do grades really matter after graduation?

U.S.A. Texas

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i was wondering if grades really matter after graduating from nursing school??? since there's a nursing shortage, i figured a new grad can land a job after nursing school... but, now i'm kind of worried because i hear it's competitive in getting into nurse internships after school. is that true??? can anyone provide some info on this?

thnks!

Specializes in ICU, ER, HH, NICU, now FNP.

exactly - the grading scales are higher - so if you graduate at all you can be assumed to have done reasonably well.

I just consider graduating nursing school a huge accomplishment. Making A's in PV's program is pretty much unheard of. Just pass.

gauge14iv: I am so impressed by your original response that I will now refer to my job search as my efforts to "whore out my nursing license". It will make me feel so much better. BTW, many yrs ago, a coworker said (during one of those enlightening conversations) that "we all prostitute ourselves to our employers". I have found in the ensuing yrs, that no truer words were ever spoken. Well, I really must make a more enthusiastic effort at

"whoring my license" out and get off this bulletin board. It's such a distractor!

Specializes in ICU, ER, HH, NICU, now FNP.

LOL

You know - I have had jobs where my heart and soul was (is) really in it - but agency nursing where I crammed as many shifts into a week as possible at the whim of the highest paying bidder was not one of those jobs!

I just graduated and found only one hospital mentioned they were looking for a GPA of 3.5 or better and that was St. Paul in Dallas,

The only other thing that will give you an edge when you are applying as a new grad is if you were a nurse extern or tech somewhere. Having those positions can also give you leverage to negotiate better pay as a new grad.

And if you want to work at Presby they hire almost completely from within (i.e. nurse externs) or you have to know some one.

also GPA will help you if you are planning on going further in your education such as CRNA etc.

Another issue that myself and some of my fellow classmates ran into while trying to find jobs is this. Some people had a hard time getting into specialty areas particularly critical care, ER and L&D because so many new grads wanted these types of positions so it got competitve.

Specializes in Operating Room.

Julie_Bean....First of all, congrats. Where did you graduated from, if you don't mind saying?

Did you find that your program has any weight on hiring, ie from its reputation?

Thank you!

I graduated from El Centro, which has a really good rep around here. Lots of my classmates went to parkland ER and L&D and other top ER s in the area.

Only thing I heard personally in regards to competition with other schools was from two classmates earlier in the program when they were applying for an extern at methodist dallas. He said they had to get checked off on a sterile procedure (forgot if it was just one or which one it was. think it was foley catheter or sterile dressing change though) and he said they did fine and weren't worried about it but the people he was waiting with that were from TWU were really freaked out and took a long time to do the procedure and that the two of them were done quick.

El centro, brookhaven and northlake cram skills down your throat and prepare you REALLY good for hospital floor type positions whereas, and this is only what I have heard, the university students don't get as much emphasis on skills and get more nurse theory education and management prep.

Specializes in Operating Room.

Thanks....being a ECC student at the NLC campus, I'm glad to read that. :)

I know as far as skills go, it's all on a individual basis, but I'm glad to know ECC really does have a good rep still. :balloons:

Grades do not matter as long as you have the initials "RN" behind your name.

Specializes in ICU, ER, HH, NICU, now FNP.

Actually - the University and Community college students all have to do the same number of clinical and lab hours. The state mandates a certain minimum - that said - some schools may add more.

I have worked with grads of just about every program around here and then some and the "One is better prepared than the other" just doesn't wash in my experience. It depends on the individual - not so much the school. There is at least one nervous nellie coming out of EVERY program. Repeating the "I heard from a friend..." is useless and frequently baseless information.

(ETA: I was and ADN first - so I am not biased either way!)

Specializes in Onc/Hem, School/Community.

In the TMC, there are hospitals that look at GPAs for internships and other training programs. Too add, there are now two hospitals that want an 880 or higher on the NCLEX-RN in order to apply for a job. I'm not familiar with NCLEX scoring, but it sounds pretty high to me.

Specializes in ICU.
Yes, GPA and your nursing extern/tech. experience are the only things that seperate you from every other graduate nurse (GN) looking for a job. Also, if you plan to go back to graduate school, your GPA will be a major factor in you ability to get in. Below are the The Methodist Hospital in the Texas Medical Center requirements to apply for a job.

Requirements Include

  • Successful completion of an accredited BSN program
  • Eligible for RN licensure in Texas and GN permit
  • Cumulative GPA of 3.0 or greater

Graduate Nurses will be selected in November for January employment. In the Resume portion of the on-line application, please include your top three areas of interest (even if these areas are not listed above) and your current GPA.

FYI-

Methodist does hire new grads that have below a 3.0. They hired 100 nurses last spring and I know that all of them DID NOT have 3.0. I say apply to all the programs that you want and see who interviews you. Then pick from the ones who make you an offer.

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