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Discussion

Advice for new grads

I have advice for new grad nurses. If you want to work in a specialty area, even try it at some point in the future, do it ASAP. Either try to specialize right out of school, or do it after only 1-2 years of med/surg.

I have over 10 years of RN experience, and can not switch specialties. They are hiring new grads into these areas. Or they want someone with more than 3 years in the specialty area. So, my experience is not only worth nothing, but works against me. I am worse off than a new grad. Yes I can get hired in something I have experience in, but that is not what I want.

I had always thought that nursing would be such a great career choice, that there are so many specialty areas I could try. I would have never thought that I would be stuck in one area or nothing. It's a shame that nurse recruiters have blacklisted nurses with experience to switch specialty areas.

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    Wow great to know. Thank you!

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    But don't turn down jobs either. The job market is not great in some areas. It's better to be non specialized than to become an old new grad

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    No, they shouldn't turn down a job as a new grad either. But after that golden first year of med/surg, go for what you want to be doing. Otherwise, the nurses that have been taking care of adults? Stuck taking care of adults.

    I do believe that I can be accepted to a Masters program to become a Certified Nurse Midwife, or Neonatal Nurse Practitioner. Yet I can not be hired into Labor and Delivery, Mother/Baby, or NICU as a Registered Nurse. How is that right?

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    Thank you so much for the advice. As a new graduate myself, I've actually wondered and worried about this exact topic. I feel cynical for having this mindset as a new grad, but I'm already having a hard time deciding which positions or graduate nurse programs to apply for because I fear that I'll be stuck working that specialty for the rest of my nursing career. For example, I don't particularly want to work in peds, but if I were offered a job (which has been difficult for me to find) in pediatrics, I'd have a hard time saying no. Nursing school always emphasized how we can be flexible and change specialties at a drop of a dime. Guess this is easier said than done, wish this weren't true :(

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    IMO, it is amazingly shortsighted if an organization does not support/encourage experienced nurses who want to move into a different specialty. This is a relatively low cost but incredibly effective mechanism for retaining valuable tenured staff. It also increases job satisfaction because it provides a form of career growth for staff nurses that does not require them to move away from the bedside.

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    I too am finding it is difficult to switch specialties. I would like a different pace than what I have now, but get rejected from specialties other than my own for not having two years in that particular specialty. It is an auto rejection generated by a computer. Therefore good candidates are never even making it in front of recruitment due to preset filters in the computerized application system. It is unfortunate.

    However, new grads can NOT be picky. If you don't get a job...ANY job....in that golden first year, you age out of eligibility pretty much all together. Apply for everything. ICU Stepdown may not be my dream specialty but unemployment is definitely worse by far.

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