Graduate in August 2012 - Moving to Philadelphia PA or NJ

ckh23, BSN, RN · Jun 3, 2012

It can be a tough job market in this area for new grads. With a lot of Magnet hospitals in the city it may be hard to secure a job without a BSN. However, a lot of the big teaching hospitals do offer Nurse Residency programs for new grads so that may be something to check into. The big hospital on the Jersey side in that area would be Cooper, but there are also a lot of community hospitals. The major hospital systems in the area you are looking at are Hahnemann Hospital, Thomas Jefferson, Temple, University of Penn, St. Christopher's (peds), CHOP (peds), and the VA. In South Jersey it is Cooper, Our Lady of Lourdes, Virtua, and Kennedy Health Systems. Virtua just built a brand new hospital in south jersey and they are locally known for L&D and peds. Good luck.

kbs36 · Jun 3, 2012

The nursing job market here is very saturated, especially for new grads. Hahnemann Hospital just switched to an all-nursing model, so they are hiring about 60 nurses. A bunch of my classmates (12+) have gotten hired there. However, many hospitals around here require a BSN, especially for their new grad programs. For my nursing program, it is a second-degree accelerated BSN program, we graduated in April and the majority of the people who have landed jobs were at Hahnemann. Only a handful got jobs at other hospitals so far, many had to move out of the area.

I got an interview through networking, and landed a job at a South Jersey hospital. My advice to you is to start marketing yourself now and calling recruiters. There is a lot of competition around here, however it is not impossible to get a job.

kmuneca · Jun 14, 2012

Thank you for your replies and information. I'm just going to bite the bullet and do the best I can in finding a job. The only other problem I am finding is that it seems like I have to pick whether I will work in PA or NJ, but I have no idea where I will end up getting a job. I have to take the NCLEX but I'm not sure which state to get licensed in because if I end up getting a job in the other state, I heard its very expensive to get my license in the second state. Does anyone know the costs or how I can find that out? Or any experience in this since there must be a lot of students in that situation that are in Philadelphia.

Guest321574 · Jun 14, 2012

It shouldn't be too hard to reasearch the process for license by endorsement for either state, by checking on the BON websites. I do know offhand that in NJ you will likely go through a long-ish process, and isn't cheap ($200+ at least). But I don't know about the PA process as this is where I was initially licensed.

nursingschooldiva, APRN · Aug 13, 2012

i work in a hospital and am having a hard time. I graduated in june, passed boards on july 27th.

I am graduating this August 2012 in Florida with my Associates in Nursing. I also have a BS in Biology, in case that has any weight. I am moving back north to where I grew up and I'm wondering how the nursing job market is in the Philadelphia area. I am open to working in the city or right outside in either PA or NJ. I plan on living with my parents until I secure a job. I definitely want to volunteer. I am open to taking extra courses or certifications if that can help my resume and skills. I am also open to paid internships or externships. I am not 100% sure what department I want to work in. I am interested in Peds, Labor & Delivery, and OR but as a new grad, I am flexible. I've heard its really difficult in this area so I'm looking for any insight, tips, suggestions...anything! Thank you so much!!

LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN · Dec 29, 2012

In PA, costs about the same...200 for test fee, 35 for licensure fee. There are community hospitals that may hire new grads on a limited basis with a AD, but the BSN requirement is king....