Good idea to keep job in hospital while in RN school?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Hi

just wondering your thoughts re school and hospital job? I understand that New RNs are having a hard time getting jobs. Do you think its easier to get a job if you already work in the hospital(as a technician) ?

God Is Mighty

Yes! Yes! Yes! :) Everyone I graduated with that already had a hospital job transitioned into RN roles and here I was working at Starbucks all through school and can't find a job in a hospital to save my life. If the people you work with in the hospital like you and would speak very highly of you to hiring managers you are one step ahead of the rest of us. I wish I would have known this a couple of years ago :( If you can swing it with school work and your outside life I say go for it.

0 Votes

Definitely! Instructors at my nursing school say that NEARLY ALL students that have had a previous job at a facility will have a job at that facility after graduation. Knowing someone is a considerable help as well. Even if the job doesn't guarantee you a position at the hospital you want, it will still give you experience, allowing you to stand out from many in the crowd. I suppose it depends on where you live and what the job market is like in your state. :)

0 Votes

Yes and No it really depends on the hospital.. im not an RN yet, but ive had friends who worked at a hospital near the hospital ive worked at and one of them got hired after nusing school (with her ADN) and the other one didnt.. i think it also depends how well your doing with the hiring managers (nurse managers).. so become their best friend

in my department we have had 3 nurses (all of them) who got hired right off the bat at my hospital.. and I expect to get hired a bit easier than someone who dosnt work in a hospital system.. at our hospital system Internal Employees get put ontop of the stack and are contacted first.

0 Votes

As long as you can handle it and keep your GPA up. I had to provide my transcripts from 5 years ago to my most recent potential employer, so your GPA will follow you (& I was offered the position!). This also applies if you plan on pursuing an advance practice degree in the future. My main point is that school should come first, and don't let a side job hold you back years down the road.

0 Votes

Oh god, yes.

0 Votes

Only if you can present yourself as an employee they'll want to have continue working for them. In other words, yes, but be the most impressive, dependable, thoughtful employee you can be.

Be somebody that they hate to lose as a tech/whatever but they can't wait to have working for them as a nurse.

0 Votes
Specializes in Emergency / Trauma Nursing.

Oh, yes! I sat with other candidates and saw their GPAs, resumes...etc. Some of them definitely were there through connections... Go for it if you can!

0 Votes

A huge YES on this question.

Virtually the only students in my graduating class from several years ago that were able to land jobs outside of LTC were those who were already working as PCT's or CNA's in hospitals or clinics. In nearly every case, the institutions hired them as nurses after graduation (and of course passing the NCLEX) - a marked contrast to the other students from my class, many of whom are still not working as nurses.

This no doubt varies by geographic location, and working does not necessarily guarantee you a job but I have to believe that in most cases, it provides a significant advantage.

0 Votes

Maybe is the real answer here. It used to be really significant if you had been a phlebotomist or x-ray tech or CNA, went to nursing school, passed NCLEX, and applied for work as a new RN. Nowadays, when many employers advertise for nurses with experience they mean experience as a registered nurse, because this is a very different skill set. There are still people who think that there's only one career ladder in the field and it has rungs on it for CNAs, EMTs, DCs, LPNs, RNs, paramedics, MDs, ANPs, and so on (in no particular order), but those of us in the field know better: this is not true. Whether there is any advantage, much less whether it's significant, is largely local.

0 Votes
Maybe is the real answer here. It used to be really significant if you had been a phlebotomist or x-ray tech or CNA, went to nursing school, passed NCLEX, and applied for work as a new RN. Nowadays, when many employers advertise for nurses with experience they mean experience as a registered nurse, because this is a very different skill set. There are still people who think that there's only one career ladder in the field and it has rungs on it for CNAs, EMTs, DCs, LPNs, RNs, paramedics, MDs, ANPs, and so on (in no particular order), but those of us in the field know better: this is not true. Whether there is any advantage, much less whether it's significant, is largely local.

Experience as a CNA is better than no experience at all. I have seen job postings that say "2 years of RN experience preferred, but new grads with CNA experience welcome to apply." Yes, many employers advertise for nurses with RN experience, but as a new grad you're not going to have RN experience and some sort of healthcare experience is better than nothing at all.

Hospitals also are usually more likely to hire internally (assuming you have been a good employee.) A great CNA at a hospital with a good reputation is much more likely to get an RN position at that hospital than a new grad that the hospital knows nothing about. Like others have said, the only people I know that secured hospitals jobs right away already worked in a hospital. Sure, you might not get a job after you graduate and there is no guarantee, but having a job in healthcare IS better than having a job making sandwiches or folding clothes while you are in nursing school. Yes it is a "maybe", but I don't see how having a healthcare job during nursing school is going to hurt you unless you are a bad employee.

0 Votes
Specializes in critical care, Med-Surg.

This is a no brainer.

YEEEESSSS yes yes yes yes yes.

Relationship + experience + work history + reputation = JOB.

0 Votes
Specializes in MEDSURG.

This a good idea. it gives the managers and staff the opportunity to get to know you and your working ethics and abilities. This will help when you graduate

0 Votes
+ Add a Comment