Do you want to be jobless after nursing school? I didn't think so...

Nursing Students Technicians

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We all hear the horror stories of fresh nursing grads who can't find jobs after school. Well, I don't want to be one of those people and I thought I'd share the steps I have taken as of now and for the future to hopefully prevent that from occuring:

I got my CNA license last October but haven't found a job because I wanted to focus more on acing my prerequisites. After having finished all my classes this past Fall 2013 semester, I got a job at my local community college as a student assistant, at the very school I applied for nursing school.

After my first semester of nursing school, I plan on applying to a hospital as a Patient Care Technician (I am qualified for this because I previously got my CNA license), and I will be even MORE qualified because I will have completed the "Nursing Fundamentals" course. The experience from this class combined with the clinicals will be very good.

While at the hospital, I will network with the nurses and staff (hopefully unit managers, too), and let them know how serious I am about my motivation, career goals, and ambition.

After getting my RN license, I will immediately apply to my local university's RN-BSN bridge program....... The catch is that I will still do PCT work undercover (to make sure I get some money).

Once I get my BSN, I should have absolutely no problem finding a nursing job, right?

I'm graduating my pct course, taken while wait listed for Bsn, and our program is basically nursing fundamentals, with EKG,phlebotomy which was the phlebotomy tech course, and we did Foleys, enemas, NG tubes, wound care including surgical tech basics, etc. as a pct I was doing more in my clinicals than the rn students. I feel I'm ready for nursing now more so with the pct training.

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What about those who graduated ASN and enrolled in BSN program right after? can they get hired?

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What about those who graduated ASN and enrolled in BSN program right after? can they get hired?

You know, I was thinking the same thing. I think some employers may like to see that, but would still prefer someone who already has a BSN. So, I guess it will take significantly more effort to find a place that will hire someone under those circumstances.

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You know, I was thinking the same thing. I think some employers may like to see that, but would still prefer someone who already has a BSN. So, I guess it will take significantly more effort to find a place that will hire someone under those circumstances.

Im getting certified in a week for CNA and i wanted to get my asn then my bsn in a few years. im letting my old credits expire so they wont factor into my new grades. im 23 so the student i was at 18-21 is not the person i am now and going into the future. i dont have any kids or husband so hopefully I will be able to pursue my dreams. I'm worried that if I wait until I am in my 30s or 40s to go back I wont get hired due to age

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Im getting certified in a week for CNA and i wanted to get my asn then my bsn in a few years. im letting my old credits expire so they wont factor into my new grades. im 23 so the student i was at 18-21 is not the person i am now and going into the future. i dont have any kids or husband so hopefully I will be able to pursue my dreams. I'm worried that if I wait until I am in my 30s or 40s to go back I wont get hired due to age

Omg you're young! I'm 22... I wouldn't worry

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But yes. Definitely finish schooling now

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Specializes in hospice.
i dont have any kids or husband so hopefully I will be able to pursue my dreams. I'm worried that if I wait until I am in my 30s or 40s to go back I wont get hired due to age

Wow. Well, I guess now that I've reached the decrepit age of 39 and made the mistake of getting married and having children, I should just forget any other schooling.

Do any of you youngsters ever realize just how insulting you sound sometimes? :sour:

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Wow. Well, I guess now that I've reached the decrepit age of 39 and made the mistake of getting married and having children, I should just forget any other schooling.

Do any of you youngsters ever realize just how insulting you sound sometimes? :sour:

It's okay....I'm decrepit at 39 too. ;) Would it have been easier to finish young? Sure. Single mom with four kids sounds much more challenging than the single 18 year old I was the first time around. But here's the deal: I'm a lot more motivated and have more common sense than I did back then. I study better and I take my writing very seriously. I graduated with a 3.8 despite some very difficult circumstances. I'm a much more valuable candidate now than I would have been when I was young. That being said, I seriously doubt a prospective employer would deny me a position based on my age.

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i dont have any kids or husband so hopefully I will be able to pursue my dreams. I'm worried that if I wait until I am in my 30s or 40s to go back I wont get hired due to age

I voiced this fear to one of my instructors a few weeks ago. Her take on it was that as a DON she would rather have a mature employee with a little life experience in her tool kit. She said that she has seen very young new nurses get out there in the field and then decide that nursing is not for them. It costs an employer dearly to train someone who ends up leaving.

You know, 30s and 40s isn't old at all.

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Specializes in Med Surg, PCU, Travel.
I've never heard of phlebotomy certification as a requirement for PCT...

You are right, I got a PCT job! with just CNA :) I actually only just got my CNA like a few weeks ago. One of the biggest factors the employer said they hired me was because I'm getting my BSN.

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Specializes in ICU.

As a decrepit person of 38, I can say that employers love people in their 30's and 40's. We have work experience and lots of it. We are more mature and are not in our 20's anymore making young twenty-something mistakes. Maybe I won't have nursing experience when I graduate, but I do have 15 years of retail experience in dealing with crabby people, 10 years of that 15 in management so I can effectively work with people and know how to handle them. I am experienced in how to treat people and get good outcomes when it comes to satisfaction. I have also been a SAHM so I know what it means to be up taking care of someone for 24 hours on end and not bat an eye. So I actually think I bring more to the table than unexperienced, twenty-somethings who have never had a job or really dealt with the public before. A nurse wears many different hats. They don't just pass meds and answer call lights.

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As a decrepit person of 38, I can say that employers love people in their 30's and 40's. We have work experience and lots of it. We are more mature and are not in our 20's anymore making young twenty-something mistakes. Maybe I won't have nursing experience when I graduate, but I do have 15 years of retail experience in dealing with crabby people, 10 years of that 15 in management so I can effectively work with people and know how to handle them. I am experienced in how to treat people and get good outcomes when it comes to satisfaction. I have also been a SAHM so I know what it means to be up taking care of someone for 24 hours on end and not bat an eye. So I actually think I bring more to the table than unexperienced, twenty-somethings who have never had a job or really dealt with the public before. A nurse wears many different hats. They don't just pass meds and answer call lights.

I agree, Heather (we are the same age). I spent a total of 11 years working with people in an accounting position, which included much customer service. I was a waitress for two years as well while working my accounting job. I then stayed at home raising four kids and volunteering in their schools, and I even taught at one of the schools for two years. I passed NCLEX in March and am now applying for positions. I found a great position in a unit in a hospital in which I did my last clinical rotation. I reached out to my former professor, who had been the manager of said unit for a long time. She said she would write me a letter of recommendation, but that the unit I wanted would not hire me. Apparently she had vouched for two students from my school who were hired and quit within six months, and now said hospital won't hire graduates from my school into this unit. While I understand and respect the hospital's action from a cost/benefit perspective, I am frustrated that they will not take a chance on me due to two twenty-somethings who decided it was okay to quit a specialty position after orientation. I may not be a crusty bat nurse yet, but I'm a crusty bat mom/human, and when I commit to something, I give it everything. I can't say I necessarily would have without the life experience I have.

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