Does it really matter what nursing school you graduated from?

Stephalump · Mar 9, 2013

If you had hundreds of new nurses to choose from for one position, who would you be more willing to gamble on? Someone from a school you've heard of and had great past experiences with, or someone from a school you've had poor/no experiences with?

In this job market. I absolutely believe if matters where you go to school. The "best" place in some areas could be a rinky-dink community college that the hospitals love or an Ivy League four year university. It really just depends.

At my clinical site almost EVERY nurse I've worked with/met has graduated from my school or sister schools. I honestly didn't expect that, but apparently the area thinks we're putting out good nurses, so they keep hiring us.

zoe92 · Mar 9, 2013

Yes in this economy, employers can choose however they want, whether it be the level of education a new grad has or even which school they attended.

traveljunkie · Mar 9, 2013

I find that most hospitals, if having to choose from hundreds of new nurses tend to go with the ones they like and can connect with.

RBlucky · Mar 9, 2013

I think they do. In my area, there is a 4 year university and a junior college that tend to get hired first, because the programs turn out solid new grads. The ones who come from the career colleges, at least in this area, tend to be weaker. I don't think I work with any nurses who came from any of them. That being said, if you wow your preceptor during clinicals and hustle, you could probably turn that into a job, no matter where you came from.

SunshineDaisy, ASN, RN · Mar 9, 2013

From what I have heard around here, yes, it does matter. The hospitals around my area love my school because we have a ton more clinical time than others, so we have a lot more experience. Do they hire from other schools? Yes, but, from what I have heard, if there was a choice they'd pick our students over others.

StudentOfHealing · Mar 9, 2013

During a clinical I was to follow the charge nurse and the nurse told the charge ... "there's a student nurse here to follow you"... her response "They're not from UTMB are they?" .... when the nurse told her the community college I was from she said "sure sure... love those students".

She's had some bad experiences with UTMB ... but she should not discredit all UTMB students but hey .... what can I do?

RunnerRN2015, ASN, RN · Mar 9, 2013

The HR rep at the hospital system I work in said that first and foremost they rank graduates from where they graduated. My school is the first school on the list, then they rank by GPA, if we already work in the system, references, etc.

roxy2013 · Mar 10, 2013

I appreciate everyone's response. I guess I need to be more grateful for getting excepted to one of the great schools in my community.

akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P · Mar 10, 2013

I think that on a local level, it does matter where you went to school. The facilities all have preferences about which schools they like based on previous experience with students from those schools. If they're not dealing with local grads, they'll just have to go by your educational background (ADN or BSN or whatever) and whether or not you're licensed.

So far, I've noticed that facilities really like certain schools... and I'm in a program that most seem to like. It's entirely and completely due to those that came before me. I hope to leave that legacy for those that follow me, even if I don't get hired locally.

Swellz · Mar 10, 2013

I'm graduating from a well-respected nursing school this May. When I tell people where I go, they are always impressed, but there are a lot of good schools in my are so I don't know how much advantage I have. The only time I have ever heard anyone say they would not hire someone from a certain school was at a job fair. She felt nurses from that particular school were just not as well prepared, and didn't hire them if she had other applicants. That being said, I currently work with someone that graduated from that school and I think she is one of the better young nurses on our floor!