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Discussion

How to get experience?

I apologize if this will seem like a completely stupid question, but I know very little about the ins and outs of the logistics of working as a nurse, as I'm currently just a pre-nursing student.

I have been looking (out of curiosity) at RN jobs at the hospital in my area. I see that in order to work in acute care for example, they will accept no one who doesn't have specific experience in that area. My question is, how can new nurses get any experience to work in that unit (or any unit that has similar criteria)?

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    They always say that, hiring an experienced nurse means you don't have to spend as much time or money orienting, as you do teaching a new grad. But if they can't get enough experienced people to apply, they end up taking new grads.

    Also, CNA or extern experience helps. Usually grads start on med/surg floors, but occasionally an ER or ICU will take a new grad will really good credentials (if that is what you meant by acute care).

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    Nursing goes in cycles of boom and bust.

    When there is a shortage of nurses, employees loosen up on their experience requirements. They will have to train the new nurse(my ICU orientation was 12 weeks; I had one year of med-surg experience), and that can be expensive, but they need staff. When there is a shortage is when nurses look to break into a specialty since it is a great time to make the move. When nurses are short, we get more options of where to work, more ability to change specialties, and maybe even a sign on bonus too.

    In the past few years, there has been plenty of nurses looking for work. Employers can get picky about who get hired.

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    My question is, how can new nurses get any experience to work in that unit (or any unit that has similar criteria)?
    Be willing to move to an undesirable state where few people want to live. The hospitals in these states hire new grads directly into specialty floors and units. Such states include North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, Kentucky, Indiana, Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Move back to where you came from once you get a couple of years of experience.
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    It will help if you do your externship at a hospital that you would like to be employed. That way they get to know you and you will have some history with them. It is currently difficult for new nurses to find work, but that is only temporary and it does depend on what geographical area you live. Learn as much as you can, apply yourself to your clinicals and try to make a good impression if possible.

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    1) See if there's a nurse residency program at some of the hospitals. Those positions don't usually appear until around graduation time for the nursing schools. In some cities, you need to have a really good GPA and your interview would need to go well to land a job.

    2) What the other posters posted above. The hospital I work at now has number one, but also, a lot of the floors are seriously understaffed. Some of the new grads didn't have to do the year residency, and stayed on our floor.

    I started out in a hospital I didn't really like, but as soon as a med/surg position opened up, I took it at a bigger hospital.

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