Advice pls! New grad2b-daughter's cancer treatment

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Hi there,

I will be graduating with my ADN in late September. I have a Bachelor's in Business as well....this is a career change from me. I am going from aerospace auditing, project mgmt, planning, procurement, quality fields to Nursing. I have a bit of a stressful situation I would love advice on....

My daughter was diagnosed with ALL during my fundamentals class. She is still in treatment and will be until 2018 late Summer-ish. She will then have at a minimum 5 years of follow up along with the life altering side effects she has currently and may acquire more in future. We unfortunately had to switch hospitals for 6 weeks due to insurance and it was hell....the other facility committed many errors and her health was impacted. We moved to WI w/in weeks to get her back to her treating hospital. Therein lies my problem....I am not willing to take another "chance" on a different hospital so I need my first job to have insurance that allows for her to continue care at her current facility, UW-AFCH in WI.

Since I will have my ADN and NOT A BSN I am unsure if I will be able to be hired by UW. My clinical work has been done in IL, all my references are in IL and while the job market for me looks super wonderful at my clinical sites they are NOT affiliated with her hospital and would want her to go to Chicago instead. My question is does anyone know how the job market is around Madison for new grads? Do any hospitals in Madison allow for care at UW for pediatric oncology? Has anyone here worked for UW with only an ADN? I am fully committed to continuing my education as soon as I find a job, plan on starting within 6 months of employment for sure. I plan on pursuing my BSN at UW and then eventually moving on to my Master's.

ALSO what is the polite way to find this information? Bottom line for me is her insurance unfortunately. I really would love to work in PICU, critical care float team, NICU, or LDR....however I know that generally they want experience. I also think PACU, hematology, oncology would be great areas. BUT knowing the insurance situation I know I can't be picky, and as a new grad I know I cannot be super picky. My daughter's health crisis has not affected my performance at school or in clinical sites. I have been able to do very well and still get her to appointments, treatments, and inpatient stays. I don't want prospective employers to worry about me being a bad candidate due to being a mother of a cancer fighter...but I also need to find out from any prospective employer about insurance for pediatric hem/onc which is a bit of a giveaway to the situation.

Sorry if my post is a bit rambling....I really am looking for honest advice that would be helpful to this unique situation of ours. Tks to all!

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Sorry to hear about your daughter's diagnosis. I hope treatment is uneventful for her.

Granted, it's been a while since looking for work, particularly in Madison, but I know it can be hard as a new grad there. There are four schools of nursing within the city, and three out of four of them are BSN programs. Employers in the city tend to pay more than other parts of Wisconsin as well, so that attracts more nurses from outlying areas to work there. The AFCH is also affiliated with the UW, so it stands to reason they prefer BSNs.

I wouldn't say it's impossible but it may be hard. But like I mentioned, I don't know what the current hiring trends are. I do know that Milwaukee is always hiring new grads. Over half of my graduating class took jobs there.

Good luck.

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Specializes in kids.

Best to your daughter, there are strides being made everyday in pedi oncology!

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Specializes in Maternal - Child Health.

Have you considered continuing your current employment until your daughter finishes her treatment?

My very best to you and your family.

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