I precept a lot of nurses during their med surg clinicals and for capstone/preceptorships.
The other day, a student doing a clinical day was talking with her professor and other nurses about prospective jobs after graduation. She was talking about how much she hates the med surg environment (except apparently when it progresses her towards a nursing license) and listing off some very attractive 9-5 clinic jobs she is going to pursue.
It was pointed out that most of the jobs she noted require experience and she said, "Yeah, but I have worked in a group home for 15 years. I do all the things the nurses do and know way more than them anyway, so that is better than having two years of med surg experience."
While group homes do provide valuable experience, there is no substitute for licensed nursing experience.
I sort of wrote her off and was very thankful she was not my student. Given her attitude, I would refuse to allow her anywhere near my patients. A student who thinks she knows everything (hell anyone who thinks they know everything) is a very dangerous caregiver.
depends on where you ultimately want to work. Not everyone needs hospital experience beyond school/clinicals per se, especially now that nursing in the US is trending more toward community care and budgets are shrinking for acute care/hospital-based. personally i would have lasted about an hour working in med-surg, or any hospital job really; i just don't have the temperament for it and my hat is off to anyone who can stand the insanely hectic pace of acute care.
i'm much better suited to community and clinic-based nursing; since graduating i've worked in a rehab hospital and a walk-in clinic and now i work in sub-acute rehab; i've not had any trouble getting those jobs without acute care/hospital experience.
That's true, but if somebody does want to do clinical nursing why not start where you see a myriad of conditions? Of course it's different if you know where you want to work. Personally, I too want to do community and clinic-based nursing but I still think I want to get at least 2 years of med/surge under my belt to have experience so I don't close doors for the future. I guess I feel I still need to knowledge :)
The truth is, at least around my neck of the woods, she'll be very lucky if she can even FIND a med/surg position as a new grad. They are very few and very far between.
I love those that think a 4.0 in nursing school makes them smarter than everyone else too. I once had a new grad that was in tears on her first real day as an RN with no preceptor. She couldn't figure out why she was struggling, because she had a 4.0 in school
Yeah, real nursing ain't nothing like school, honey...
Yes, it must be so difficult for those people who think that having great academics = success. I like getting As (as does everyone else) but I took it to heart when an instructor said that the A-students make the worst nurses because they are so difficult to teach. They read everything in the book, know everything by the book and then think that's how it should play out in real life. Hah, no -- as much as As are important to me, being a good nurse is siginificantly more important. When we're told, "Learn the book for the NCLEX. Learn what we tell you for the real world." they mean it!!!!
Specializes in Cardiology, Cardiothoracic Surgical.
I'm glad the real world of nursing, while maddening at times, is a lot better than the NCLEX world. The NCLEX world seemed to have few right answers, was overly technical and drove me crazy. At least here in the real world there's resources, occasional obvious answers, and sometimes time to think about it!
I'm seeing one of those former 4.0 students be a nurse in said real world. It's been..interesting.
"Yeah, but I have worked in a group home for 15 years. I do all the things the nurses do and know way more than them anyway, so that is better than having two years of med surg experience."
As a nursing student myself going into into her last semester, hearing stories like these really grinds my gears, as it gives a bad rep for those of us that will be happy with a job after we graduate and know that no matter what that job it is, we will gain experience from it.
I was lucky enough to have clinicals at the place where I work as a pharmacy tech and I have indeed spoken to the right people for a potential job, but I know, by no means, does that guarantee me a job, just because I have been with the company for 5 years. It makes me a strong candidate. Even stronger because I am not particularly finicky with what I get in regards to schedule (nights, days, etc) or specialty.
But again, I know this does not guarantee me a job.
I just wish fellow nursing students like the one you mentioned OP would humble down a little and realize this too. :/
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
"Yeah, but I have worked in a group home for 15 years. I do all the things the nurses do and know way more than them anyway, so that is better than having two years of med surg experience."
That, in itself, says so much about that person.
I'm done. No further comment.
I must have missed that quote -- explains why my computer screen was dry until I read yours.
"Yeah, but I have worked in a group home for 15 years. I do all the things the nurses do and know way more than them anyway, so that is better than having two years of med surg experience."
That, in itself, says so much about that person.
I'm done. No further comment.
If I may, the only thing I can add is, wow, this person has not been paying attention AT ALL during the program.
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Avill, BSN, RN
2 Articles; 384 Posts
That's true, but if somebody does want to do clinical nursing why not start where you see a myriad of conditions? Of course it's different if you know where you want to work. Personally, I too want to do community and clinic-based nursing but I still think I want to get at least 2 years of med/surge under my belt to have experience so I don't close doors for the future. I guess I feel I still need to knowledge :)