless personal effort (perseverance, I should say) to take abreast with the latest in nursing technology. Here in the US, nursing is very autonomous ( I really like it ) yet risky; thus requiring you to have an advance and well-established critical thinking. Start boosting your confidence right to where you are right now, keep your pace and think about growing, don't get satisfied with the wonted things. Nursing is fast evolving, get rid of the mediocrities and run-of-the-mills!

Filipino nurses are still the best in the world. Aim high and enjoy being part of the circle.

With all the issues surrounding our nursing pathway, we all need diligence and hard work, needless to say the habit of asking Divine intervention in whatever endeavor we are into.

Edited by traumarus - English only please

i had a great time reading all your plans as an rn.

i know this was really a tough time for us because we are affected

indirectly by the global crisis.

for me, i have nothing as to compare with you guys.:cry:

i am just a fresh bsn graduate. still more time, money and efforts

to make before reaching the desired dreams.

i haven't took yet the board last june but i graduated april of 2009.

maybe i just want to make sure that everything goes fine before taking

the board.

i want a board rating that is somehow acceptable to me. a board rating that is not so

inferior like 75% but a rating that is somehow qualified

and competitive enough to meet the demands

of most hospital.

as i continue to read all the blog post, i found out that the competition for

job application in most of the hospitals are stiff.

in fact, some of them requires a candidate to have a board rating not below

80% in board rating. some are really hopeless waiting for the phone calls

for their application notification. as the story goes,

i was really shocked and gradually felt the fear of not getting it.

i have lots of plan. with the preparation before the november 2009 nle, i know i will make

it! despite of the fact that we have already an over supply of rn's who

are all eager to grab the much desired jobs.

maybe while waiting for the board result, i'l go for

call center work. if the results released, i'll go for training and will attend various seminars.

although thinking that the competition are quite

unfair as other job applicants will have a backer, still i will compete fairly.:crying2:

if for an instance i will be hired in a tertiary hospital, i will spent my time

around 1 year or more as a registered nurse while

taking up masteral degree.

then once finished, i will apply as a nurse in foreign countries.

i know myself that this plan will change as there are some shifts or

changes in the global world.

but one thing for sure, i am ready to conquer the world!

bwahahahaha.......:lol2:

greetings fellow nurses! its a great thing i came upon this site, VERY VERY VERY enlightening indeed...!

i graduated march 2008, passed the NLE last November. already certified in BLS and 1st aid.. and im done with 2 months of volunteer work at a government hospital in Baguio. right now, i plan on taking IVT training, and review for IELTS.

and then.... after this there;s a big question mark. man, the situation here is really quite depressing! ( but luckily i came upon this site, helped me boost my morale and my faith in my chosen career! :) )

i love being a nurse, i really do. but with my mere two months of VOLUNTEER work, i found out that the compensation that i get from the service i do is indeed great motivation. by compensation i mean financially, because aside from that i have no complaints. i mean, i paid P3000 for MY volunteer work. it got to me in the end... and i badly want to EARN MY OWN MONEY! i want to give back something to my parents somehow.. im 21 and asking for allowance is HUMILIATING *sigh*...

then again, reading these posts, i guess i have no other choice but stick with volunteer work until i get absorbed as staff nurse. gather nursing experience ( 2 - 3 years worth ) in a tertiary hospital, hopefully i will pass the IELTS.. then guys, we'll see each other in canada, australia, new zealand or wherever.. :)

GOD BLESS TO US ALL!

Specializes in Med/Surg, Nurse Educator..

I like the post.I hope nursing students, newly grads especially well experienced nurses (clinical. academe, admin.)will take part for this and give such info's about the reality of nursing nowadays'. Sad but true.Nursing is a constant practice, cont.education. :)

Specializes in OB, Peds, Med Surg and Geriatric Nsg.

I had a LOT of plans when I was still in nursing school in Cebu.

Some of those plans did happen, some didn't.

I was lucky enough to get in by being a volunteer nurse in a public labor and delivery hospital. Was still waiting for my June 2007 NLE results. Luckily, I passed with just 1 take. Then continued volunteering since it's the only way I could practice nursing. When a vacancy opened at the said hospital, I got hired. And it was the HAPPIEST moment of my life. To do everything that nurses do, get paid Php 450 ($8) per 12 hours of duty and be able to chart interventions at patient's chart. Unfortunately, it was only for 3 months since I was just a contractual staff. I went back to volunteering in the said hospital for another 6 months and had been attending review classes for NCLEX. I quit volunteering to do private nursing. Didn't stayed long since the patient's family are HORRIBLE. I decided to do IV Training instead. Left for the US and took the NCLEX for the 1st time. I failed it.

I was a fresh grad and had the tendency to stay focused and just try to practice nursing with or without pay. It's nice to be able to share knowledge to fellow colleagues and learn at the same time. I wanna know all the techniques that could be helpful for my patients. We tend to be hyper.

Though when I failed the NCLEX, it was HEARTBREAKING. It wasn't a part of my plan. Not being able to work on the profession that I loved the most for almost a year now was horrifying. So, I'm trying my best to be back on track and be focused. I could feel that I'm losing my nursing knowledge day after day.

Don't let your failures hold you back and just give up. Let them be a reason for you to be back on track.

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