Is Hospital Experience a MUST as a New RN?!

[FutureDNP18]

Hi. I am a senior nursing student. I will be graduating this upcoming May. I currently work at a hospital as a tech but have been thinking about putting my notice in due to the burnout and feeling of being overwhelmed with the business, acuity, and COVID. I have work on the floor as a tech for 3 years. I do not really care to work in the hospital setting as an RN when I graduate but have a lot of pressure to stay there from family, coworkers, and peers. My interests include public health/community nursing and Psych nursing! My question is, as a new grad  do I HAVE to have hospital experience if I’m 99% sure of what I want to do after graduation? Signed,

A Confused Nursing Student

[NurseKat, BSN, RN]

I think "have" to is not necessarily true. I started out in a SNF as a new grad, then an outpatient clinic for many years, and now a case manager for an insurance company, and I am doing great. So no, you don't "have" to do anything as a nurse, it is such a diverse occupation with so many options! Public health/psych nursing jobs may want you to have experience first though. I think you should take whatever experience you are able to get, whether it's immediately in the field you think you love (you may change your mind), or in the hospital. Any kind of experience will benefit you in some way, and honestly you have no idea how many times I've heard nurses end up in a totally different field than they thought they had always wanted, and thrive.