Finding job with Associate Degree

If you are contemplating RN school, go for your Bachelors. The nursing market in NY is very competive right now, it seems NYC hospitals are preferring BSN graduates.

It depends where you live, it is true that adn's having trouble finding jobs in NYC but elsewhere in NY its a very different story. I am graduating in may with my adn and expect to have a job lined up in the next few months. More then half of the grads from my program where hired for may by december last year. I live in corning ny if that helps. I think it is just bigger citys such as NYC that adns have trouble finding work, so I would say if you live in a smaller city like me go for your adn first then you can actually be working in the field as an RN while completing your bsn :)

Thing to remember about NYC is that increasingly private hospitals are a dying breed. In their place the ones left standing are all part of healthcare systems such as Continuum Health Partners, North Shore/LIJ and so forth. When one of these systems makes a decision regarding nursing staff it can affect several hospitals and or other facilites.

For instance NS/LIJ annouced it will "soon" require all new hires to either have their BSN or complete the degree within five years of hire. http://www.northshorelij.com/NSLIJ/New+Nurses+Required+to+Get+Bachelors+Degree

North Shore runs quite *allot* of hospitals and other healthcare facilites, so this decision has the potential for major impact. Consider Staten Island where there is only one undergrad BSN program (Wagner College), with the rest (The College of Staten Island, St. Paul's) ADN schools. CSI does have a highly respected RN to BSN program but that may be of little use if it's grads aren't hired to begin with.

I graduated from an ADN program in NYC this past spring, and recently began my first job at Manhattan hospital. There are hospitals that will hire ADNs, but, as with the rest of the economy, you have to put in a good amount of effort and networking to get in front of someone who can make things happen.

In speaking with other people in my class who have found jobs, we have all begun RN-to-BSN programs (both online and classroom programs) and we all found our positions through networking - volunteering, mentors, etc...