An extremely confused new grad

Double-Helix, BSN, RN · Aug 16, 2011

Honestly, at this point in the economy, take whatever job you can get. After you have worked for awhile, you'll learn what you like and dislike about nursing. You can try new areas and find a specialty that best suits you. Some people know their niche right away. Others never find one, but work in a variety of areas and are just as satisfied with their career.

dudette10, MSN, RN · Aug 16, 2011

In general, I agree with others who say take any job if you absolutely have to get a job quickly. The economy is baaaaad. If you feel you have some time (but not too much...you don't want to become an "old new grad"), think about where you want your career to be in 10 years.

We had a speaker in school who told us to plan our careers. That may seem logical, but so many do not do it. When the speaker left, our instructor told us that she derailed her career aspirations with a lack of planning, and she was a nurse of 30 years! Apparently, she still didn't have it on track to where she wanted to be, and she lamented that it was "too late now."

I'm not trying to scare anyone, but if you have a good, realistic idea of where you want to go, start on that path as soon as possible after graduating. I chose my specialty because it allows me to go to a more critical area AND to a less critical area, giving me many opportunities to change specialties if I want to. I got into my specialty through working hard in school, networking, and sheer luck. Some planning went into it too, including taking NCLEX as quickly as possible after graduation to get a head start on all the other May grads. It worked.

Spydered · Aug 17, 2011

I think at this point ....you go where the jobs are

With the current economic climate, I agree with this ^^^...:) After a year or two then start looking for the specialty that you want...Good Luck...:)