New grad BSN day job (non-hospital) opportunities?

Nursing Students ADN/BSN

Published

I would like to work part-time while also attending school part-time to obtain my nurse practitioner degree. I'm not interested in working at a hospital doing bedside care (not because I don't want to do bedside work but because I have a family and can't work the necessary new-grad BSN hours). I need a day job, part-time. I'm perfectly content with even a very low pay during the years I will be getting my NP degree. Is this possible? What kind of jobs would I be looking at? Again: part-time, BSN new grad, non-hospital, day jobs. Also, I live in Western Wisconsin and do not want to move.

Specializes in Ortho.

Dialysis maybe. I'm in same boat but am working nights. No kids yet

Your opportunities may be limited only because of the fact that you are a new grad and presumably have no nursing experience yet. What about working in a hospital part time, perhaps during the weekends? I realize that you are likely going to have to work a combination of days/evenings/nights, but you might get lucky and pick up a day/evening position. See if any of the ambulatory clinics hire new grads since they are typically only open during the day.

I know this is somewhat off topic, but if you can get a job in the hospital right now while working on your NP degree, I would recommend doing it. I got my BSN and immediately started working full time in a hospital while doing my MSN (NP) part time. I don't know how far along you are in the NP program, but I can tell you from experience that the clinical things you see in a hospital make the advanced things you are learning really make sense. Honestly, I can't imagine doing the NP degree without having any bedside nursing experience. Sure, it's possible to do, but I think you will have a much steeper learning curve once you graduate and start working as an NP.

Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Be sure to investigate the NP programs that interest you. They may have a clinical experience requirement.

Specializes in Outpatient Psychiatry.

Home health, county/state health units, jails/prisons, and clinics all come to mind. Then again, any part-time job that you like will be great for you, and on top of that jobs that are healthcare related but not nursing such as admissions clerks, billing, etc might be obtainable. I've always worked full-time through the BSN program (which included basic RN education), and now into the MSN PMHNP program. I did my obligatory year in a hospital (MSN program required 2,000 hours of experience), got out, and went to work in an office environment that required me to have a RN license. I did that for a year, and now the wife and I are moving to enhance my clinical opportunities in the MSN program and get a new environment. I'm actually taking an intake assessment job at a psychiatric hospital, and after that initial assessment I won't have anymore patient contact. I'm not anti-nursing or anything, clearly. I just much prefer one on one patient-provider interactions without having to worry about what another five to 20 patients are doing.

+ Add a Comment