ADN student feeling discouraged and seeking advice from working RN's

[rubyagnes]

Hello everyone~!

I am about to enter into an RN program at the Community College of Baltimore County in Maryland. When I graduate I will have an ADN. I'm pretty excited about starting the program, but also discouraged that many hospitals are preferring to hire new grads with a Bachelors over Associates. I would have to take at least one more semester of pre-reqs to be eligible to apply for the Bachelors programs in my area, and now that I've been accepted into the ADN program I just feel like I should go for it. (I've been taking prereqs for almost two excruciating years now! Taking more pre-reqs over starting the ADN program would be like pulling teeth...)

What can I do while I'm in school to give me an edge? Should I look into Student Nursing Jobs? Do Student Nurses usually get paid or is it more like an internship? Or tech positions? Would I have to get specific certification to be eligible for tech positions?

I would want to get a position that has limited and flexible hours, so I don't stray too far from my school work, but would also be worth the experience and a resume builder.

Should I wait until my first semester is done and then try to get a temp CNA job over the summer? Or are Student Nurse or Tech positions better? I'm thinking some experience would be good for my resume, but I don't know what direction to go in... I currently work as a nanny and have a prior Bachelor's in fine art, so I really don't have any reputable clinical experience at all

Living in Baltimore, I'm surrounded by lots of hospitals, but I also feel really lost as to how to prepare myself for all of this. It would be such a disappointment to complete the RN program and not be able to even get my foot in the door, so I figure I should start thinking about it *now*!

Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated! THANK YOU! :)

[rubato, ASN, RN]

I'm graduating with my ADN in May and will bridge to BSN in August. I just got hired as a CNA at a hospital and they also interviewed me for a future RN position. They want to make sure I am going to enroll in a BSN program or they won't hire me for the RN job. They have tuition reimbursement, which is fantastic!

[Ceece]

I’m in the same situation. I’m hoping to start an ADN program at the CC in the spring of 2014, but the outlook for nurses seems bleak. In my area, we have a few teaching hospitals that will hire new grads, but I’ll be competing with the BSN grads from the Universities. I would go straight for the BSN, but the cost difference between the University and the CC is almost triple. So, getting my ADN and then going into the bridge program at the University seems to be my most economical choice. I’m just hoping I can find a job with my ADN while doing the bridge program for the BSN.