Can you be a PHN if you are a new grad? - Page 3

This can be found on County of San Diego Website and click on Job and then current job opening. The above position is currently open as of today.

I am a new grad with a BSN. I've applied for a PHN with my county in June, and it takes a long time to hear back. That's how the process is. I have an interview next week for the PHN position I've applied for since June!

I hope i am not violating any posting rules of posting the job posting. If I do Administer pls remove/ edit my post as needed.

In NY, only Bachelors prepared nurses can officially consider themselves Public Health Nurses.
I work for public health department run by the county.
I've been employed there for 8 yrs this January.
Used to be, they wouldn't even consider a nurse with less than 2 years experience in an acute setting.
They hired me 8 yrs ago with only 1.5 yrs experience as a nurse in on a med/surg unit.
I was hired into the Long Term Home Health Care Program, which was mostly case management, and I really could have performed my job better with a BSN (am currently pursuing BSN and can see the benefit).
The problem with public health departments seems to be that the pay is much less than what a nurse can earn in the private sector.

Same in CA -you have to have a BSN and a PHN cert from the BRN. I agree about the pay. One of the reason I left my county PHN job was every year we had pay cuts. The PHNs are now making what they made 10 years ago due to 6% pay cuts every year! I still work as a PHN as I love the job but would not not go back to a county job again.

What do you do as a PHN that is not done in a county setting?

In short, yes a new grad can be hired for a PHN position (as was the case for me). In California, you need to have your BSN and be certified as a PHN or be eligible to apply for the PHN certificate. If applying for a PHN position at the county level, be prepared to wait months or even a year to hear back for an interview. County is notorious for this. I applied for a county position last year and didn't hear back until a year later where I was invited for not one interview, but two. By then, I already had a job working as a PHN so I respectfully declined.