ADN's

[JRich]

Hi everyone!

I am currently living in Texas (I hate it here), and have always wanted to move to California. I got my ADN in Minnesota, took my NCLEX in North Dakota, and then moved to Texas. I have worked in cardiac for 8 months and am working on a year in NICU. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas about how the job market was for RN with the ADN instead of BSN. I am hoping that my work experience will help me out some. I do not want to stay in Texas. It isn't my cup of tea here. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

Honestly, BSNs are preferred. Most places are Magnet or Magnet wanna-bes...even non-hospital settings are looking for the BSN.

That being said, it is very possible to be hired with a ADN--I was. The fact that you have experience will help you out. If you have any certifications on top of that, that will help more. And if you're in a RN-BSN program, that will also help.

Also, where you look may make a difference. SoCal, SF and the coast are all highly saturated with nurses both new and experienced. From what I've heard, northern and inland CA often offer more job opportunities.

Last, if at all possible, don't move out here unless you have an official job offer in hand. CA is an expensive state to live in, and unless you have family that you could stay with and help subsidize some of the costs of living, you could quickly burn through your savings while looking for work.

Good luck!

[ashleyrosesf]

Definitely work on getting into an RN-BSN program as soon as possible. I'm confident part of the reason I was hired in the new grad program as an ADN was because of the above. Nearly all hospitals want BSNs (it doesn't mean anything in the real world, but we just have to play the game for now!)

If I were you, I would make a spreadsheet with "1st choice", "2nd choice", and "3rd choice" hospitals you want to work for out here with the numbers of HR and the nurse recruiters names (if you have them. If you don't, call and ask.) Then start calling! If you can afford to, come out here and ask if you can do an informational interview to see what the hospital is like. In my experience nurse recruiters and hiring managers are both impressed you have the guts to ask *and* want to get a sense of who you are.