If I start outside the hospital...

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Will I be at a major disadvantage for the rest if my career?

where I am from, the hospital job market is OVER SATURATED in all capital letters for emphasis.

I am open to working in home health, public health, psych, and LTC facilities. In fact, I ultimately want to work in psych or public health.

However EVERYONE tells me unless I get 2-3 years of acute care experience I will be at a major disadvantage and I should relocate or wait 11 months to get that hospital job.

What do you guys think? If I work outpatient am I setting myself up to be in a restrained position the rest of my career, making less money and not being able to grow??

thanks.

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Specializes in Medical-Surgical, Telemetry/ICU Stepdown.

Depends on the part of the country and depends on the degree. In rural America, in smaller, lesser known cities, the average hospital nurse, at best, has an associate degree. If you start your career with a bachelor's, they will look at you favorably and you may be able to get an offer regardless of your initial experience.

I think having a bachelor's degree is far more important than having anything else, because if the country continues in the present direction, in about 10 years you will need a master's just to land an interview for any position involving patient care. Good jobs are disappearing in a country where getting a bachelor's degree is very easy compared to other parts of the world. For most professional careers, a Master's degree is becoming the minimum for an entry-level job, just like high school was 50 years ago.

I started my career in sub-acute rehab. The hospital recruiter who hired me later told me long-term care is acceptable as long as you don't make it too long. 5 years or longer and they will no longer consider you for hospital positions.

Also...depends on where you live. Are you in NYC? Chicago? Boston? LA? In the largest metropolitan areas, you have to be a nursing prodigy to get a hospital job. I'm hearing some insane figures, 200 candidates for each opening and so forth. Or you have to know somebody. I don't know where you come from, but I'm from Chicago where nepotism and corruption run the show. Having your aunt in the hospital administration is more important than merit--she will get you in.

I wasn't a prodigy. I was average in my clinicals, I had a very high level of anxiety, my 1st year of nursing was hell, and I had to start slow and work my way up very slowly. Also, I was all alone, and I had to succeed all alone, without anybody helping me through unofficial channels.

This is a mean industry, cold, unsympathetic to new people who are just trying to get started in the profession. In all honesty, there were more than 1 occasion when I got home after a job interview and I hated nursing.

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Depends on the part of the country and depends on the degree. In rural America, in smaller, lesser known cities, the average hospital nurse, at best, has an associate degree. If you start your career with a bachelor's, they will look at you favorably and you may be able to get an offer regardless of your initial experience.

I think having a bachelor's degree is far more important than having anything else, because if the country continues in the present direction, in about 10 years you will need a master's just to land an interview for any position involving patient care. Good jobs are disappearing in a country where getting a bachelor's degree is very easy compared to other parts of the world. For most professional careers, a Master's degree is becoming the minimum for an entry-level job, just like high school was 50 years ago.

I started my career in sub-acute rehab. The hospital recruiter who hired me later told me long-term care is acceptable as long as you don't make it too long. 5 years or longer and they will no longer consider you for hospital positions.

Also...depends on where you live. Are you in NYC? Chicago? Boston? LA? In the largest metropolitan areas, you have to be a nursing prodigy to get a hospital job. I'm hearing some insane figures, 200 candidates for each opening and so forth. Or you have to know somebody. I don't know where you come from, but I'm from Chicago where nepotism and corruption run the show. Having your aunt in the hospital administration is more important than merit--she will get you in.

I wasn't a prodigy. I was average in my clinicals, I had a very high level of anxiety, my 1st year of nursing was hell, and I had to start slow and work my way up very slowly. Also, I was all alone, and I had to succeed all alone, without anybody helping me through unofficial channels.

This is a mean industry, cold, unsympathetic to new people who are just trying to get started in the profession. In all honesty, there were more than 1 occasion when I got home after a job interview and I hated nursing.

I'll have a BSN in June and am no prodigy. Where I am it is 500 nurses for each hospital position.

The thing is, I don't even want to work in the hospital my entire career. I really want to work in public health. But I fear going into it because I am afraid I won't be counted as a legitame nurse.

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Specializes in Medical-Surgical, Telemetry/ICU Stepdown.
I'll have a BSN in June and am no prodigy. Where I am it is 500 nurses for each hospital position.

Holy ****.

I think we've gotten ourselves into another career bubble, like real estate before healthcare, and IT before real estate.

This is scary.

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Holy ****.

I think we've gotten ourselves into another career bubble, like real estate before healthcare, and IT before real estate.

This is scary.

I don't even know if I want to work in the hospital. I have night shift clinicals and it's very very Exhausting. Maybe I belong outpatient

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
I'll have a BSN in June and am no prodigy. Where I am it is 500 nurses for each hospital position.

The thing is, I don't even want to work in the hospital my entire career. I really want to work in public health. But I fear going into it because I am afraid I won't be counted as a legitame nurse.

Stop "fearing" being a "legitimate" nurse; you are one once you are licensed. Period...why wouldn't rotate in various settings NOT be prepared as a legit nurse???

If you want public health, then become a public health nurse... I worked in community settings with complex pt populations; it has made me a very viable candidate in acute care, all the way up to Critical care in a market with that ratio for over 15 years, maybe longer when the hospitals were cut by 50%; I always had a job, no prodigy, just networking and getting experience.

If you do not want to be in acute care, so be it; each aspect of nursing presents the nursing skill set to thrive; you care still using the nursing process, aka thinking like a nurse...you have the power, even in this economy, to decide if you want a community health nursing job, if that is what you want to do; I say start looking now, create contacts and you already have you net wide with opportunities; also look into joining associations affiliated with community nursing and find local chapters-set yourself on the niche you have decided.

Best wishes.

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Specializes in L&D, infusion, urology.

If you want to pursue public health, why not aim to start there? Will you be eligible to pursue public health right out of school? I would start applying now for public health jobs and see what happens. If you don't have a burning desire to be a hospital RN, by no means will you be setting yourself back by not going there. That's the beauty of nursing- there are so many directions in which to go! I think especially with the job prospects as they are right now, many of us are just taking what we can get out of school, and future employers MUST recognize this, realistically.

You can apply to psych facilities as well, few of which are inpatient anyhow these days.

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If you want to pursue public health, why not aim to start there? Will you be eligible to pursue public health right out of school? I would start applying now for public health jobs and see what happens. If you don't have a burning desire to be a hospital RN, by no means will you be setting yourself back by not going there. That's the beauty of nursing- there are so many directions in which to go! I think especially with the job prospects as they are right now, many of us are just taking what we can get out of school, and future employers MUST recognize this, realistically.

You can apply to psych facilities as well, few of which are inpatient anyhow these days.

I am going to be a PHN after I graduate and plan on getting my PHN ASAP.

I totally want to work in psych.

The more I think of it the more I realize I am meant to be a psych, public health, or even geriatric nurse. I would enjoy and appreciate hospital work, but my passions lay in becoming an educator and advocate for underserved populations.

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Stop "fearing" being a "legitimate" nurse; you are one once you are licensed. Period...why wouldn't rotate in various settings NOT be prepared as a legit nurse???

If you want public health, then become a public health nurse... I worked in community settings with complex pt populations; it has made me a very viable candidate in acute care, all the way up to Critical care in a market with that ratio for over 15 years, maybe longer when the hospitals were cut by 50%; I always had a job, no prodigy, just networking and getting experience.

If you do not want to be in acute care, so be it; each aspect of nursing presents the nursing skill set to thrive; you care still using the nursing process, aka thinking like a nurse...you have the power, even in this economy, to decide if you want a community health nursing job, if that is what you want to do; I say start looking now, create contacts and you already have you net wide with opportunities; also look into joining associations affiliated with community nursing and find local chapters-set yourself on the niche you have decided.

Best wishes.

you are right

and public health is the field I desire

now I have to figure out a way in!

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