General Rant.

My growing file of polite form emails from prospective employers lamenting how they were "impressed by my qualifications" but have "filled the position with someone who more closely meets our requirements" will attest to that.

Hopefully, I can get off the ground as an independent practice RN...I've already had more offers for private pay than I can shake a stick at.

huh? There is no babyRN school for me to learn how to be a babyRN. I had to learn it all on orientation and I don't think there will ever be a school for people like me...as much as I wish there was just a school for future babyRNs, I think it's more like wishing for the moon and that we all have to serve our clinical school time in med-surg, psych, OB, peds, long-term care, community, yecch. Screw the whole lot of them. They don't help me one bit at all in my job.

Except...it exposed me to nearly all areas of nursing and made me realize why I don't want to do them and how I didn't end up miserable in what I thought was my dream job in adult ICU....

IMO most nursing schools don't teach you how to be a nurse, it teaches you how to pass boards.

At my CC I can honestly say they prepare the students to be nurses and pass boards however not all schools do this.

We all have to crawl before we can walk. Completing nursing school and passing boards does not make a nurse... experience makes a nurse a nurse.

huh? There is no babyRN school for me to learn how to be a babyRN. I had to learn it all on orientation and I don't think there will ever be a school for people like me...as much as I wish there was just a school for future babyRNs, I think it's more like wishing for the moon and that we all have to serve our clinical school time in med-surg, psych, OB, peds, long-term care, community, yecch. Screw the whole lot of them. They don't help me one bit at all in my job.

Except...it exposed me to nearly all areas of nursing and made me realize why I don't want to do them and how I didn't end up miserable in what I thought was my dream job in adult ICU....

And I like the second quote as well.

Yes. The majority of clinicals are a waste. So it teaches us what we would want and would not want. We can find that out professionally. IMO we should have two years of clinicals on a floor that produces nurses when we are done. Orientation to subsequent floors would be much shorter and we'd actually know how to be a nurse.

Also, we could cut 99% of the theory fluff that 99% of nurses do not use...

It got me thinking. Wouldn't it be nice if we student nurses could graduate and actually preform as a nurse and not a new grad?

You are describing a diploma program, many of which did a great job of preparing nurses for employment. This type of program doesn't exist in practice anymore.

My CC did a great job of preparing me to be a nurse. I pitched in a lot by working as a CNA in various roles. A lot of people who cannot get the jobs they want never did this.

No matter where you graduate, you get a new grad nurse. Sure, some will be more prepared than others, but that's always going to be the case.

You are describing a diploma program, many of which did a great job of preparing nurses for employment. This type of program doesn't exist in practice anymore.

My CC did a great job of preparing me to be a nurse. I pitched in a lot by working as a CNA in various roles. A lot of people who cannot get the jobs they want never did this.

No matter where you graduate, you get a new grad nurse. Sure, some will be more prepared than others, but that's always going to be the case.

Ah! How my ignorance has blinded me! I knew about diploma nurses... several are now MSNs at the hospital I work at. Interesting. I suppose the demand for degrees has pitfalls.

I'm still a student but to be honest,, I'm getting a little sick and tired of hearing employers complain about "new grads." What the heck do they expect to hire? Do they want all of those who are 70 to come out of their very well earned retirement just because the employer "doesn't want" to hire a new grad? It's like a bunch of whiny dang kids.

Didn't they start somewhere? I mean, at one time they were new and someone gave them a chance.

I just got started, so I can't speak much about the nursing prog at my school but I know a lot of people say that NS does not teach you to be a nurse. When you think about it honestly, there is not much more they can do than give us the basics and let us learn as we go. No school can teach you what you have to learn in the "real world".

Whew! I feel better! Sorry, I'm on day 14 of quitting smoking and sometimes these topics help me let off the steam!

If your still in school you can help yourself by applying for internships/externships in a hospital in the specialty of your choice. Also if you have any say in your clinicals try to get experience that way. Work in a hospital part-time even as a CNA you can learn on the job by paying attention and asking questions.

If your already a new grad then you have to try to stand out from the crowd. Read about interviewing, marketing yourself, creating a good resume. Show enthusiasm, research the hospitals you are interested in. Find out about who will be your manager for that job and research them on google and linked in.

Practice your interviewing skills and just keep being persistent to get your foot in the door!

still like new grads, if I was in a hiring role i'd strive for a balanced unit of oldies and newbies. we are good for eachother. It might take a little longer for ng's to gain confidence and grow into the role but it is so worth to see someone catch fire and zooommm! Their presence makes oldies aware of good practice cause if you teach, you have to walk the walk. Newbies are excited by doing stuff I consider boring..shots, admissions, transfers..it's all a new challenge to them.

It's hard to find your "dream" job when you are fresh out of school in any profession. Nursing is no different. I know it's frustrating, as I graduated a little over a year ago. Most degrees don't prepare you for real world experience. You get the knowledge, and it's up to you to hone your skills by implementing that knowledge in real life situations...and there is where you start to climb the ladder with experience. I too thought I would have no problem finding a great nursing position when I graduated, and the truth is, it just didn't happen. So, I am grateful for the job I got for now and will continue to learn as much as I can. I was humbled by my experience, and in retrospect realize passing the NCLEX does not guarantee a paycheck.

last week on npr i heard about how law firms are sick and tired of training new lawyers how to be... well, lawyers. therefore, they're quitting. they're no longer training lawyers how to be lawyers. now, they're refusing to hire 'new grads' because they don't know how to do their job. hence, law schools are now restructuring their curricula to produce lawyers instead of new grads. sound familiar?

it got me thinking. wouldn't it be nice if we student nurses could graduate and actually preform as a nurse and not a new grad?

the economy is horrible. virtually no one will hire a new grad rn... because they don't know how to be a nurse. wouldn't it be nice if we were taught that in school. employers have changed. they are saying, "we don't want 'new grads', we want nurses!".

how long will it be before nursing schools get the message? unfortunately, i think our professional schools aren't as receptive or adaptive as law schools. it will be a long, long while before nursing schools start producing nurses and not new grads...

it's sad. and it used to be that when you graduate, you got a general orientation, but were expected to be one of the gang from day one. i feel bad for the folks who are thrown out there without the practical info you need. if folks are familiar with skills checklists, we had done those prior to graduation. from what i've understood on the threads here, the precepting and internships are basically an extension of school...... i'm not sure when it all changed. but i feel for you guys :heartbeat

Unfortunately, I think our professional schools aren't as receptive or adaptive as law schools.

Ahhh yes, the beacons of change! Law schools!

You do realize that the first year classes of law schools have been the same classes for about 100 years? A little more emphasis now on writing and internships in the second and third years, but law schools aren't changing all that much.

From what I remember, I did a lot of papers in nursing school, and we had clinicals and offers of internships.

Law school is all about teaching you to think like a lawyer.

Because you can teach a chimp to write the brief or take a deposition. But it takes thinking like a lawyer to know when to write a brief and what questions to ask in a deposition.

Nursing school is all about teaching you to think like a nurse.

Because you can teach a rather stupid chimp all the skills that everyone thinks are so important to have when you graduate. That we have people bragging that diploma programs or ADN programs or LPN programs are so much better at then anyone else. Oh no! I didn't learn to insert a rectal tube! So take a tube and stick it up the patient's a$$. Didn't learn to do a foley cath? Stick a tube up the patient's urethra. Didn't learn to start an IV? Stick a tube up the patient's vein. Didn't learn to crush a med? Well, if you need to be taught that...

School is to teach you to think like a nurse.

I don't care if you can't start an IV. I want a new grad that I'm orienting to know why the patient needs one (and not just because the doctor says so) and to understand what our use of the IV, whether for fluids or antibiotics or whatever meds, is going to do to the patient.

Too many people are worried about the skills and not about the breadth of knowledge it takes to not kill someone.