DFW area hiring ADN new grads?

[L6870]

I am looking at going back to school for my degree in Nursing. I already have 2 Bachelors Degrees and was planning on getting my ADN locally at a Community College (Collin College, Brookhaven, El Centro or Northlake) , because financially it is cheaper. After getting my ADN I was going to complete my BSN online since there are plenty of schools in Texas that offer this. I eventually want to work in Newborn Nursery and would take a post-partum, ante-partum, L&D job in Women's Services as a new grad to get my foot in the door.

So in the DFW area, are hospitals hiring new grads without their BSN? What if I were to already be enrolled in a BSN program when I graduate?

I don't want to waste my time getting an ADN when they won't hire me out of school.

Thank you!

[TiffyRN, BSN, PhD]

Probably only if you know someone (have connections). The only ADNs our unit has hired in the last couple of years have had significant connections. Right now, virtually all the new grads have to go through residency which means they are not absolutely guaranteed a specific department, just something in women's services.

But don't get me wrong, having one's BSN is no guarantee, it just ups your chances is all.

My hospital system is one of the few that will still hire non-BSNs into ICU specialties (I know this isn't what you were interested in) but only with connections and only with an agreement that they will finish their BSN within 2 years.

Also, I don't know that in this area there are too many hospitals that employ nurses to work newborn nursery exclusively. Most units employ couplet care and they may or may not have "a" nursery nurse at night, otherwise the care of the infant is with the M/B nurse. Sometimes a non-licensed person will sit in the nursery for the moms that send the infants there but no licensed person. My NICU sometimes has to obs infants that could have been cared for by a nursery nurse but there was not one scheduled that shift.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

There are jobs for ADNs in non-acute care settings, but you will need a BSN to get a job in acute care. PP is correct - in the hospitals with which I am familiar, the old 'newborn' or 'well-baby' nursery is pretty much an outmoded concept. Everyone does couplet care these days, which means that the baby stays with the mom. L & D hospital stays are very short, so this is pretty much the only way that there is sufficient time to provide all the patient education as well as bonding time with the parents.

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

Nope. ADNs are not really getting hired in DFW anymore in acute care, most particularly not in the high demand areas of nursing, which include ICU, NICU, L&D, Postpartum/women's health, ER, OR and pediatrics. The only exception are those in grow-your-own programs or who have inside connections in the hospital already, and as mentioned above, those hired have 2-3 years to obtain BSN and/or certification.

Even with a BSN these days there is huge competition to get into acute care and HUGE competition for the specialties mentioned above. If you want to go into nursing you need to do it with your eyes open that you may very well not be able to work in your specialty of choice until you put in at least 2-3 years in the industry. Even then, switching specialties has gotten harder given the online application process that tosses out any resume that doesn't meet the exact qualifications they are looking for. This is not meant to discourage you, but merely to give you an honest assessment of modern day nursing education. The days of picking a specialty and being able to walk right into it are over. Most people work a job that isn't their first choice and then specialize later on. This means people who really want to work with kids can find themselves working with geriatrics. People who want to deliver babies find themselves doing Med-Surg or telemetry etc etc. It is important you take the possibility of any nursing opening seriously, as 50% of all new grad nurses are still out of work a year after graduation, regardless of degree type.

Good luck whatever you decide.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I agree with the previous posters. They all hit the nail on the head.

In addition, you must be willing to commute to outlying DFW hospitals if the ones in the cities and suburbs are not calling you for interviews. Weatherford Regional, Texoma Medical Center, Wise County Regional, Palo Pinto General Hospital, and other small facilities will be more willing to overlook your lack of a BSN degree.

You must realize that the DFW area is flooded with too many new grads and not enough jobs. The specialties in which you are interested (newborn nursery, post-partum, ante-partum, and L&D) are wildly popular. You, and probably 10,000 other new nurses are interested in relatively few job openings in those specialties, so even the BSNs are not getting their first pick of jobs.

I personally know many newer BSNs who had to spend their first couple of years in nursing working at nursing homes or doing pediatric private duty before the hospitals would offer a job. And then, these nurses were getting offers in general med/surg, ortho, and other low-demand specialties. As an ASN you'll have a tougher time in the DFW job market unless you start networking NOW.