How long did it take you to get into your dream nursing Job?

KelRN215, BSN, RN · Dec 18, 2012

When I was a new grad, I applied for one and only one job... at the time I considered it to be my "dream job". Within 4 years, the dream turned into an absolute nightmare and I was out of there as fast as I could find a new job.

My dream job now would be getting paid to travel the world and I don't ever expect to find that. But a job is just that- a job. It's not fantasy and it's not a dream, it's a means of earning a living. I enjoy my job now but by no means is it a "dream".

Oh, and I also entered my first job thinking I would spend my entire career at that first hospital... a nationally ranked, magnet institution... gag me with a spoon. I get nauseous just driving by there now.

LindaBright, MSN · Dec 18, 2012

I think my "dream job" changed a few times, as I discovered new areas I wanted to work in, or stumbled into a few great opportunities in areas I had never even considered. Someone said that the "dream job" is like the "perfect man/kids" scenario - sometimes you have to see that the job you wanted may not have been perfect for you in that moment, but the job you landed actually is "perfect." Things have a funny way of working out sometimes.

OnlybyHisgraceRN, ASN, RN · Dec 18, 2012

Hi OP. When I graduated from RN school I applied for LD and PP which is my dream job. However, I was hired into CVICU. Long story short: it was not for me. After 7 months, I quit and put in a transfer to PP at the same hospital but was not hired due to it being given to a PCT who worked on the unit just passed her boards.

I've been job searching and have finally landed a job interview for L/D!!!!!! I have my second interview and share day this week and I'm beyond excited. I will be trained to L/D, PP, Nursery, and OR Circ. However, I accepted a job offer for the ED that wouldn't start for a month, so I'm praying I will get the L/D job before orientation starts so that I can pull out.

My advice is to keep looking. After six months or a year ask for transfer. If not able to transfer, start looking at other hospitals.

It is nothing wrong with pursuing your dream. Wishing you the best.

monkeybug · Dec 18, 2012

I graduated in May of 97 after precepting in a small L&D unit. I repeatedly called the DON to see if they had openings, she repeatedly told me no. So I finally broke down in August and took a job at a different small hospital in med/surg. I knew the very first day of orientation that I wouldn't last there. One of the very first things they told us was to never give the docs our opinions because, "they are smarter than you and don't need to hear what you think." On day 3 of orientation I called my old L&D unit to talk to some of the girls about my misery, and discovered that the nurse manager had been trying to find me, but couldn't remember my married name (I married 2 weeks after I graduated) she was holding a position for me. I quit the med/surg position and went to L&D at the tiny hospital, and loved every minute of it. And then we were bought out by a for profit company, and everything changed. I left there and went to grad school in an unrelated field, but my heart was still in nursing. During summer breaks I did travel nursing, and then I got a job in L&D at a large regional hospital. My dream job, I guess, was always L&D, but I never actually had it after that first few months. If allowed to go in with adequate staffing and supplies and do my job, it's a dream. Throw in scripting, patient satisfaction surveys, mandatory meetings, idiotic managers, and asinine administrators, and the dream can become a nightmare.

I guess now I have a dream job, although I never thought to dream about it, because I never knew it existed. I now do public health, making home visits with new mommies and babies. I miss doing deliveries, I miss the doctors (some of them) and I miss doing procedures, but I really love this, too. I have tons of autonomy, I make my own schedule, and large chunks of my day are spent driving through the countryside. My coworkers and supervisor are angels, and I love my clients. There are pros and cons to every job, but I think that the new mandates in health care, especially the ones linking reimbursement to satisfaction, will make working in any hospital highly unpleasant for me. If this job ends, I have no idea what I will do, because I cannot imagine going back to the hospital.

DoeRN · Dec 18, 2012

I'm currently working towards the job that I want the most. My dream job would be independently wealthy and not having to work. It's still in healthcare but away from direct care.

rnbsn17 · Dec 19, 2012

Well, let's see.........................?

owlRN01 · Dec 19, 2012

After graduation this past May all I could think about was L&D. I applied to every position in my state. No luck. Imagine that. :) Then out of nowhere I got an interview for a Peds position and a job offer. I am still on orientation but so far I am counting my blessings that this is what I ended up with as a new grad. I may not stay in peds forever but I have found something that I love. I am scared out of my mind but I still look forward to going into work :) Waiting for the day I feel like I know what I'm doing!

NurseKatie08, MSN · Dec 19, 2012

I think what your "dream job" is can certainly develop and change with time. As a new grad--I envisioned myself working in NICU or PICU...nearly five years out from graduation I have done anything but, and would never think of working with kids now. I spent the first four years of my career working on the sub-acute rehab unit of a SNF. I loved my job and co-workers, but various factors including money, burn out of working M-F 3-11 and a long commute after a relocation led me to accept my current position at a suburban teaching hospital on a transplant med-surg unit. Both of these have been "dream jobs" at different times in my life.

guest2210 · Dec 19, 2012

It took me 26 years. After bedside nursing and more than one back injury, I stumbled upon a new career in training electronic medical records. I travel where I want, when I want and have the clinical experience and computer background to name my own price. It keeps me in the medical field but without the backbreaking shifts and low pay.

Vinniesguy · Dec 19, 2012

I've enjoyed most jobs I've had and learned something from all of them but have yet to be in a job where I have thought 'This is it - this what I've been waiting for'!

Seas · Dec 22, 2012

From the time I started applying for my dream job until the time I got an offer, it took me 10 months.

I always knew what I wanted to do. But I wanted to gain some med surg experience first. So, I ended up working telemetry for 18 months before my desired specialty. I am glad I did that.

Good Morning, Gil · Dec 23, 2012

I started out where I could get a job, and learned time management there, good experience; then, a year later, I got a job in ICU for the experience and still working in ICU a year and a half later. I enjoy it, it's a good fit for me, and I have enjoyed being a resource nurse for new nurses on my unit. I find it most rewarding educating new nurses, helping them learn to troubleshoot, etc. I'm not a preceptor, but all of the new people seem to come to me with questions, and I enjoy that. Breaks up the monotony a little.

Even in ICU where patients are critical, and things can change quickly, it's still routine. Once you know what you're doing in a job, any job becomes routine. I think that's why there's so much movement in healthcare, and nursing. People want to learn something new, so they move on to something else. People change positions for other reasons, too, but I think that's part of the reason why there's so much job changing in nursing.