Job Hunting

allnurses Guide · Mar 22, 2019

Where are you applying at?

DFW hospitals have, for the most part, moved to hiring only BSN prepared nurses. You may have better luck in the outlying areas, such as Rockwall, Sherman, Witchita Falls, Tyler, etc.

You state also you are a new grad. It is pretty much the case in all hospitals in the DFW area that brand new grads are hired only via new nurse residencies/internships. They do not generally get hired directly to the floor outside of these programs. Residencies/internships take place a few times each year. They are extremely competitive and also favor BSN over ASN prepared nurses.

You may have better luck outside of acute care. Nursing homes, LTACHs, jails, home health, etc. You do not say how long it has been since you graduated and whether you have worked as a nurse at all yet. If you have had a first job already and/or if it is more than one year since you graduated, you may be overlooked in favor of more recent grads.

sincerelylc · Mar 24, 2019

I graduated in December and I have not worked as nurse yet. And I have I applied to quite acute care facilities, LTACH, and nursing homes. I have gotten calls back for the nursing homes but I really had set my hopes on getting into an acute care facility. I saw this as important to my long term goal of become an L&D nurse and I thought that experience in an acute setting or LTACH setting would boost my chances of entering that specialty. Many of the hospitals also request medsurg experience which is why I am hesitant towards taking the job with the nursing and rehab facility because I am fearful that experience will not make me an attractive candidate for those facilities when I am able to transition. I am currently looking into beginning a RN to BSN program sometime this year

sincerelylc · Mar 24, 2019

*quite a few

allnurses Guide · Mar 25, 2019

What you are wanting and what is going to be readily available to you in the current DFW economy are two different things unfortunately. Most of the major hospitals are Magnet facilities and maintain an 80% or greater BSN nursing population and many to most require you to have BSN to be hired in. For a time you could hire in under an agreement to get your BSN within a couple of years, but even that is going the way of the dodo bird now.

Given that there are very few new grad positions to begin with, you will continue to find you aren't getting much, if any, interest. Even Parkland, which was the last strong holdout for two year degree nurses, has gone to only hiring in BSNs as they pursue Pathway to Excellence with the goal of becoming Magnet. There simply are not enough new grad positions for every new grad that wants one in DFW. In this competitive environment where there are tons of new grads churned out into the local economy 3-4 times a year, both BSN (TCU, Baylor, TWU, UTA,Texas Tech) and ASN (Collin College, Brookhaven, El Centro, Grayson County to name just a few), it makes it difficult to get a foothold as an ASN graduate. If you can go to a more rural area you may have better luck, since those are less desirable areas due to being rural and having a bit of a commute. (ie: Sherman, Tyler, etc)

You will be looked on much more favorably for being employed as an RN than unemployed for the time it takes to get your BSN.

sincerelylc · Apr 5, 2019

Thank you so much for you advice. It is greatly appreciated. You seem very knowledgeable about the local job market. I wanted to know if you would advise a new graduate to work as an Acute Dialysis RN. Would the hospitals in this areas still favor this type of hospital experience if I wanted to eventually go to a med/surg floor

allnurses Guide · Apr 8, 2019

Generally speaking, I would not go into dialysis unless that is what you really want to do. Most nurses find it difficult to get out of it once you are in, unless they have other acute care experience in their past. I personally would not recommend it for a new grad. It is more likely than not you will find it hard to get out of.

That being said, it would STILL be better than no RN experience at all. If facing the choice though, choose to go outside of the immediate DFW area for an acute care med-surg or other acute hospital position over a local acute dialysis position. The commute will be long, but you will only have to do it for a year. Once you have acute care floor experience you will find you are more hirable in the area.

sincerelylc · Apr 8, 2019

A lot of what you have said is what I have been told and I have been in denial about. Thank you for your time and advice. I will definitely keep it in mind as I move forward with this job search.

nurseprospect29 · Jul 1, 2019

On 4/8/2019 at 7:58 AM, not.done.yet said:
Generally speaking, I would not go into dialysis unless that is what you really want to do. Most nurses find it difficult to get out of it once you are in, unless they have other acute care experience in their past. I personally would not recommend it for a new grad. It is more likely than not you will find it hard to get out of.
That being said, it would STILL be better than no RN experience at all. If facing the choice though, choose to go outside of the immediate DFW area for an acute care med-surg or other acute hospital position over a local acute dialysis position. The commute will be long, but you will only have to do it for a year. Once you have acute care floor experience you will find you are more hirable in the area.

Not done yet, you seem like a fountain of information, I’m so sorry but could I pick your brain? My husband and I will be moving to Texas in about 2 years, he will hopefully be getting a job offer with Deloitte (accounting firm). I’m in the process of figuring out nursing school, I already have a bachelors in psychology, am older and have two kids. I’m thinking about going to a technical school to get my RN and then could transfer to a university to get my BSN online. I’ve already looked into the logistics of everything. But the problem is we would be moving just as I graduate. I do have hospital experience as a blood gas tech in a university hospital (I was on the trauma team as part of this job) and I’ve been an interpreter (I speak Spanish fluently) in a hospital and clinic setting.

Could realistically get a job when I move to Texas? I’ll be doing all of my clinics in Utah and therefore could get a job offer here but not in Texas. Would it be better to try to stay here a year and work and then move? What would you suggest?

Also, would it make a difference in how marketable I am if I go to a technical school instead of a traditional university/college to get my RN? It’s just a much shorter route for me (much more expensive though).

nurseprospect29 · Jul 1, 2019

Could I try to get externship somewhere?

allnurses Guide · Jul 1, 2019

9 hours ago, nurseprospect29 said:
Not done yet, you seem like a fountain of information, I’m so sorry but could I pick your brain? My husband and I will be moving to Texas in about 2 years, he will hopefully be getting a job offer with Deloitte (accounting firm). I’m in the process of figuring out nursing school, I already have a bachelors in psychology, am older and have two kids. I’m thinking about going to a technical school to get my RN and then could transfer to a university to get my BSN online. I’ve already looked into the logistics of everything. But the problem is we would be moving just as I graduate. I do have hospital experience as a blood gas tech in a university hospital (I was on the trauma team as part of this job) and I’ve been an interpreter (I speak Spanish fluently) in a hospital and clinic setting.
Could realistically get a job when I move to Texas? I’ll be doing all of my clinics in Utah and therefore could get a job offer here but not in Texas. Would it be better to try to stay here a year and work and then move? What would you suggest?
Also, would it make a difference in how marketable I am if I go to a technical school instead of a traditional university/college to get my RN? It’s just a much shorter route for me (much more expensive though).

There are some areas in Texas (rural and/or Texas/Mexico border towns) where a two year degree from a technical school would not hurt you much. They need nurses pretty badly and the fact that you are bilingual Spanish is a big plus. In the major cities (DFW, Austin, San Antonio, Corpus Christi) your application will be much less likely to get any attention as most of them are either Magnet or on the Magnet journey and won't hire in two year RNs anymore unless they are an internal candidate. The big hospital systems in these cities have their pick of new grads. The only way to an acute care job as a new grad in this part of the country is through a new grad residency/internship. Very few hospitals will hire a new grad directly to the floor these days.

However, that is just acute care. There are still positions to be found in LTACH, SNF, corrections, schools, clinics, public health and the like. If you have your heart set on working in a hospital I would recommend you consider an accelerated BSN program, which usually is an intensive 18 months to completion. These are open to individuals who already have a Bachelor's degree in something else. It will make you a more competitive candidate and won't be any more expensive than a for-profit technical school, nor will it take any longer to accomplish. It WILL be challenging, but nursing school is pretty challenging no matter what.

I personally would encourage you to steer clear of a for-profit two year institution. The education is usually substandard, NCLEX pass rates/attrition rates abysmal for the most part and they generally have a poor reputation in the public sector.

nurseprospect29 · Jul 1, 2019

5 minutes ago, not.done.yet said:
There are some areas in Texas (rural and/or Texas/Mexico border towns) where a two year degree from a technical school would not hurt you much. They need nurses pretty badly and the fact that you are bilingual Spanish is a big plus. In the major cities (DFW, Austin, San Antonio, Corpus Christi) your application will be much less likely to get any attention as most of them are either Magnet or on the Magnet journey and won't hire in two year RNs anymore unless they are an internal candidate. The big hospital systems in these cities have their pick of new grads. The only way to an acute care job as a new grad in this part of the country is through a new grad residency/internship. Very few hospitals will hire a new grad directly to the floor these days.
However, that is just acute care. There are still positions to be found in LTACH, SNF, corrections, schools, clinics, public health and the like. If you have your heart set on working in a hospital I would recommend you consider an accelerated BSN program, which usually is an intensive 18 months to completion. These are open to individuals who already have a Bachelor's degree in something else. It will make you a more competitive candidate and won't be any more expensive than a for-profit technical school, nor will it take any longer to accomplish. It WILL be challenging, but nursing school is pretty challenging no matter what.
I personally would encourage you to steer clear of a for-profit two year institution. The education is usually substandard, NCLEX pass rates/attrition rates abysmal for the most part and they generally have a poor reputation in the public sector.

We will be moving to the Dallas area, probably a suburb like Frisco or Allen so that’s where I would be looking.

I would be graduating with my BSN from a university (I would be transferring the RN from the technical school to the university to finish my BSN) before getting to Texas. But you recommendation is the same?

They don’t have accelerated programs for bachelor’s degree holders in Utah ? I have noticed they do have those sort of programs in Texas though. The difficult part is I have three kids and while in Utah have family that can help me get through school, once I’m in Texas that won’t be the case ?