First jobs as nurse?

[Bentleysmama]

Hi everyone! This is my first post on here. I'm a 33 year old preschool teacher back in school for nursing. I'm planning to get my associates first and then, hopefully while working as a nurse, finish up my BSN. I'm a single mom and money is tight already, and I'm a little concerned from everything I've read about actually getting a job once I'm a nurse. It seems like every job requires at least a year experience. Does anyone have any advice on what I can do NOW to help up my chances of actually finding work? Is it as hard to find a job as it seems? Are residency programs something worth pursuing after graduating before anything else? I volunteer for hospice now (ultimately want to either work in hospice or oncology) but absolutely can not afford to give up my salaried teaching job to make $13/hour as a CNA or something similar as I have bills to pay and a child to support etc... I'm near DC and in order to officially start working as a nurse instead of a teacher would need to be making a minimum of $50k starting out. I am totally prepared to do a few years of grunt work before getting into any specialty I'm passionate about, but am honestly worried right now that I'm going to sacrifice my thirties and a lot of money when I'm already struggling to make ends meet...to enter into a field where I'm not going to be able to even find a job. Any advice or reassurance would be very much appreciated. I think I'm just very anxious about making such a bold switch, esp as a single mom, and sometimes I get scared it's not the "smart" choice as far as financial stability/career opportunties go and I'd love a little encouragement :) My huge fear is just putting in all this time and money and then not being able to find a job at the other end of it...and of course the internet is rife with horror stories from new grads who can't find work, so now I'm not sure if finding a job as a new grad is really as bad as some posts make it sound or not. Thanks!

[Destin293]

Whether you land a job after graduation all depends on the candidate you are. I went to school in NYC which is notoriously saturated with new grads. Every person in my graduating ABSN class (13 of us) landed a job within 1 - 9 months of graduation and professors regularly sent out emails stating they had open positions as their hospitals. So don't worry, the jobs are out there. Those that landed a job sooner headed upstate where the market isn't so saturated. Those that took some extra time all landed positions at hospitals in the city...including one in the PICU at a very well known hospital. But everyone was employed with a year post grad. However, it is an absolute MUST that you maintain GPA of at least 3.5 to give yourself the best chance. Major hospitals will often look at your GPA to make a decision.

Residency programs are great and tend to give you a better chance at being hired. They really set new grads up for success, so, yes, pursuing a residency is a good idea. Most hospitals now don't even have an option to not go through residency as a new grad...if you're hired, you're automatically in the program. It's seems like it's starting to become standard. And that's ties in to your GPA. If you apply to a hospital with a residency program, they are going to want the best candidates with outstanding GPA's...especially in an urban setting. Some hospitals in less populated areas may not have such strict standards.

The only thing that may hold you back is obtaining your associates first. In a large urban area, only having an associates will be like nailing jello to a tree with your job search. I would strongly encourage you to look into a BSN program and skip ADN. I wouldn't do an accelerated program, though...working full time as a single mom in an ABSN program is failure waiting to happen. Plus, they likely won't work around your schedule anyway.

I know in NYC it's next to impossible, if not totally impossible, to be hired as a new grad or enter a residency program with an associates. That's not to say the same stands for hospitals upstate, but the more urban the area, the more a BSN is required.

Best of luck and don't freak yourself out by reading horror stories of jobless new grads. Study hard, keep your GPA up there, and keep plugging along.